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2013 Toyota Prius II OverHeating When Going Over 70

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Joe Patrick, Sep 30, 2021.

  1. Joe Patrick

    Joe Patrick Junior Member

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    Hello,

    Anytime I drive my Prius around town it drives perfect. The moment the Prius gets over 70 mph the overheating icon comes on the screen. Then I will get in the slow lane and let it get into the 60s and it goes away. I have taken the car to the dealership and they replaced plugs and wires. They told me they did not know what the cause was and that it could be anything from needing heads to the water pump. The vehicle has 260,000 miles and has had all routine maintenance at the dealership. Thank you so much for your help!
     
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Has the water pump and thermostat every been changed?
    Ever cleaned the EGR and intake manifold?
     
  3. Joe Patrick

    Joe Patrick Junior Member

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    No, the water pumping thermostat have never been changed. The EGR and intake manifold have not either. I received a call today from a different dealership who currently has the vehicle and was told that they have stripped it down and ran every test they have. They told me the next step is to replace individual heads but in the long run it is probably more expensive than what the car is worth with the year and mileage. I have been trying to research what it could be as much as possible but I am not sure.
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    With 260K yeah, maybe been a good run.

    Is coolant level stable in the engine coolant reservoir?
     
  5. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    What would be useful is hooking up a bluetooth scanner app to the obd2 and monitor the coolant temp. See if it is running hot normally and then just breaks the warning threshold at high speeds. Assuming no coolant loss ever and you see reservoir movement after it warms up. http://Www.bit.ly/ObdTwo

    "Car Scanner" app - screenshot after fully warmed up by highway driving. Max coolant temp 208f on steep hill climb.

    851522A7-9C5C-4410-8209-91F5A4506FF7.jpeg
     
  6. zeng

    zeng Junior Member

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    I suspect water pump rpm drops below normal 'designed' rpm by ECU chip at road speed of 70 mph relative to low/normal road speed.
    Question is:If valid, how and why it happens ?
     
  7. Mdv55

    Mdv55 Active Member

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    Monitoring coolant temps should.help narrow it down.

    First guess would be water pump isn't working well enough to provide sufficient flow when the engine is worked harder at highway speeds.

    City and suburban driving means constantly varying coolant temps. A bad pump can be masked there since the coolant temp is always allowed to lower when the engine is off or providing little power. Highway driving means a much higher and consistent workload, so the problem will show up there.

    With 260k that water pump owes you nothing.

    If "every available test" includes a leak down and they still can't diag a headgasket, I'd throw a water pump/thermostat at it, invest $30 in a Bluetooth OBD2 adapter and start monitoring coolant temps.
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    In the good old days cars had coolant temp gauges in the dash.
     
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  9. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    Need third party gauges and apps and all this digital stuff nowadays.....unless you have that Third eye that most of us lost :ROFLMAO::LOL::whistle:
     
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