About 2 months back I had a front end collision on my 2008 prius. After a long stay in the dealership/collision center I got the car back a couple of weeks back. It ran fine for a few days with trips less than 20 miles. Then on Friday when I went on a Long Trip started getting the warning lights at about 40 miles into the trip. I pulled over the checked under the hood and saw the coolant was almost empty. So towed it back to dealership who after a couple of days said they had replaced the water pump which was under recall anyway. (At that time I didn't know there were 4 pumps and so didn't ask which pump) Last week the same story again. Ran fine for shorter trips and on Friday started acting up after 50 miles. However this time there were no warning signs at all. Instead the car started stuttering and slowing down. After pulling over I shut it down and when I tried starting it again the car jerked every time it tried to switch over to engine from battery power, but could not start engine. So it's the tow truck again. Anyway, the car is currently with the dealer who is yet to reproduce the issue (and haven't taken it for a really long drive yet). Here are my questions? 1. Some threads on the forum seem to indicate the problem is with inverter pump. If so and with the pump recently replaced could the dealer have done something wrong. Are there any specific things I can ask them to look for? 2. Why didn't the warning lights come on the second time? Could some sensor or warning system also have been messed up? Is there a way to check it's working alright? 3. Could anything like the inverter have been possibly ruined by this? 4. Could anything else cause these issues? I really hope the knowledgeable people here can help me as I don't have a lot of faith on the dealer's service dept. now. Thanks.
Can't you supply us with the codes the car produced? Patrick Wong and other very knowledgeable members can better assist you this way.
The inverter pump was NOT recalled for 2008. However, you may have had a replacement of it or the engine water pump under 5/60 warranty. On the second time, there were no warning lights at all? What were your coolant levels this time? This doesn't sound like P0A93 inverter overheating. The inverter is pretty hardy. Just like a computer, it pretty much either works, or it doesn't.
F8L: I don't own a code reader and I don't think the dealer saw the codes. Yes. There were NO warning lights at all the second time. The coolant level was less than the max level but not too low. The fact that the issue happens after 50 miles of driving and goes away after a couple of hours of not driving makes me think it's related to overheating. But it's only a guess. I am trying to get more information about the replacement part from the dealer. I'll update when I get it.
This sounds like an inverter cooling problem. Either there is air in the inverter coolant loop or the inverter coolant pump is bad. Air in the line could be caused by improper bleeding, or there could be a leak. Tom
I talked to the dealer. They say they have replaced the Hybrid water Pump (part 0400032528) as it was leaking (This was after the first time the issue happened). But they can not reproduce the issue now even after driving for 150 miles. uart, I didn't check for the flow. At the time of the incident I was not aware of that. seilerts, Are the cooling systems for engine and inverter? Is there a link where I can read about the cooling system for prius? Thanks Sri
Make sure that: 1) Both radiator fans are plugged in. 2) They're plugged in to the correct plug. Don't trust me on this but... Staring at the front of the car: Fan to your left (passenger side) should be rotating clockwise, and sucking air from the front to the back of the car. Fan to your right (driver side) should be rotating counter-clockwise, and sucking air from the front to the back of the car. There are two different types of fan blades, and the motors spin in opposite directions. If you're not careful with how you put the fan blades on, which motor goes where, or how they're hooked up, you can end up with ineffective cooling. My 2¢ worth, and it's worth about 2¢ less than that.
Thanks for the suggestions. I probably will be going to the dealer on Monday. I'll look for these things. Hope I can get some resolution soon.
Hi urs70. There are two coolant loops and two coolant reservoirs, one for the engine and one for the electrics (inverter). The engine coolant reservoir is forward near the radiator and the inverter coolant reservoir is back near the inverter (the thing with the big silver cover). I made a photos with instructions for checking the inverter reservoir in my reply #10 of the following thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...95561-maintenance-repair-in-anchorage-ak.html
UART, That is a neat picture. Thanks. Removed ambiguities I might have had otherwise. Thanks to the suggestions here, now I have some idea about what to look/ask for. But I am still wondering about not getting the warning lights even when I practically lost power and slowed to a crawl. Is it possible that some wiring related to warning systems has not been connected or a fuse blown? Is there a way to check for that?
Honestly I don't know about that. I only know that over summer several people reported here with overheating inverters (due to failed inverter coolant pump) and some of them had symptoms similar to what you're getting.
Well. Finally the dealer was able to duplicate the issue. Now they say the engine oil was overfilled and that's what was causing the issue. Does this make sense? Or are they just blowing smoke?
That seems unlikely. Exactly how much of an overfill problem existed? If this was the problem, why would the car run OK for 40-50 miles before driveability symptoms occurred? Don't be surprised if the problem recurs.
I can't say for sure on the Prius, but if you overfill the oil in the car engine, the oil could foam up... I've never witnessed this but have heard of it. If it foams up, it destroys the lubrication properties of the oil, at least where it foams.
Thanks. Yes. I didn't think it makes sense the car would run fine on short distances, if oil overflow is the issue. Guess it's not going to be over easily.
No. The ICE will lose oil pressure as it will now be pumping more air than oil through the passages. This could cause an engine to overheat and eventually seize if run long enough but a low oil pressure warning light should occur well before that. However, Patrick Wong has said that there may not be an actual dash indicator for just that issue in the Prius.
