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Buying a 2009 Prius with 425k miles, still runs and drives well!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by highmilesgarage, Apr 17, 2024.

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  1. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Member

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    Yes, I got crazy and insane for buying a 425k miles Prius that has a "mysterious disappearing coolant issue" on both engine and inverter. Surprisingly this car still runs with no symptoms of head gasket issue. I'm sure it overheated several times and being a Toyota it will not blow up right away (I believe so!)

    Will be investigating for the next few days on why the coolant is disappearing.

     
    #1 highmilesgarage, Apr 17, 2024
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2024
  2. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Member

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    can the forum moderator fix the typo please, it should read 425k miles instead of 245k. Thanks.
     
    #2 highmilesgarage, Apr 17, 2024
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Wow... 425K miles? That's an impressive roll of the dice. What was the price?
     
    #3 PriusCamper, Apr 17, 2024
  4. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Member

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    $1,100 - seller has difficulty selling at her asking price due to her being honest about the condition of the car. Most of the seller will not disclose the issue until you found it yourself.
     
    #4 highmilesgarage, Apr 17, 2024
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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    There's a lady here in town that has one and that $425,000 includes the original battery that still working apparently just fine I put a break actuator in the car. And her car is in beautiful condition it would get $4,000 without any trouble even with the mileage and the car drives stellar and it's clean.
     
    #5 Tombukt2, Apr 17, 2024
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Done
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Apr 17, 2024
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  7. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    Can disappearing coolant from the inverter loop be anything other than a leak? Put some fluorescent dye in and see where it is coming out. Anyway, it isn't like a leak in an ICE motor, where there are ways coolant can get into the oil or end up in the exhaust.

    If you can fix the coolant leaks it will be interesting to see how much oil this car burns.
     
    #7 pasadena_commut, Apr 17, 2024
  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Just top it off... The pump is the only failure point and the coolant lines are fairly easy to inspect regularly once you clean them...
     
    #8 PriusCamper, Apr 17, 2024
  9. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Member

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    Found the sources of the leak and fixed them! Both engine and inverter cooling system has leaks.

    The inverter side has a leak caused by a pinhole size in the radiator hose (near the clamp) This caused the inverter pump to loose coolant. Probably the weather in MO is just too cold not to trigger the code. The other leak was caused by a hack made by the original owner before selling it to the unsuspecting lady. The 3 way coolant valve failed and to provide heat during the winter it was bypassed using a coupler to connect the hose from the engine to the heater pump. The hose to the storage tank was also blocked using Harbor Freight hose clamps. The 3 way coolant valve wasn't sealed closed so it still leaks when under pressure (and the clamp is not enough to block the coolant completely under pressure) The only code showing up is P1116 which is the coolant storage blockage code which also points to the 3 way coolant valve (I guess the p1121 will follow soon)

    Been driving the car around and so far no leaks and no signs of head gasket issue. Going to do some minor cosmetic fixes in the next few weeks.

    If you think the Catalytic is toast at this mileage, it's just inefficient and that got a fix too (hack)

     
    #9 highmilesgarage, Apr 23, 2024
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2024
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  10. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Member

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    I noticed the hose from the pcv valve to the throttle body has some oil near the clamps, I believe oil instead of pure vapor is coming out from the pcv valve to the throttle body. I still have to open up the throttle body to determine if the blow-by is bad.
     
    #10 highmilesgarage, Apr 23, 2024
  11. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Member

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    New Engine Code!

    P2601 - Range/Performance of Coolant Pump Control Circuit

    It turns out it's not the pump.
     
    #11 highmilesgarage, Apr 29, 2024 at 5:30 PM
  12. Danno5060

    Danno5060 Member

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    With that many miles, I'd expect there's quite a few hoses that are ready for replacement. There's only so many flex/hot/cold cycles any hose can stand. Maybe get a whole set and a couple gallons of the Toyota coolant and just go for replacing all the coolant in both systems.
     
    #12 Danno5060, Apr 29, 2024 at 8:08 PM
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