Water Pump Recall

You are nto the only unhappy recall customer. I went to mine and they didnt top off the fluid after, told me my engine pump was leaking and tried to say mud splash on the hood liner was the indicator of the pump leaking. when I told the front desk girl to tell the mechaninc that I drove through a puddle and was she sure it was antifreeze she said they look with inspection mirrors. Told me to watcht he fluid level. So I drove a block away and checked it was low although I topped everything off b4 going there. Just checked online and the TSB says they lose about quart replacing the pump. Thats about what is was low when I left so one might figure they didnt replace the lost fluid and tried to sell me a water pump for the engine at 288 dollars, plus then told me the belt was bad 98dollars. Then said my plugs were due at 90k and wanted 388 for the 90k check, plus they wanted 88 dollars to fluch the inverter they just worked on. Now when I driove it the thing buzzes for two minutes when I shut it off instead of the usaul 30 seconds. I have a thread all about this experience. Called them and asked why charge for the serp belt labor if I had the pump done since it comes on and off anyway. First she defends the charge, then says she had discounted it off the water pump labor. So anyway my local parts store checked with inspection mirrors and the pump is a-ok, the belt is too. Manual shows plugs arent due till 120k miles, their "mandatory 90k inverter flush" says to check the fluid, not flush it! They tried to charge this disabled vet single dad 888.00 dollars total for stuff It dont need. And now my car is acting up. Thanks for the customer experience complaint number, I will certainly call them, also taking my car to another toyota dealer to make sure they did the recall correctly!

 

Breaking up your post into paragraphs/sections would help.

From your posts, I'm not clear which pumps were worked on/replaced. Per http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/89320-advice-needed-2.html#post1254751, and a few others, the 2nd gen Prius has four water pumps. We need to understand which ones you're talking about.

 

My wife just called me and said that after the dealer replaced the recall HV water pump they warned us that we needed to replace the engine water pump. She questioned this and they said it usually needs replacement at 75000 @ $275. True?

We suspect this dealer is trying to bag more $$$ as I have not heard of this "usual replacement of the engine water pump". ANy advice would be helpful. Will call Toyota to check on this.

 

probably not, but quite a few seem to. it wouldn't hurt if you're going to keep the car, unless money is tight. definately not a priority if it isn't leaking. $275 for pump and coolant isn't outrageous tho.

 

3 complain posts with only 1 or just a few total posts on this forum and both posts have the same style of writing.

well maybe its just that but maybe its not

 

I couldn't find anything on this recall on the Toyota web site can someone link me to it, or are they sending letters out?

 

Never mind, found it here Straight Skinny On 2004-2007s HV Water-Pump Recall "Fix"?!? just after posting this request.

 

I think you're living a dream world, but good luck with that.

They don't call them "Stealerships" for nothing.

 

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Yes, it’s happened to me;
During an highway trip, I was driving without any problem, at 65 mph when, suddenly and without any warning (no fuzzy noise, no alarm light, no smoke, no decreasing power) the engine simply died in a second !.
The feeling was, as if somebody simply unplugged all my spark plugs altogether. I had just the time to pull out with the Red Triangle and all Christmas tree lights on !
Good for me, I was in a large and straight part of the highway, without any traffic around !
I had the feeling (not sure) that in that precise moment, a soft noise came from the engine, something like a electrical discharge (maybe it’s only psychological).
Once stopped on the emergency lane, I found myself looking at the Christmas tree lights.

I tried to shut off the main power button, but nothing, all the warning lights on; then I tried to keep for more than 3 seconds the power button down; nothing, the board lights still on. The trunk electrically closed. I called my dealer, which simply told me to call the service for been towed away…
Had to leave all my luggage in the trunk because it wouldn’t open and called to be towed to the closest Toyota service.
Once the car reached the Toyota Service, (2 days later because was a week-end) the service people had first to open the trunk from the back seats to reach the 12 Volts battery that in the meantime was down for being in use for several hours (the car had to be recovered in a local Car Assistance Deposit for all the week-end prior to be brought to the Toyota Assistance). They connected an external battery and start the power button, the car started up apparently in a normal way. I had to leave anyway the car by the dealer for having all the checks done.

