Inverter Coolant Pump takes a dive

You can get a definitive diagnosis of this problem for free:

Turn the car on to IG (orange light on the power button - press the power button without stepping on the brake). Listen for the pump. If no sound, or you're not sure, open up the coolant reservoir (top middle of engine compartment, just left of the inverter as you look in from the front of the vehicle). Look for turbulence. If none, the pump isn't working. (Thanks to lusciousgarage.com for this info. lusciousgarage.com also has a video of what to look for, though they incorrectly say you only need 1 qt of SLLC. The video also shows you exactly where the inverter pump is.)

In his post "How to Replace the Inverter Coolant Pump" (written after this post first appeared), Patrick Wong identifies the best place to get a replacement pump:
G9020-47031 MSRP $116, Net $88 for weborders at Champion Toyota, Houston

(My dealer repair department said they had no pump in stock, and had no ETA for a replacement. They suggested I find the pump myself, and they'd do me the favor of putting it in for the low low price of $250 + SLLC coolant + tax > $300. It's easy to see that little pump just sitting there. How hard could it be to swap in a new one?

The part I wasn't sure about was bleeding the system. When I went to the service counter at my Toyota dealer to buy some SLLC, the technician there told me that they just drive the car around the block to bleed it. Hearing that was the green light for me to do it myself.)

Here's how I did it. I'm no auto mechanic. I'd only changed the oil in my Prius before this. 5 months later, I've had no problems. It's satisfying to fix a problem in the hybrid system with no special tools. Regular mechanics won't touch it.

Tools:

Ratchet wrench, 10 mm, 12 mm, 24 mm sockets. 10" extension.
Vise grips
Flat-bladed screwdriver
Flashlight
funnel
basin
microfiber cloth (to clean up)

Toyota Service manual (pages HY-58 to 60) describes how to change the coolant, including how to bleed the lines. But it says to remove the under engine covers, which means jack up the car, meaning jack stands, jack, wheel chocks, i.e. a bunch of equipment that's most likely going to go unused in the future. Forget all that. (Patrick Wong concurs.)

Take off the engine cover (easy, just held on by 6 expansion screws), fuse box cover. Then the inverter bracket that blocks access to the pump (just behind the driver's side headlight). Use a ratchet with a 12 mm socket. Don't remove the pump bracket or fuse box.

Instead of removing the pump bracket, remove the three 10 mm screws holding the pump to the bracket. You'll need an extension to the ratchet.

Now open up the reservoir cap. The object is to drain enough coolant so you can replace the pump without spilling coolant all over the place.

Scoot underneath the front of the car to find the drain plug. Art's automotive (search for 30K service at artsautomotive.com) has some nice pictures of it. You'll need a big socket (24 mm) to loosen it; a crescent wrench won't work. Loosen it just enough to start the coolant draining into the basin you put underneath. Wait until the coolant stops dripping.

The hardest part is next.

Use Vise grips to move the hose clamps; pliers or even a Channelock didn't work for me.

Once you move those hose clamps, the hoses are tough to get off. Remove them from their guides to get a little slack, then seesaw them off.

Turn the pump upside down. Be gentle. Don't tug on the connector! Insert a flat-bladed screwdriver into the little slot, and push out the tab holding the electrical connector to the pump. Now you can remove the pump.

The rest is easy.

To assemble, attach the electrical connector to the new pump. Screw the pump onto the bracket. Connect the lower hose, upper hose. Move the hose clamps back. Place the hoses back in their guides. Screw the inverter bracket back on.

Tighten up the drain plug. 29 ft-lb is the torque. Without a torque wrench, 29 pounds with a 1-ft lever means press hard.

Put a funnel on the coolant reservoir, and pour SLLC in until it reaches the full line. Start up the car in IG mode (orange light on the power button), and wait about 20 seconds while listening to the pump. Power down. The coolant level will drop significantly, so add more. Repeat until the level doesn't drop and the pump sounds quiet and smooth. The reservoir tank liquid should be turbulent.

Assuming success, replace the fuse box cover, engine cover. Drop the hood. Pour the coolant into a container for later disposal at a recycling facility. Put away tools.

Drive the car a short distance. This will clear the error codes. There may be some air left in the system, so check the coolant level and add more as needed. Look for coolant on the floor. If none, pat yourself on the back.

Thanks to artsautomotive.com, lusciousgarage.com, and torrent sites for the Toyota service manual.

 

Thanks to everybody for this thread!

