coolant in exhaust prius 2016

[Mike5100]

Car is currently in the dealership and they have diagnosed coolant leaking in to the exhaust (which is a relief as we thought the cylinder head gasket had blown).  We have given the goahead for repairs at £1600, but I have just spotted a california service bulletin about the known problem, a modified part and free replacement up to 8 years.  Does anything similar apply in the UK?

Thanks

Mike

[Harters]

There is no TSB for the UK, but another person on this forum @TheProfessor had the same fault and after a bit of communication with Toyota GB, they supplied the part and he just had to pay the labour. 

I wouldn’t just pay up without some kind of communication with Toyota. It is a well know issue in the US and they do have a TSB for it. Take a search on PriusChat and you will read all about it. 

[Mike5100]

i have just watched a youtube video where I guy bypasses the coolant-into-exhaust idea in just a couple of minutes of switching pipes.  He says the only downside is slightly longer interior heating warm up times, but is the damage that has already happened likely to cause the car to fail emission tests unless the heat exchanger box in the exhaust is changed?

Thanks

Mike

[Harters]

I meant to say, some of the people in the US who are outside of warranty have just bypassed the heat exchanger in the exhaust and have reported no further issues. A very simple and straightforward job by all accounts.

Not something I would do in the UK as we have the relax 10 year warranty which the US doesn’t.

Unfortunately the part is considered a wear and tear item, hence why it’s not covered under the warranty as it part of the exhaust system. 

[Harters]

3 minutes ago, Mike5100 said:

i have just watched a youtube video where I guy bypasses the coolant-into-exhaust idea in just a couple of minutes of switching pipes.  He says the only downside is slightly longer interior heating warm up times, but is the damage that has already happened likely to cause the car to fail emission tests unless the heat exchanger box in the exhaust is changed?

Thanks

Mike

You beat me to it I was just posting as you did.  😄
 

Apparently they still pass the US smog tests, not sure about our tests of course. 

[Mike5100]

so - since they haven't got the part yet, do you think it's safe to drive it away from them to fix at home?  The oil has no water in it and the coolant has no oil in, but it's obviously losing coolant which we can keep topped up?

Thanks

Mike

[Mike5100]

4 minutes ago, Harters said:

I meant to say, some of the people in the US who are outside of warranty have just bypassed the heat exchanger in the exhaust and have reported no further issues. A very simple and straightforward job by all accounts.

Not something I would do in the UK as we have the relax 10 year warranty which the US doesn’t.

Unfortunately the part is considered a wear and tear item, hence why it’s not covered under the warranty as it part of the exhaust system. 

Do you think my daughter has the 10 year warrnty on her 2016 car - she is the second owner and got it serviced by the dealer the first year she had it but by an independent the second year.  (Why wouldn't you be worried if as you say the part isn't covered by the warranty - sorry I don't understand that bit).

Mike

[Harters]

I wouldn’t want to do the bypass myself as it may stop me being able to claim on something else in the future that is covered under the relax warranty. 

To be covered under the relax warranty you have to have the car serviced yearly by a main Toyota dealer. You are able to use independent garages of course if you want to, but you will not get the 1 year warranty extension like you do when you have it serviced at a main dealer. 

The first thing I would be doing if I was you would be contacting Toyota GB looking for a goodwill payment, but only if you have full Toyota service history. 

As for driving it, as long as you keep an eye on coolant you should be ok, but that is of course your decision. 

[Mike5100]

Spoken to the dealership, and he confirmed that her car is not still covered and that he would ask Toyota GB for  a goodwill gesture but doubts they will do it.  They have done a test on the cylinder head and it's come up ok, so now my decision is whether to extract the car from them and pay a local indy to do the bypass.  It looks a doddle on the youtube video but it says it's a CT200 (although the back end of the car looks like a Prius).

Thanks again for your input.

Mike

[Harters]

If you search for @TheProfessor on either this forum or over on PriusChat you should be able to find his post where he talks about his goodwill payment, but that may have been because his had full TSH. 

PriusChat is also wheee you will find loads of posts of people who have done the bypass. Done do it under the car and some do it in the engine compartment 

Good luck 👍

[Mike5100]

1 minute ago, Harters said:

If you search for @TheProfessor on either this forum or over on PriusChat you should be able to find his post where he talks about his goodwill payment, but that may have been because his had full TSH. 

