Inverter water pump failure

When the inverter coolant pump failed, this caused the DC/DC converter to overheat and stop working. When the DC/DC converter stops, the Prius electrical system will rely upon the 12V battery to provide the needed power.

Since your battery is around 4 years old, it has limited storage capacity and apparently the heavy load placed on the battery was enough to kill it.

The battery price you were charged is pretty normal for a Toyota dealer retail parts sale. Keep in mind the battery is made in Japan (not Mexico or China.) If the $250 included installation labor then the price is "reasonable".

Optima provides an alternative source for a 12V battery but the price (not including installation) is not much lower than the amount you paid and judging from recent PC posts, the quality of that battery is suspect.

 

Your experience is almost identical to mine. I have a 2008 Prius with around 32k miles. I was furious that Toyota did not notify owners of the 2008 and 2009 that their inverter coolant pump could suddenly die (like in the middle of the expressway!) and I was also not told that this failure could than lead to the failure of the 12V battery. In my case, the Toyota service adviser knew immediately what the problem was with all the dashboard symbols coming on and the car dying (because of the inverter pump), but he was unable to later diagnose the failure of the 12V battery. He said the exclamation mark inside the red triangle is always there or that it meant a door was open. I am very disgusted with Toyota. But the knowledge I've gotten on this forum have been invaluable.

 

44000 Miles and 3 Pumps!
These coolant pumps seem to be a problem.
I have a 2005 Pruis, I do not put on a lot of miles.
In July 2010 I had the pump fail, cost to repair was $522, mileage was 28000.
Later that year, Toyota came out with the recall, and I sent in documentation, they refunded my cost.
3 years later, again in July (It's HOT 115 in Vegas in July)
Car now has 44,000 miles the pump failed again, another $522
Toyota said the replacement pumps were only warranted for 12 months, but they agreed to refund 25%
The dealers response to all of the was HORRIBLE (AutoNation Toyota of Las Vegas)
They also insisted on replacing the engine water pump (another $375)
It took 3 days to get my car back.

Clearly there is a serious problem with these pumps, or the circuity used to detect failures.
Maybe this car just doesn't work in a hot climates, like Vegas?

 

The inverter pump is now the subject of a recall, COU. The dealer just replaced mine for free.
If you had it replaced earlier, Toyota will reimburse you.

 

Yes for the first pump replacement, but no so for the second pump replacement.
They said when they replace the pump, it only has a 12 month warranty after that
So I had to pay for it, though they promised to reimburse 25%

 

That is an extremely rare circumstance. I wonder if there is something further amiss that is causing the pumps to fail too soon. Bad luck is possible, but considering that some people have gotten an order of magnitude more mileage from the same pump makes it seem that another factor is present. I can't come up with any suggestions other than perhaps some restriction in the coolant passages, or some corrosion issue due to improper alloy in the inverter heatsink.

 

I have a 2010 with 88,000+ miles. Have not had one single problem until...while driving to work this past Friday, the gas side of the engine cut off and reduced my speed to 13 mph, guessing it went directly to the battery side of the engine. I was just lucky enough to pull off the road. Had it towed to the dealership and that afternoon they told me it may be the inverter. Guy said they only have 2 people qualified to work on the Prius. They had already left for the day. Called Monday, yesterday, to confirm that it was the converter and Toyota was covering it under warranty. If it wasn't, it was going to cost $3,300. Should get it back today or tomorrow.

 

Hi I am new in here well I need some help with my car I just bought a 2nd car which is 2007 Prius I got from Japan so the dashboard is in Japanese 2 days ago I got a red triangle n chk engine light when I was goin for some work .before that in afternoon my ac stop working I turn off the car went for some work n when I came back it was working fine.later that day it stopped working again n after 10 mn red triangle n chk engine showed up.i took the car to machenic he put the computer n told me that the water pump is not working n u need to replace it which is around 150$ here in my country n some how the error disappeared right now my ac is working perfectly n I don't have any issue with the car what do u suggest should I change the water pump as soon as possible or wait for the error again.?

 

If you are referring to the inverter coolant pump, you can verify that it is not running by making the Prius READY, then looking at the inverter coolant reservoir, mounted on the side of the inverter, for fluid turbulence. If you do not see turbulence then the pump needs to be replaced.

 

I didnt get it ac is working right now n no red triangle now so the problem is still dere or not ?

 

Your symptoms are consistent with overheating, due to the pump not working. A short run, on a cool day, will not overheat the inverter system immediately. But the problem is there, as it is on most Gen II Prius, and you need to replace the pump now or face some much more serious problem, like inverter failure.

 

Fix it now, or a couple hundred dollar repair becomes a couple THOUSAND dollar repair.

 

Patrick: Interesting comments on failure mode:
I have a 2013 PIP. Car failed to start on 02 Jan 2014. It was replaced. Up until then the EV distance after full charge had been decreasing steadily 14.3km at time of failure. After replacement, back up to 22km. Now I have noticed that the EV distance is decreasing by exactly 0.2km per day of charge. It's been a perfectly linear decay of EV after full charge. I'm scheduling it for an appointment before it fails again.

BTW Overnight temps are -15C

Any thoughts on possible cause?
Michael

 

Hi Michael,

I assume that the traction battery was replaced in early January. I'm not very familiar with your model, but it is certainly possible that the very adverse cold ambient temps are not helping the traction battery's capacity.

 

Hi Patrick. My typing omission ... it was the 12 accessory battery. I know some users quote a drop in EV distance in the winter, but my concern is that it might be a lot worse. Your comments on the inverter pump and DC-DC converter are 2 items I'll have the dealership look at. Stand by ....

 

I have a 2004 Prius and got a hybrid battery fail code. Replaced for 2k. The next day I got a P0a94 inverter fail code. Replaced for 1k. Today the dash lit up like a Christmas tree, all lights, and I couldn’t get the car to go into gear. Wouldn’t get out of neutral. Now I’m being told I may have another inverter fail because of a P0a93 but won’t know til tomorrow. Do you think the inverter just installed will be fried now because of bad pump? If that is indeed the problem. 12v battery reads 11.8 after 1 button push, 11.5 after 2 button pushes.

 

I have a 2004 and my inverter pump has 5 electrical prongs and on the one I order it is 2 prongs any thoughts