Inverter Coolant Pump Failure -- Twice!

How soon did it happen the second time? I am thinking either they didn't install it right or didn't get the air bubbles out properly.

 

You can check the coolant level after a few trips to see if it goes down. You need to keep adding more coolant as the air goes out. That should have been done already when you get the car back. Just letting you know what to look out for. You can also check if the pump is operational by checking the turbulence in coolant when you open the cap.

This video I made may be helpful:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yf6eCeV4M8]YouTube - 2006 Prius Inverter Coolant Change[/ame]

 

This happened at a dealer? Good grief! I did mine in an hour and had it bled in 5 minutes using an AirLift. See this post for insight: Art's Automotive - 30K Service, 2nd Generation Prius

The effect of driving a car with a seized inverter coolant pump (P0a93) seems to be that the inverter will do only the bare minimum to keep the car going. This means that it will not power the A/C compressor or the DC-DC converter to charge the 12V battery, and it will minimize the amount of current drawn from or supplied to the HV battery for assist and regen. Stories seem to indicate that the big problem from continuing to drive with a seized coolant pump is that the 12V battery runs down to the point that the car dies. Inverter failures are much rarer than coolant pump failures so it seems unlikely that you will have a problem with the inverter itself any time soon.

 

Yea the inverter is transistor-based. They either work or they don't (0 or 1). If yours is still working then you are good.

 

IMO the dealership "technician" advising you to drive the vehicle while it was displaying visable codes...and drive it 70 miles,- was poor advice.

I trust the considerable knowledge base of Prius Chat, especially when it comes to direct Prius information.

Everything told to you is probably 100 accurate. I'm sure you are dealing with a coolant pump failure, but the truth is that you drove it at least 70 miles, once it had failed to the point where the vehicle was displaying codes and shutting down systems. IMO not a good idea.

It's water under the bridge. What is done is done. Given that the inverter is a transistor based system, and is evidently still working, then ascertaining what potential strain or damage or life shortening of the inverter was done by driving it 70 miles with a failing coolant pump is near to impossible.

If the inverter wasn't affected by heat, it wouldn't have coolant and a coolant pump connected to it by design...it was strained by the events, or it wouldn't of put itself in "self protect" mode.

It may be that the damage if any, is pretty minimal, and within the lifetime of your ownership you never experience another problem with either your 2nd coolant pump or The Inverter. But I think it's almost impossible to evaluate.

To be honest, I read of similar happenings in auto forums all the time. Not just Prius, and electronic inverters but any vehicle with any potential problem, engine, transmission...pick it....

And people will often choose to ignore...everything...warning lights, codes, sounds, tangible operation of the vehicle...all to "limp" it to a dealership and avoid the hassle and expense of towing the vehicle.

It is just my experience that it's almost never a good idea. Continuing to drive any vehicle displaying warning symbols and codes without definition of exactly what is happening is IMO not a wise choice. Over the phone...sight unseen, to give someone the advice to continue driving?

Ultimately as owner it's always your call and your vehicle and what you feel comfortable doing. Mechanically I can't say that there aren't situations where codes can appear, warning triangles or otherwise and it isn't safe to continue driving. Because they do exist. "Maybe" your situation was even one of them. Maybe you were able to make it to the dealership on a failed coolant pump, and do no long term damage to your inverter, or shorten it's life. But I think you'll never really know. I believe The Prius inverter to be a well designed, durable piece of equipment, posts of their failure are rare. The fact that yours is still operating after two coolant pump failures is testament to the fact that they are durable.

But in the future, I'd recommend towing. I don't trust dealerships, that might be part of my paranoia. But I figure, if your vehicle is under warranty? They don't care. Coolant pump failure? They'll replace it and charge it to your warranty. You drive in after 70 miles with a failed coolant pump AND a failed inverter?...again they don't care, they'll replace both.. and charge your warranty..

I don't think you did any immediate damage, and potentially perhaps unperceptable life shortening of your inverter. But really there is no way of knowing. It's worth the piece of mind, and IMO the correct thing to do, is tow it. The technician had you gamble, and you gambled. At this point there is no way of knowing how much that 70 miles may or maynot cost you and your Prius on the other end of ownership.

Given that once you arrived 70 miles later, you say that other system lights were showing a problem...including ABS...glad you made it, and it sounds like your Prius made it. So the clouds may part and all might be well.

 

Please help me out i have a prius 2004 in which runs good no problem on it, recently around 3 months i replace the P0A93 code the inverter pump the electric one in the fender with a new dealer one and 6 months earlier i replace the other pump down the fuse box the car. my car runs well but after all day using it long tris around town the vsc lights and red triangle lights up, i scan the car and no codes on it, then next day still the same and after driving it a little lights get off if i drive the car in short trips no problem but then after driving long ones lights come on again, then also get the car scan and the code P0A93 return but the part already replace recently, also i try to purge the system but the same problem can someone help me out on getting this solve????

 

Please help me out i have a prius 2004 in which runs good no problem on it, recently around 3 months i replace the P0A93 code the inverter pump the electric one in the fender with a new dealer one and 6 months earlier i replace the other pump down the fuse box the car. my car runs well but after all day using it long tris around town the vsc lights and red triangle lights up, i scan the car and no codes on it, then next day still the same and after driving it a little lights get off if i drive the car in short trips no problem but then after driving long ones lights come on again, then also get the car scan and the code P0A93 return but the part already replace recently, also i try to purge the system but the same problem can someone help me out on getting this solve????