2010 Toyota Prius: engine overheating

Filed Apr 1, 2023 · Electrical, Transmission · CA

Purchased new a 2010 Toyota Prius third generation level 4 in July of 2009. Hybrid battery pack failed just after 150,000 warranty lapsed at 155,000 miles. January 2023 floods in Merced, CA damaged one of blocks in Hybrid battery pack driving through waters at 191000 miles on odometer. This threw DTC POA 080 'Check Hybrid System' message. The following month February 2023 at 191500 miles I notice loud cooling fan for hybrid battery operating for the first time ever! Fan is located in rear seat behind front passenger. Air vent is clearly visible. I believe defective fan led to overheating of hybrid battery premature failure at 155,000 miles.

Filed Dec 28, 2021 · Engine · 164,912 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2010 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the engine had overheated and blown the head gasket. The engine was replaced, and the failure was remedied. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 164,912,

Filed Jun 6, 2021 · Brakes, Electrical · FL

My problem began when I pressed my brakes and instead it accelerated. I thought maybe my foot slipped and didn’t know what it meant. It happened again a few weeks later and then all of the dash lights went on that indicated that I had to have the big brake recall repair. Being that my car is past the 10 year warranty and past the extension for mileage, I had to pay out of pocket. This repair was done and upon receiving my car back, the gas mileage instantly began to drop. It went from averaging 42-48MPG in my town to 25-30MPG. I took it in the be looked at and they ensured me nothing was wrong with the car AT ALL. The battery wasn’t holding charge on top of this and it wasn’t reading the same on the dash about the 0-100 current gas mileage you’re getting as you go (the lines scale thing) that goes up when you let off the gas, and I could feel a strange shift while I was driving so I took it in again. They told me this time it’d be $110 to diagnose even though it was the same issue that started after the brake system repair, so I left extremely upset. A few days later my cars steering went out while I was driving and the whole hybrid system died. The car now only works in power mode. The consumer stated the car was taken in for a brake recall and had to pay $2800 in repairs. The consumer stated what they thought was a battery failure turned out to be the beginning of an electrical motor failure related to overheating.

Filed Feb 28, 2019 · Driver assistance · 218,540 miles · CA

Vin # : (xxxx) on february 26, 2019, I asked autonation tyota buena park ( auto nation) to update the software and replace the invert assembly as per the recall notice letter from autonation. Also, I explained that my car's inverter and engine coolant were replaced on november 19, 2015 with showing the invoice of dch toyota of simi valley and I had same overheating problem as before in summer 2018. On february 27, 2019, autonation emailed me as per the attached copy here that the toyota representative came to autonation and did not approve repair or replacement due to high mileage (218,542) of my car. On februry 28, I picked my car but I will drive after receipt of toyota's confirmation that vehicle is safe I believe that the inverter assembly should be replaced regardless of mileage for motor vehicle safety if my car has experienced inverter failure. Also, I filed my complain with national traffic and motor vehicle safety department. Regards (xxxx) parts of this document have been redacted to protect personally identifiable information pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

Filed Oct 30, 2018 · Engine · CA

I have a 2010 toyota prius, it overheated and the red light or the warning temperature light never turned on, so now I the car has a cracked cylinder head, that means I have to replace the engine.

Filed Sep 26, 2018 · Fuel system · 130,000 miles · PA

While driving on the highway, service engine light came on, and car began to lose speed -- only permitting travel at about 50 MPH. Within a few minutes, the car shut off entirely. Fortunately, was able to get to side of road but this could have been extremely dangerous due to lack of warning, and fact that was driving on a highway where others are going 60-70mph or faster. The inverter overheated and needed to be replaced. This issue was part of a recall, but did not include my year/car. Extremely upsetting that toyota does not recall it or at a minimum send a warning to owners to have this looked at. This can cause potentially fatal accidents, and toyota seems to be aware of the issue.

Filed Apr 5, 2018 · Electrical, Fuel system · 185,673 miles · MO

I had a sudden loss of power with a popping sound. The failure nearly caused an accident because I was turning into a traffic lane. This left me stalled in that lane of traffic. The failure turned out to be the inverter over heating was caused by the cooling pump in the inverter failing, which caused the inverter to overheat. This was not covered by warranty and was a very expensive repair. I chose not to have the dealer repair it at their extreme prices. I paid the dealer to diagnose the problem. Then I had greentec in olathe ks. Repair the system at 1/2 the cost that the dealer wanted

Filed Sep 19, 2016 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 65,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 toyota prius. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle lost power without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the electrical system fried the inverter and shut down the entire system. The contact stated that the software was an ongoing issue and overheated the inverter, which caused the engine to shut off and the vehicle to completely stop. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 65,000. Updated 01/04/17*lj the consumer requested a response and/or status report. Updated 7/7/17*js

Filed May 21, 2015 · Lights · 10,000 miles · OH

This was approximately the date when my first headlight blew. The other headlight blew within a couple months. I went for three years changing headlights every six months or so. Twice, both headlights blew and I had to unsafely drive home (70 miles) with my brights on. I took my car to the dealer and was told that this model and year had a wiring harness "bullet" and the cost to replace it was on me. At the time, that was almost $400, which I did not have. This issue has cause me to replace one (sometimes both) headlights every six months (if I'm lucky to go that long). It has also caused the headlight housing to overheat and has made the inside of the housing "fuzzy." this, in turn, makes it nearly impossible to see in the dark with just my dim lights on so driving at night is dangerous. Toyota needs to make this a recall because it is dangerous. Both headlights going out at one time because of a faulty wiring harness creates a dangerous situation. Having to drive with my brights on creates a dangerous situation for oncoming traffic. Driving at night with my dims on is like driving with no lights on at all.

Filed Feb 13, 2014 · Engine · 83,520 miles · CA

Driving on freeway and car overheated. There was never any warnings of overheating problems before. Pulled over on freeway and had car towed to auto service. Water-pump was not working, fan stopped turning, cost to replace was $1260, toyota would not help as car was out of warranty.

Filed Sep 13, 2010 · Engine · 18,135 miles · VA

Tl* the contact owns a 2010 toyota prius hybrid. The contact was driving approximately 70 MPH when the system indicator light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the inverter cooler pump had overheated. The vehicle was repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 18,135.

Filed May 7, 2010 · Electrical, Fuel system · 6,750 miles · MN

I was on a trip to arizona and when driving in my 2010 prius from flagstaff to phoenix during the evening, the batter display's top segment glowed red many times in the descent from flagstaff. It was a very difficult to drive to keep the top segment from turning red as the vehicle was coasting and I did not want to exceed the speed limit so I really did not now what to do. I decided to shift to neutral so the engine was not breaking. However in neutral I was wearing out my vehicles brakes which also worried me because of the possibility of overheating the brakes. I looked in my vehicle manual but nothing as in the booklet about this type of occurrence. So I asked my toyota service personnel at rudy luther toyota in golden valley, mn and they had not heard of this problem. He gave me a the telephone number for customer service representatives at toyota and after discussing this incident with many people in customer service at toyota, the end result was "that the battery was fully charged and when this occurs the top bar will glow red but this will not effect the battery". I do not know if this is true or toyota is just putting me off but others at the following toyota forum have also experienced this problem. Is this a safety problem, I do not know. Is it a battery warranty problem, I do not know. But please look at this forum thread and maybe you can discuss this more fully with toyota. Http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/67994-all-bars-battery-indicator-4.html on the return trip and here in minnesota I have not had this problem occur as there are not many long descents.