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06 Prius: Hybrid coolant pump not working and coolant leak

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by rodri9o, Jul 25, 2022.

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  1. rodri9o

    rodri9o Junior Member

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    Hi all!
    I have an '06 Prius and about 260K on it. I had been trying to replace the engine coolant, and hybrid coolant on it but just could not get a chance...so I left it at the dealer to have it done. Once it was ready a day later, went and pick it up, drove 20 miles home all happy.

    Next day I went to drive it, and after a few miles, check engine light, red triangle...went to check and no coolant in reservoir. Called Toyota, towed car in.

    They just called me and say it needs a new coolant pump (inverter pump?). I asked why it was leaking and why a non-working pump would develop a coolant leak. I asked if the pump had a hole in it, they said no.

    I'm confused. I am having them replace the coolant pump anyway...with 260K on the pump and it being the original, I should have asked to have that done as well, but the leaking from a non working pump doesn't make sense to me.

    Any insight appreciated.
     
    #1 rodri9o, Jul 25, 2022
  2. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    I'm gonna guess that someone forgot to close the inverter coolant bleed valve (or didn't completely close it) and that's where the leak was. I've never heard of a leaking inverter pump, especially one without a hole in it. Not sure I'd trust them to replace that pump. It's a pretty easy job anyway.
     
    #2 jerrymildred, Jul 25, 2022
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You can make a claim against the dealership for the failed pump. When the technician change the coolant he could’ve damage that pump, there was no mention of a bad pump before the service was performed
     
    #3 JC91006, Jul 25, 2022
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  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    If the Toyota stealership services your coolant system and the next day coolant level is low they failed to do the job and claiming the pump failed is BS. They either did the coolant job correctly, or they failed to do the job correctly. And if the pump failed and coolant was at the correct level, then ok, maybe that was a coincidence.

    But if I were you I'd refuse to pay for the coolant pump because it was working fine the day before they failed to put enough coolant in the system. For them to claim that it's not their fault and blame it on a failed coolant pump that worked fine when they failed to finish the job correctly the day before is dishonest and I'd go full on Karen on them until they either covered all the costs for breaking the coolant system, or until every last employee I escalate my complaint to hates their job.
     
    #4 PriusCamper, Jul 25, 2022
  5. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Well if I recall the same red coolant is used both for engine/radiator and inverter and both pumps are subject to repairs.
    Usually the leaker is the engine pump in my experience. We never replaced the engine pump but the inverter pump life was about 80000-miles so we replaced that twice over 200k miles..
     
    #5 wjtracy, Jul 25, 2022
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