Is my Prius still safe to drive?
Hi, I have 2005 Toyota Prius (498000 km) for about 2 years now, my dad was previous owner so I know this car history. It’s in a very good condition, almost never broke down, just once had to replace inverter water pump, after that no issues. Last year after I acknowledged battery can overheat (lol) I always drive with obd app to monitor parameters (battery is slightly worn off) and recently switched from dr.prius to hybrid assistant. While battery is doing great, I noticed in HA there is also engine temp displayed and it was usually at 105C - seemed scary so talked to mechanic and he said if it’s not rising then it’s ok. Recently there was a heatwave almost 40C outside and still no problems, today first colder day and boom, first time temperature reached 110C. It happened after about 25 min of driving, same roads and speed as always, fortunately very close to my destination so engine had time to cool down. Later driving around city also no problems, then I had 20 km drive home, at night, no traffic od red lights - same situation happened, also after about 20 mins. 5 kilometres before reaching my destination I did 10 minute pause to cool engine down, it dropped to 84C, then after 45 second of driving it was again at 108C. Nothing else happens. No others signs of overheating. Am I missing something? What can cause this? Coolant is at MAX level, I checked after first 110C incident. Another question- does 2gen Prius have engine temperature light? Is it going to inform me when the overheat is starting to be dangerous?