PriusChat is also wheee you will find loads of posts of people who have done the bypass. Done do it under the car and some do it in the engine compartment 

Good luck 👍

yes thanks - I'm just going through the relevant thread on Priuschat now

Mike

[Mike5100]

Ive tried to join priuschat but I'm not getting the verification emails.  I wanted to ask the guys on there the following questions.  If anyone has opinions on here I would be grateful as I'm thinking of picking up the car from the dealership today and driving it as is until I can decide whether to botch it or wait for delare to get the part:

1. ref the exhaust smell if you do the engine compartment bypass - can’t I just plug the ends of the two loose disconnected tubes?
2. Is the Cat likely ruined by running the car with coolant getting into the exhaust for (say) 200 miles before doing the bypass.
3. Can someone confirm that the video showing the top end bypass on a CT200H is applicable to the Prius 2016 (Car is still stuck at the dealership so cannot look at the  moment

Thanks

Mike

[Harters]

I remember now that the guy sold his Gen 4 and bought a Honda as the Gen 5 Prius wasn’t coming to the UK, but now it is!!!

below is the link where he says what happened with his repair, hopefully that helps. 

https://priuschat.com/threads/coolant-detected-in-exhaust.239034/page-3#post-3347517

[Harters]

20 minutes ago, Mike5100 said:

Ive tried to join priuschat but I'm not getting the verification emails…..

Have you checked you SPAM folder?

PriusChat is the best source of information as I think The Professor is the only person in the UK that I have heard of having the problem from what I can remember. Not sure how much specific information you will get on the UK forum. 

Out of interest, how many miles has the car done?

[Mike5100]

Nah - not in spam.  I'm guessing there's a human involved in approving memberships and they are still asleep over there 😄

Car's done 60k miles (in 7 years)

There's actually about 3 UK posters in that thread with the same problem.

Mike

[Harters]

Interesting, odd that I can only remember one person…. I’m getting old 😆

[Mike5100]

Here's an update - decided to do the top end bypass as per the video ..... but the pipes that need to be disconnected are way way back beyond the engine and there's no way I could get my hands in there  to remove pipe clips and tie wraps and electrical connectors.  Not sure how a mechanic would do it without removing all the plastic panelling near the wipers and probably also the air filter.

Mike

[Mike5100]

I have found an independent garage nearby that is going to have a look at the video for the top end bypass so hopefully one potential option there.  But I have a question ...... what do people think about the two open pipes that are left after the bypass - the long thread on priuschat says that a smell of exhaust fumes coming into the car is a minor issue with this by pass.  Since exhaust gases pumped into the car is a known way of committing suicide, this may not be a 'minor issue' 😷.  Of course the gases are not being pumped into the car under pressure and are presumably just being wafted into the fresh air intake but I would prefer it if the guy could plug the pipes.  So my question is - am I misunderstanding the bypass - would these pipes be under pressure or do they need to be left open to the air for some other reason?

Thanks

Mike

PS - I'm now on Priuschat (they were migrating to a new server), but so far not getting any answers to questions

[Harters]

Good that you have found a garage to undertake the bypass.

I think PriusChat is the best place for answers as it is a much more active forum.  It is reported over there much more and the guys are very knowledgable about the finer details.

The server changeover message has been on there for a while, but I have not noticed any interruption in service.

 

[Mike5100]

I think I will buy some proper Toyota coolant and ask the guy to flush out the system and replace it when he has done the bypass.  Anyone know how much ready mixed coolant I will need, and is it the sort of job any competent mechanic could do (the flush and refill I mean)?

Mike

[Paul john]

On 12/3/2023 at 10:17 AM, Harters said:

Good that you have found a garage to undertake the bypass.

I think PriusChat is the best place for answers as it is a much more active forum.  It is reported over there much more and the guys are very knowledgable about the finer details.

The server changeover message has been on there for a while, but I have not noticed any interruption in service.

 

My experience of Priuschat is its a mix of Trolls who hijack the threads and one or two knowitalls who resist any challenge if they are inaccurate.  
it is also aimed squarely at Americans, if you do look there they will first dispute the model year as the 2016 changeover for US was 2015. 

[TRashid]

Toyota Prius 2017 full service history mileage 46000, having coolant loose issue. Contacted dealer they diagnosed its due to coolant leaking in heat exchanger. As this part is not under warranty so have to pay £1500 to replace the complete part.

 

[Harters]

At least one person on here contacted Toyota and they paid for the part and he just had to pay for labour and ancillary items. 

As long as you have FTSH it could be worth a phone call.