2005 Prius generator died

what does your mech know about hybrids? the reason i ask is that the car cannot run on the engine alone.

the 'generator' as he calls it, is one of the motors inside the transaxle. if it does need a new motor, the whole transaxle should be replaced.

it would be best if you asked him for the trouble codes he scanned, and post them here.

 

Did you buy a BRAND NEW hybrid battery or did you buy a USED REFURBISHED battery?

If you bought a new one, did you get a Toyota OEM battery?

 

Find a new mechanic, one who understands the Prius hybrid system.

 

Maybe he's trying to tell you you need an inverter That's the silver top thing that says hybrid synergy drive or something like that on top of it when you open the hood it's right ahead of the driver so it's on the driver side. The inverters rarely go bad in the '04 to '09 models not saying that they don't but they are pretty stout that is what charges your 12 volt battery what charges your high voltage battery for the electric motors and runs your air conditioner so I'm guessing you're going to tell me your air conditioner does not work either or hasn't worked since you own the car? Or it did work and now it doesn't? Then I have to get some of the terminology straightened out there's no generator or alternator in a Prius per se there are motor generators in the transmission It's in one speed CVT or two electric motors inside.

 

The diagnosis is very rare for Gen2 Prius... It possible the symptoms are being confused with the fact the car runs on engine alone when the dash lights come on to protect the hybrid drivetrain from being damage.

Once you clear the dash lights/error codes the car will run on both hybrid and gas engine again.

So a smart question to ask your mechanic is how quickly do the warning lights come back on if you drive it after you clear all the error codes. That will help you better determine how accurate this diagnosis is, or if there might be other issues too?

 

I’m almost certain you have a battery failure. Read the codes and you’ll know

 

If you can get him to show you a part number or a picture of the part, you can post that and we'll all know what we're all talking about.

 

Yeah well the generator as in motor generator 1 and 2 that are in the CVT one speed transmission You should be able to buy those all day long from the junkyard for about $200 I get them for free I have two lay in place right now. That's a transmission and inside of it is your backup motor for reverse You know you don't get any gas engine for reverse when you're backing up in the gas engine comes on it's just for charging the battery running the inverter to make the motor work to back up your car. And then the other one is your generator alternator if you want to call it that and another drive motor all in one or what have you If you could buy that transmission new I would guess it might be about $3,000 sounds reasonable I would imagine Toyota might offer a remanufactured. If you blast one apart on your bench or look at the videos that the guy makes down in Florida the hybrid training school or whatever you can see the transmission apart there's not much to it replacing MG1 and it's bushings or bearings or whatever goes on in there is probably really not much of a to do. But with JDM replacements from the low mileage JDM market going for about 200 bucks seemingly what's the point. I can't think of anything on the Prius that's going to cost $3,000 or over a thousand used except for the main things the break actuator buddy of mine just bought one for $1,200 and some change online picked up at the store. The hybrid HV battery a Toyota one a new one whatever now is around $2,400. And those are the expensive parts on the generation 2 as far as I know. So I'm not sure what he wants you to know is $1,000 used or $3,000 new but it's one of these things we're talking about here I'm sure because there's only so many things on the car that generate electricity like a generator.

 

unfortunately, only the mech knows what part he is talking about because of the description.
it's not the tranny or motor because the price is too low.
it might be the inverter, they are expensive new, but only around $250. salvage, and he might be marking it up

 

How do you know the battery in the totaled car was not a rebuilt one? The local rebuilders may not put any stickers or anything on the case to indicate the rebuild, it would look just like a stock battery even though it was a hodgepodge of modules from different sources.

Also, as everyone else says, post the error codes or we would just be guessing.

 

We see this alot.

If the mechanic says its the Inverter great have him show you the code his hybrid capable code reader pulled. Post it here. That will tell you exactly if the Inverter has failed. On this car without a definitive code its just a educated guess, In this case an extremely expensive guess at how big your wallet is.
Takes 15 seconds to pull this code. He just plugs in his code reader into the OBD port under the steering wheel. Push a button there you go.
15 seconds.

Whats really common is a failed INVERTER COOLING PUMP. In fact that's probably why your inverter failed if it did fail..

The Inverter is the heart and soul of a Prius. It takes the hybrid battery dc voltage and changes it into 3 Phase AC for the mg's and the ac compressor. It charges the hybrid battery via the mg's and also charges the 12 volt battery.

.The Inverter on this car is extremely tough and long lasting UNLESS the Inverter coolant was never changed and it saw poor cooling for quite a while. Its a very important maintenance item.
Most knowledgeable people on this site change there Inverter coolant alot its easy and cheap and your protecting the Inverter.
Plus it will increase your mileage.

I changed my cars coolant 4 times.

I looked on ebay used Inverters are going for around $200 each.

Good Luck.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/234902619678?epid=657985219&hash=item36b149861e:g:3UYAAOSwGAVhm5ef&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8M1dkUYyDRemBIeOGfUlYhggdnOVmS6MrJXlBDB1wdxqo%2Fv%2Bc1%2FX1HS0zI9EPmVtNaHDbr2RIyQKwaHr8XcZTLMUk5V6MdKKjDOMvVhXwGCo4RaO7gXe3SrWeiXYA4XZAQPJrLldXz4JVmXoIuhQ0p0HqFsIyDKufbOwfVjiWtbGm%2Fb4AD7%2Fo8M5wFQNg7cjnzNOv4Fx7wdU3oJHZgRArSgkAhYucJVRBQFqSKVjTk8CAojk9N6LTt%2B5TSzvpPImgI9KqCBxHKDDWeWWydX6jxjYzaJrGSSebM84D799rUsRpR2AN5QK0JTzX3NvUnmubA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR-TgisC0Yg

 

Your scanner must be hybrid capable. Any old OBD scanner may not pull the codes

Check AM2 fuse first. That's the inverter coolant pump fuse.Its in the black fuse box under the hood.

Your welcome.