Hybrid battery -- Warning lights - Brake, Hybrid, Master, and Check Engine

I took it to the dealer. They asked me if the AC was still working and since it was, he said that was a good sign. End result = Inverter Water Pump is out and need to change out the drive belt too.

He wants to charge me $380 for the Water Pump & $125 for the Drive Belt... he said that was at his cost, which is 15% lower than what he says it should be.

Is this a good deal? Does it sound normal?

I'm a newbie.

 

Funny you say that. I brought in my Prius when it just crossed the 100K mark. The symptoms were the exact same. All of the dash board lights, etc. The dealer found code P0A93 and replaced the inverter pump. They originaly tried to charged me $546. The problem is that they called me at 5:00 PM to tell me they found the problem (i.e. read the code off of the computer) and then called me at 6:00 PM to tell me it was ready.

When I went to pick it up they billed me for 3 hours of service! I raised a fuss because it would have been impossible for them to get 3 hours of work done in just 1 hour. They told me "it's the standard book rate." Long story short I raised enough fuss that they only charge me for 1 hour labor so the totlal cost was $230 (pump and labor).

The inverter pump itself was $130 and they didn't replace the belt (maybe they should have, I don't know).

Forgot to mention, there was an extra $25 charge for the inverter coolant

 

Really? $130 bucks, eh? An hour of labor? Hhmmm.... I know someone who can build cars, boats and sand cars from ground up, I'm wondering if he could help me out.

Any idea how hard it is to replace?

 

Changing the inverter pump is something any mechcanic could do.

According to my receipt the part number for the inverter pump is G9020-47031 (mine is 2005) and the coolant they used is 00272-SLLC2.

At the same time I had the 100K service done and they did a regular (non-hybrid) coolant flush. Even though the receipt shows "Super Long Life Coolant" and "Super Long Life Inverter Coolant" the product code is the same. So, it seems they used the same coolant for that service.

 

some of you may be eligible for the free inverter coolant pump replacement. There's a Limited Service Campaign AON for 2004 to 2007 models referred to here:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ump-dealer-letter-technical-instructions.html

 

One week later and no traction battery insight. Still "in trancient" as in coming from Japan. I took the info of 300+ back ordered not to mean 300 in need right now, but that the usual in USA stock was depleted. Rental car working fine. Hope this happens to no one else but if it does, tell them there is a precedent for them paying for a rental car, and get yours today.

 

That is very very true. Can't believe I didn't think of that. I had my inverter pump replaced under the recall last Tuesday when I took it to get diagnosed for bad hybrid battery.

 

cbourque,

I'm a little confused. In your last post you say you had the inverter pump replaced under the recall last Tuesday [that would be totally free since your 2005 Prius falls within the year range of the recall---actually the wrong term here---it is a "Limited Service Campaign" (as direstraits71 mentioned above) honored through November of 2013].

But in your 2nd post before that, you say they charged you $230 for the pump & labor and another $25 for the coolant. That ALL should have been free (including the coolant) under the Limited Service Campaign if it was your INVERTER coolant pump that got replaced, but now since I see you mentioned they didn't replace your belt (there isn't a belt for the INVERTER coolant pump), either they charged you the $255 when they shouldn't have (& of course no belt to be changed) or you had the ENGINE coolant pump replaced (which I believe does have a belt) & there is no recall or Limited Service Campaign on that pump so you would have had to pay for the pump, labor, & coolant as you say they charged you for. Which was it?

By the way, it IS the SAME coolant used in BOTH systems . It's just that they are 2 separate systems with 2 separate radiators.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

I got the Red Triangle of Death and the Hybrid System Problem indicator this past Sunday. Am scheduled to take it into the dealership tomorrow (Sat.) However, I went out this evening powered it up and no bad lites! I drove it around some, about 10 miles, and everything appears to be OK. Wonder if it is worth it to keep the appointment. Could a failing 12V battery cause problems in the hybrid system? That's about the only thing I can think of that could cause this transient problem. I have an 06 Prius and have not changed the 12V battery. I did have to get the inverter pump replaced this past August.

 

If your car currently does not show warning lights then I suggest you cancel the appt. It is possible that a weak 12V battery may be causing spurious problems. Turn on the headlights when the car is IG-OFF, wait several minutes and see how bright the lights are. If the lights are weak that is good evidence the battery is discharged.

 

Don't take your car to a dealer if it seems to be working OK. They will shrug and say no codes, no problem.