A week later the Toyota service called me saying that the car was “readyâ€; the problem was the electric pump of the inverter cooling system ……
I recalled that only a little more than 500 miles before, I went for the 60.000 miles service to another Toyota dealer; in that occasion I have been informed of the water pump recall.
Of course I did agree with the recall, and they did it!
Now, to me, seems pretty much a strange circumstance that just 500 miles after the pump change, something like that happens that involves just that electric part!
The old pump, worked for 58000 miles without any problem !
Now, I am not 100% sure that they fully understood what happened !
The car is working but who can assure me that isn’t going to happen again ?

Beside I do not understand:

1- Why the power button wasn’t taking the command ?

2- In case of an severe problem, shouldn’t the system giving me the time to pull out ? At least 2-3 minutes to avoid to stop suddenly in a part of the highway where I do not risk my life ? In the professional systems, even in a severe failure, the system, first warns you with light/alarms and an automatic “slowdownâ€; then, and only THEN, the system abruptly enter in a “shutdown†to protect the system !! I do prefer to burn the inverter and anything else more than risking my life like that !

3- Could it, “simply†happened that the electrical connector of the pump wasn’t gone all the way through and somehow suddenly got disconnected by itself ?

What do you think ? Has ever happened anything like that to you ?

 

I think that your car had two problems:

1) A weak 12V battery
2) A failed inverter coolant pump

When the coolant pump failed and caused the inverter to overheat, the DC/DC converter shuts down. The car will then depend upon the 12V battery to provide power until you can pull over. Apparently the battery was so marginal that it immediately died when stressed.

That is why the hatch would not open. That is also why the car could not be powered off - when voltage on the 12V bus is low, unpredictable things can happen.

It is possible that installation of the coolant pump was done incorrectly, but it is also possible that pump suffered from "infant mortality".

In the future, to give yourself the 2-3 minutes time to gracefully move to the side of the freeway, I strongly recommend that you replace the 12V battery before it fails - as often as every four years if you live in a climate where winter snow appears.

 

Thank you Patrick,

I think that your analysis makes much sense, but I still have few doubts;

The 12 Volts battery was replaced only 16 months ago;

in that occasion, something weird happened:

the Toyota dealer (another one), during the battery change, said that wasn’t available the precise Prius 2004 battery model ;
there was another one, slightly different (a little bigger in dimensions and higher in power (45 Ah instead of 37 );
beside, wasn’t a gel battery, but a regular lead battery;
It was a regular Toyota replacement ( I have checked to another Toyota dealer to be sure).

They had to made a little work on the trunk in order to fit the new battery.

But, let’s assume the battery wasn’t good anyway, or for some reasons was weak in charge in that precise moment….
The job the last Toyota dealer did, after the shutdown, wasn’t change the electric pump (they let the same one), they simply checked the electrical wires (I guess), or nothing at all….

Isn’t more realistic that the electrical wire wasn’t connected properly ?

Shouldn’t the electrical connectors be fixed somehow in a way that disconnections are simply impossible ?

Thanks again for your help

 

If you look at the wiring harness connector, you will see that it has a lock. However if the connector was not pushed in sufficiently to engage the lock, then the connector may come loose after the car has been driven for a while, as normal vibration may shake the connector free.

It is also possible that there was air in the inverter coolant loop, which impaired coolant circulation. You can check coolant circulation yourself. Make the Prius READY and look at the inverter coolant reservoir. If you see fluid turbulence then the pump is working properly. If you don't then either the pump is not working or else there is air in the system.

 

I had the pump replaced under warranty. At the time of the replacement I asked them to check my water pump for leaks. They said it was fine.

Last week I went for an oil change, and they tracked me down in the building and told me my water pump needed to be replaced. Cost $263.00 I immediately told them to replace it.

They were a little surprised when they looked at my file online. I had an extended warranty Total cost $ 000000, They even offered me a rental car for over night.

It really surprised me, now my water pump was leaking.

 

Too bad you didn't insist on seeing the leak for yourself. If you did, I would not be surprised to see no leak.

I guess they tracked you down with a new leaking water pump because they knew you had the extended warranty which would cover the repair.