Total Noob, Coolant Issues

Most likely the catastrophic problem has already occurred in the form of a blown head gasket. Do you ever get rough engine starts?

IF you NEED to drive your car at the very least top it off with coolant, but if you plan on getting the car fixed it'd be recommended not to drive it. It might actually be too late at this point. You could try "stop leak" products, but that's if there's no other options (you're broke and you NEED to use the car). You might get some more miles out of it, but you would essentially be condemning the future of the car for yourself or anyone else and make it even harder to get money out of a sale (unless you are scummy).

Either plan to get rid of it (these cars can be a nightmare at this mileage for non-car people), or start planning on getting it fixed either with a new engine or a repair. Typically you'll find the best luck with hybrid specialty shops or someone who has experience with these cars because most other shops will just give outrageous quotes. There are several other 'catastrophic' issues that could occur within the next few years, so keep that in mind.

If you don't get rough starts and your car has an exhaust heat exchanger, there's a small chance you have a leak there which would be great because then you could probably just top off coolant for a while without risking too much serious damage, but that's wishful thinking. Check to see if your tailpipe has signs of leaking coolant.

Sorry for the bad news.

 

Add the Asian Red coolant to the reservoir until the level is just above the seam in the tank. Put the cap back on the reservoir and drive the car around at speeds under 50 mph for 10 to15 minutes. Return home and turn the car off. Check the coolant level in the reservoir. If it is below the seam on the tank, let the car cool down for an hour or two, then slowly remove the cap and add coolant until the level is just above the seam. You should now be good to drive the car at speeds up to 50 mph.

The problem with your overheating is that the engine coolant pump is spinning (rotating) slower than is needed to cool the engine. The pump is an electrically driven pump, and it needs to be replaced. Do not drive the car at speeds above 50 mph until the pump is replaced. You can search this Gen 3 forum for more information about the electric engine coolant (water) pump. You will find pictures showing the pump impeller with cracks in the white plastic.

The best replacement pump is a Toyota OEM pump (~$225). The second best pump is an AISIN WPT-190 pump (~$145 at Amazon). Do not use a cheaper pump because you will probably have a problem with it.

I assume you will take the car to a shop to replace the pump. Get it done ASAP!

 

Good point. I hadn't really noticed the crustiness on the overflow tank. A bad water pump would cause the overheating which would cause the coolant to burst out the cap. The problem is that even just one overheat instance on these cars is pretty bad and if it hasn't already pushed your head gasket over the edge already it's probably pushed it closer.

 

It's just the seller's stop-leak product wearing off? Anyway, with those miles, very likely failed head gasket. If you stick with it, look into EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system cleaning. See top two links in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures). Also some head gasket info in my signature.