One thing that can happen when there is an issue with the HV system is that the DC converter will shut down, leaving the car's electronics to run on the little 12V battery in the back. An old one will deplete rapidly, and has the unfortunate consequence of erasing codes on most ECUs just before it quits. A while later, when you try the car again, the 12V has just enough juice to get things going, and then the abscence of codes has the DC converter running just fine. If we knew the sequence of events last Sunday, it might be possible to draw better conclusions.

A car can go for months in cold weather/short trips with a bad inverter cooling pump. Not that yours is bad, but there is a possibility that it was installed incorrectly. Please look at the link below and check the fluid level in the inverter cooling pump reservoir with the car off, and check it for turbulence when the car is in Ready. Also, you should check the 12V, but this will not usually cause a problem if the car can be made Ready.

Luscious Garage | Blog | Prius Code P0A93: Inverter Water Pump Failure

http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html

 

Patric you can add me to the list of Gen. II Prius owners with a bad HV Battery.
Symptoms were the same as described above. I got the same answere of 300 in back order with no idea on when a battery could be found.

Dealer claims cells in block 9 are bad. I am entertaining the idea of getting replacement cells and fixing the thing myself. ReInvolt has not answered my email for a rebuilt battery quote.

Do you have a step by step list on battery removal/ cell replacement/ and reconnection. Also a reliable source for the cells.

 

I would offer you techinfo.toyota.com as the official Toyota repair manual source. This will show you how to safely remove and reinstall the traction battery assembly.

It is potentially hazardous to remove and reinstall individual modules. Also, the long-term success of that is questionable as it is likely that additional modules will fail over time.

Regardless, that activity has been done numerous times and there are several Internet postings about how to do this. I'll leave it to you to perform that research if you wish to do that project.

eBay Motors offers a few salvage batteries and battery modules for sale. It is unclear how reliable those vendors are.

The selection of salvage batteries is much smaller and more costly than I recall when I last looked. This seems to further confirm that the 2G traction battery failure rate is accelerating, at least to the point where the demand (from failed batteries out of warranty) has absorbed the supply (from crash vehicles.)

 

I got a refurbished HV battery from Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs in Sanford, NC for $1600 (including shipping, he will also do the install for about $300. My dealer did it for $400). He may have recently increased his price a bit due to inflation in the cost of materials. I do now have a set of modules from my old battery that I will test/rebalance this summer and plan on putting the good ones up on eBay.

JeffD

 

My theory on this is that Reinvolt and others have picked off the cheapest batteries out there in order to rebuild Gen I batteries as well as replace failed ones in Gen II. I have purchased a couple myself for experimental purposes. Or, you may be right Patrick, that we are seeing the leading edge of a failure cascade, assuming that time is the primary determinent of failure. If so, Toyota will have some very serious problems in light of the CARB warranty that would cover tens of thousands of Gen IIs when their batteries die.

Cell conditioning will extend the life of the remaining good ones. This is a better practice than simply replacing the bad module. I just finished up with a battery out of a 2004 and see anywhere from 6.3 - 6.6 amp hours of capacity after conditioning.

How many miles on your car Bill?

 

Seilerts,

I just received my Supermate DC6 series battery reconditioner and have my failed HV battery on my work bench. What conditioning protocol do you use? My current plan is to re-balance each good module with a 1amp discharge/5amp charge (still looking at the delta V setting) for 5 cycles and record the capacity before offering it for sale on eBay.

JeffD

 

The car has logged 117,111 miles without any maintenance except for gas and oil.
I have contacted the dealer for a complete diagnostic report but not gotten it yet. They didn't mention anything about Cell Conditioning.

 

Toyota dealers can only test or replace the HV battery. Some hobbyists (like me and Selierts) and battery refurbishers (eg. Re-InVolt) recondition/balance their rebuilt batteries (actually each individual 7.2 volt battery module).

JeffD

 

Hi Jeff,

You can try 5 cycles, but I have found a distinct plateau in the discharge quantity at 3. The nice thing is that you get the discharge and charge amp-hours over all 5 cycles.

The discharger is via a 5W power resistor so you will likely see 0.7A to start with.

Best practice is to leave the battery in its carrier, and have a fan blowing on the assembly. The charging process will generate heat and pressure, particularly within 1 amp-hour of full charge. I've never had more than 10 chargers going at once, and I never charge adjacent modules. For safety, it is also a good idea to remove bus bars -- you still have >100VDC at your fingertips otherwise. If you are planning on selling the whole assembly, then it is also a good idea to clean the bus bars and sense wire connection.

 

Bill, I'm sorry to hear about your early failure. Unfortunately, your dealer will only offer to install a "new" battery, replete with a 1 year warranty.