2012+ Prius Losing Coolant, Overheating,Hesitating, 300k miles, solution never found, now total loss

Just thought I'd share with you the experience I had with my 2012 Prius v lowercase v for the Prius v wagon One w/ 2ZR-FXE engine, bought it brand new w/ 0 miles in 2011, the issue started with a (what sounded like a knocking sound in the intake) and hesitating at around 300,000 miles, this is a cab and I've had one other fellow cabbie with the same issue. It also started to lose coolant at the same time. Engine light for random misfire or #1 also came on.

So I replaced the

1) reservoir cap

Same issue, the more it lost the more it hesitated, next was

2) fuel injector number one and spark plug

same issue, next was the exhaust heater assembly, we cleaned it out, thought it had a block, and cleared the heater core

3) exhaust heater and heater core flush

same issue, lost about a gallon a day or about 300 miles

We checked the water pump, turned on fine, changed the thermostat, first Napa brand, didn't work (return spring was too hard, opened way too late), then original toyota.

4)thermostat OEM

same issue, still losing water, next came the radiator, thought it had a block

5) radiator

same issue, still hesitating once the water went down, never overheated, just lost water through the cap or probably in the engine, never had smoke or water in the oil, keep reading

6) checked to make sure fans were working, seemed fine, changed the relay to be safe, same issue, changed temperature sensor as well on side of the head.

7) Next, I had reached my tipping point, dealer now knew me by now and gave me all the advice for the stuff I've already replaced, so I thought it was a crack in the head or cylinder wall, so what the heck, I put some of the BlueDevil (after removing the thermostat), car ran great, no hesitation, heat worked great, MPG's were great, for about 4 days, then started losing coolant again, filled it up each night, then the car totally stopped from overheating (light came on), a safety in the ECU, had it towed, dealer said water pump was losing ground, okay great, hopefully they fixed it, $1300 bill, if I did it myself it wasn't much cheaper ($745 water pump, plus the re-tow and coolant, $300 diag fee included in the bill, so I just let them do it), plus they cleared the codes.

8) Car ran great for about 5 days, it started to lose water again, thought it was an airlock, so each night I filled it up. A few days later someone rearended me, car was a total loss because unibody repair was more than the value and the battery pack cracked and flooded car with acid, lost my $1400 Taxi seats as well but I'm lucky to walk out of it. Still going after the responsible party for work lost but never did figure out the issue but it was most likely a crack in the head or #1 sleeve due to the loss in water, probably from the faulty water pump or reservoir cap.

About my other cabbie, same car, same mileage, had a similar issue, it was never solved, he junked the car. He stopped at the exhaust heater assembly because the dealer emphasized heavily on this for some reason.

So I don't know something seems to be happening to these cars at 300k miles. Got a new Prius now, I'll get back in a few years with its progress, having a Ford Escape with 430k miles still on the original engine and very little maintenance, sold it running. I hoping this one will last longer.

 

Thanks, I'm also thinking maybe not changing the battery pack as a maintenance could of damaged the water pump but I'm just guessing now, I can buy batteries now even at the local parts store, just a guess.

 

Thanks, I think it could of lasted a bit longer, because at 6 years it would of been taken out of the fleet anyway plus it wasn't paid off and the gap insurance covered it. Not happy about that and the other party had no insurance. My insurance will pursue them rigorously. Hope to see someone get it passed 400k on all original major parts.

 

I hear you, got prices on engines $850-$1100 all less than 122k miles, its just a big job, I thought I could of got it running, difference was night and day when the coolant was at the correct level. That would of been the next step. The reason I thought it wasn't a head gasket because working on car's before becoming a cabbie, the car would not last 2 days before needing coolant, it would of overheated almost instantly. Could still have a slight rip in the gasket between #1 and #2 but I would of seen other symptoms, car just ran too perfect when topped off.