Red Death Triangle, Yello exclamation, check eng, and VSC lites all on

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by steelva, Sep 13, 2022.

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  1. steelva

    steelva Junior Member

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    While driving thru the somewhat hilly portion of central PA yest, these 4 warning lites suddenly came on in my 2008 Prius. (red triangle, yello exclamation, VSC, and Check eng.) If I'd been in Vegas, I reckon I'd be quite pleased with this robust, colorful hand that was dealt. :(

    I quickly checked the tire pressure, and of course that isn't the problem.

    I've perused a bunch of prior posts about this, but I don't see a trend, or what the root cause is. Am out of town for work, and don't have my OBD-2 reader handy, but I've already ordered one and will get it hopefully tonite.

    The car drove fine for the 100 miles I had to drive to get to my place of work. When I stopped for a break, the VSC and yellow exclamation would be gone when I turned the car back on, but then 15 minutes later they would re-appear. I won't drive her at this point; will drive 'er next week 200 miles to where I live, and have a reliable mechanic look at her.

    Any words of wisdom here on what this issue is? Thanx.
     

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    #1 steelva, Sep 13, 2022
    Last edited: Sep 13, 2022
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    When you don't have one handy, but you have lights from certain systems like ABS, VSC, ((!)), or a few others, then a short piece of skinny wire is your friend. You can get codes from those systems in a jiffy by poking that wire between the Tc and CG terminals of your diagnostic port, turning the car ON, and counting flashes on those dash lights. (A quick search can find other threads here with more info.)

    You can't get info from all systems that way, and the information you can get may be a little less complete than a scan tool would give you, but it's still some information on what the car is complaining about, rather than shooting in the dark.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Sep 13, 2022
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  3. steelva

    steelva Junior Member

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    My OBD-2 scanner arrived promptly, so I put it to work. Turns out the error code is P0A93 -- Inverter Water Pump Failure.

    I did a quick search on this board......looks like there's no less than about 79 threads discussing this error code. Reckon I'll swap out this inverter when I get a chance, and see if that takes care of this avalanche of warning lights.

    In the meantime, if anyone has had a similar wrestling match with the P0A93 code, appreciate any wisdom you can share. Thanx.
     
    #3 steelva, Sep 13, 2022
  4. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Why are you going to change the inverter? That won't make the inverter water pump work any better. I'd change the pump.
     
    #4 jerrymildred, Sep 13, 2022
  5. steelva

    steelva Junior Member

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    Yer right, Jerry..... I was typing too fast after a long day at work. I already have the part # -- G9020-47031. I guess technically it's called an electric inverter water pump. :)
     
    #5 steelva, Sep 13, 2022
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  6. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    It's not super hard to replace. Loosen the driver's side of the front bumper cover so you can remove the headlight. The pump will be under there. I like to use clamps to pinch off the three hoses so you don't lose more than a small dribble of coolant.
     
    #6 jerrymildred, Sep 13, 2022
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  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The last one I changed, I was away from home and most of my tools. I unbolted the pump with the hoses attached, lifted it as high as I could, near the level in the reservoir, and slipped the hoses off with strips of Saran Wrap from the kitchen in my hands, smoothed it over the hose ends and put rubberbands around.

    Worked. Lost very little coolant.
     
    #7 ChapmanF, Sep 13, 2022
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