Few warning lights came on but no difference in driving?

How old is your 12v battery? If original--consider replacing it.

 

Possibly inverter coolant pump.

It likely isn't a problem with your 12V battery because when you're driving, the 12V battery isn't used - the inverter supplies all the 12V power.

You have an '05 (so it's an older Prius) and these pumps are a known weak point.

Good Luck!

 

So a whole bunch of warning lights come on but you just keep driving. Then something major craps out. Geez, what are the chances of that happening!

 

What does "right, bottom, corner" mean?

Did this smoke come from behind the driver's side headlight assembly, which is where the inverter coolant pump is located? If so, then the pump motor had a short which caused the plastic to melt and this smoke to form. This should be covered by the 5 year / 60K mile powertrain warranty.

If the smoke came from some other area, please try to describe the location more precisely.

 

Yes, as long as the car does not have a salvage title.

 

It is true that if there is no 12V power then the car cannot be easily moved. Since your car's battery was 5 years old I can well believe that it died and needed to be replaced.

Unfortunately, since you did not replace the 12V battery earlier as a "preventive" move, you now are at the mercy of the Servco Pacific service dept's rapacious pricing policy. By the way, continental US MSRP on the Toyota 12V battery is $139. However some mainland Toyota dealers are not ashamed to charge a similar price net of installation ($300 or more), as you face.

Regarding the question of warranty: if you correctly installed the 12V battery then there would be no failure and hence no warranty issue. If you botch the battery installation then naturally you would not expect Servco Pacific to cover that repair w/o charge.

If your car should have an electronics failure in the future and there is any way that the tech can attribute that failure to the customer-installed battery, then you'll be on your own.

 

1. Yes, you should have been consulted before any work chargeable to you was done. However, consider the towing fee from the service center to your home - that would eat into the savings if you DIY installed the 12V battery.

2. What was the root cause of your car's failure? The blown fuse was a symptom, not the root cause. If the root cause was not identified, expect a repeat occurrence.

3. If you can identify which fuse had blown, we may be able to give you advice regarding the root cause.

 

I assume that you have the car back now?

If true, make the car IG-ON. To do this, start from IG-OFF, then press the POWER button twice, without depressing the brake pedal. Now you should see all of the instrument panel warning lights. (Don't leave the car like this very long, since the 12V battery is drained heavily when the car is in this operating mode.)

Open the hood and look for the inverter coolant pump located behind the driver's headlight assembly. Listen for the sound of it running. It should sound like an aquarium pump and you should not hear the sound of bubbles.

Also look at the inverter coolant reservoir mounted next to the inverter. The fluid level at the very rear should be higher than the fluid level elsewhere in the reservoir. If you open the reservoir cap you should see some fluid turbulence. This shows that the inverter pump is running.

If you don't hear and see evidence that the inverter pump is running, then look at the pump exterior carefully. Do you see any burn marks or evidence of overheating?

My guess is that the inverter pump has died. Please let me know whether this guess is accurate or not.

 

1. The part number of the correct 12V battery is 28800-21170. MSRP in the continental US is $138.70. For example, see the Champion Toyota - Houston website and look up that part number:
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=searchCatalogOEM&siteid=213747

2. Call the parts dept of your dealer to find out the over-the-counter price for the battery. Compare that price to $138.70.

3. Compare the price that you determined in #2 above, vs. $350 to determine the labor charge.

4. If you are outraged by the outcome of your analysis, then complain to the appropriate dealer staff who might be able to do something about your complaint.

5. Also I suggest that you complain that the root cause of your problem has not yet been determined, and ask that the tech inspect the inverter coolant pump to see if it is running.

6. If the pump is still good, then it would be helpful to know the exact name of the fuse that had been replaced. Good luck.

 

Had an identical situation occur last night. Driving down the road, multiple warning lights come on and the car died. We barely had time to pull over to the side of the road as we were going uphill. After dieing the car would power up the radio, dome lights, etc. but beyond that if you tried to crank (brake depressed) or enter IG-ON (twice w/o brake) everything would flash for about 1/2 to 1 second and then die. Had the car towed home and researched the forum last night.

Went out this morning and the first fuse I pulled (A2) was blown. Checked everything else and it was good. This successfully enabled me to get the car into IG-ON where the warning triangle continues to exist. I debated whether or not to try to crank it before I went to get a code reader but decided to try to check and see if it would run for just a few seconds. Stupid idea, as within 20 seconds of the engine cranking smoke started eminating from the grill and under the plastic cover. Seemed like it was near where you say the pump is located. Before I could get around to shut it off the fuse blew again and all the lights including the fuel gauge and PRNDB were flashing.

On the way to get new fuse so I can repower and look at code. Will also check pump for any damage or burn marks.

Thanks for any help or idea you have.

 

Forgot to mention it is a 2005 with 170K+ miles. Update: All indications are it is the inverter pump. Went to read the codes but there are no codes just a big red triangle. The fuse barely lasted long enough to read the codes so I finally just disconnected and removed the pump. Now the car will power up and crank as normal. At least I was able to get it into the garage and out of the cold where the wrecker dumped it last night in the yard. New pump will go in tomorrow and I will post results.