My Prius died in the middle of the highway today!

A blown inverter will do that. Pep Boys has no chance of diagnosing a hybrid. Most likely they don’t have a scanner capable of reading all hybrid codes. Get it to a dealer and hope it’s the inverter since that diagnosis and repair would be free.

PS: A good shop would have load tested the 12v battery before replacing it. Did they do that or just shotgun it?

 

if you get it repaired, i would replace it before the head gasket blows

 

all the best!

 

The only thing still under warranty on a 2013 would be the inverter (generic) / the Intelligent Power Module (IPM) inside the inverter. It does fail suddenly.

 

My first thought was helene when reading the first post. I'll assume your location more to the noirth didn't get anything like what Asheville and surround locations got. Anyways, keepin fingers crossed the service dept has your issue sussed and your V is in good hands.

 

Quite common on all gen3s. Mine went years ago. Be sure Toyota Corp has your address so that you are notified as most of us were.

 

What's the miles on it now?

Supplementing that hope with periodic EGR cleaning may stave off the head gasket failure (mentioned in post #4). If DIY is not happening, there are a few independents that'll do this, for around $600~800 USD, sadly they're spread pretty thin though.

Dealership is not a good place to get this done. They will not volunteer this service, likely will tell you to wait for shaking on cold-start and/or P0401 code (EGR clogging). Problem is, those are usually harbingers of head gasket failure, a little too late. If you press them to clean it, the only thing they'll do is replace parts, about a grand USD worth, and charge maybe another grand for labour.

More info in first two links in my signature (on a phone turn it landscape to see signatures).

 

My advice is change the oil every 5k miles or less, never more. Hopefully the excessive oil burning problem has not started and you need to keep it that way on a 2013 with low tension rings.

Second change the engine coolant now if has not been done yet. Use only Toyota SLL 50/50 coolant and repeat every 50k miles.

Third get a complete Techstream driven brake flush. This could be done at a dealer if necessary. Brake booster fails cost more than a new hybrid battery.

Find an independent hybrid shop and use them. Dealers are fine when Toyota Corp is paying but from now on issues you may have won’t be covered.

Egr cleaning can cost $800-$1000 at a dealer because they just put in new parts. Still can be $600 at a small shop but only use an experienced hybrid shop. I have replaced parts once and cleaned once in 300k miles.

There is an updated egr valve that I would verify instead of cleaning an older revision. The egr cooler, pipes and intake can be cleaned but the job is complicated.

 

Not trying to be antagnonistic: what does the updated EGR valve have that makes it worthwhile to swap? In particular for an older one that's exhibiting no problems. Also, did they started putting the revised valve in at the factory, at some point?

 

You are right, a 2013 is very likely to have the revised egr valve but not necessarily the latest ecu software which is equally important. Given the tsb has to do with P0401 and a cold start rattle it is likely the revised part improves egr sealing reliability at startup and low speeds.

from the tsb:

“Due to excess carbon build up at the valve assembly, the valve will stick causing the engine RPM to fluctuate. Follow the procedures in this bulletin to address this condition.”

Which was to replace with updated valve, modify harness bundling and update the ecu.

The tsb I have was written for 2010-12 hatchbacks and v’s. Nevertheless we know the valve internal ramp fails and we also know aftermarket egr valves often stick open even when new. So if the valve does not have the 25620-37120 part number visible on the housing I would replace.

Newer EGR Valve
Egr valve updated Kit w gaskets 04004-58137

Includes 25620-37120 Updated egr valve

The kit is significantly less money than the valve alone.

No housing number means it is the aftermarket part

Prius v Calibration ids as of Sep 2016:
Latest in blue

Note 12-13 v’s are the same calibration id

 

Maybe check condition of existing valve "ski ramp" before committing to purchase replacement?

I opened ours up (2nd time around), and it looked pristine. This is a 2010 model year Prius, with the original EGR valve, part no ending in "10".

I keep thinking, besides this valve revision, they also came out with a revised intake manifold. Based on some fuzzy cut-away pics a few here (including myself) speculated they revised the EGR passages, from one large gallery going directly into 4 small diameter passages, to: the large gallery splitting into two intermediate passasges, and then each of those having 2 small diameter passages (4 small passages in total, one per cylinder, as before).

Both of these (head gasket and EGR valve revisions) are "maybe" bandage solutions, with limited if any benefit?