My 2005 Prius died with 75,000. We were waiting for a left-turn signal when all of a sudden, there was a bad smell. Then, the power went on the fritz and the warning triangle came on the screen with the word "PROBLEM." Then everything shut down. In trying to power up again, nothing happened except for blank squares where the "drive, reverse, braking, park" indicators should have been on the dash.

Luckily, I'm still under warranty and the dealership took care of it. It's the first one that my service rep has seen fail like this.

 

That's pretty much what happened to mine, I thought I had fried something very expensive, it was just the coolant pump not working and then overheating the electronics. ( I had some smoke from the front, unknown what exactly caused that).
Some poor soul may be in front of a semi when this happens, of course there won't be much to explain what happened. I think the car needs extra warning gauges for the inverter temp, I have them.

 

Add another one to the list -- I had to sit at an on-ramp yesterday in 100F weather for about 10 minutes; once I got on the freeway, the car sounded funny, and then up popped the big triangle, check engine, and no VSC -- the A/C gave up very soon afterwards.

This morning, I brought the car into Capitol Toyota (San Jose) -- diagnosis: failed inverter cooling pump. Repaired free under Toyota Auto Care Extended Warranty (otherwise about $330).

2005 package 6, 62K miles.

 

Does anyone have advice for getting this part? The dealer is telling me it is backordered nationwide with no ETA. It has been almost a week! I'm stuck paying for a rental and Toyota will only cover half the cost. I'm out of the 60,000 mile warranty and was quoted $520 for the part and repair. This dealership charges an outrageous $120/hr for labor.

 

Our coolant pump was replaced a couple of weeks ago. 57K miles on an 04 Prius. Cost $500 to replace. Is the 60K/5 year powertrain warranty effective on pre-owned cars? And does the warranty begin on the date the car was sold?

 

Sorry. but the inverter coolant pump is covered under the 36k/3yr warranty, not the power train warranty. See TSB EG001-08.

JeffD

 

I bought my pump last week. I going to just keep it on the shelf until needed.

 

Very wise. The pump appears hard to get. Who knows how long Toyota will keep producing it, now that the 2010's are out?

 

I wound up having to track the part down myself after the dealer told me they were back ordered from Toyota until Aug. 5. Facing a $300 rental bill, I managed to convince Champion Toyota in Texas to part with one of their scant remaining pumps. They did me a huge favor by overnighting it right to my local dealership. All told, the repair, part and rental ran me $580, $20 over my initial quote (I ended up getting the part for $25 less that I was quoted, even with overnight shipping -- boo dealer mark-ups -- making up for some of the rental).

I was charged for three hours of labor even though many posts indicated it should take an hour or maybe two.

Sigh.

 

1. Champion Toyota - Houston is a great parts source, they have always fulfilled my orders accurately and promptly.

2. Since the servicing dealer didn't make a profit on the part they probably felt inclined to make it up on the labor charge... John's post #61 provides a good explanation about how to DIY replace the part, his suggestion not to replace the pump bracket is worthy of note if you wish to keep the job easier. I also posted recently on the subject.

 

I just got my pump delivered today from Champion Toyota ordered on 7/16.

 

Wow,

I wish I hadn't read this thread!! My '05 has 149K trouble free miles and my inverter pump will no doubt fail in the next week!! Since it sounds inevitible maybe I should start to get one of these pumps lined up so I'm ready. I try to get preventative stuff done to avoid such breakdowns, is the inverter coolant something that gets drained/filled at a regular interval? I've had the radiator drained/filled and the trans drained/filled twice and about ready for a 3rd time. Should the inverter coolant be part of a maintainance routine?

A kid I know on the next block just got a '10, maybe I should work a trade!!???!!!!!

Always a pleasure to read posts here and learn what makes these beasts tick!

Regards,

Joe

 

Hi Joe,

Yes, the inverter coolant is supposed to be replaced at the same frequency as the engine coolant i.e., 100K miles for the factory fill coolant, then subsequent changes at every 50K miles. If you do not replace the coolant there's some likelihood that the cooling channels within the inverter may clog up.

 

Hi Patrick,

Thank your for the inverter coolant info. Since I'm about to the point for the radiator coolant drain/fill again I will plan on having them do the inverter coolant at the same time. Almost all of my miles are highway so maybe since the car is only a little past 3 1/2 years young the inverter coolant isn't very badly degraded or gunked up. Anyone know a ball park price on what the dealer will charge for the inverter service? Also am I right that it's a drain/fill and not a flush/fill?

You guys and gals are the best!!

Joe

 

Patrick,

I just checked my invoice from the dealer for the radiator drain/fill they did at 99,195 miles. It lists

coolant adverter drained and filled
0 general code
35 LY, DE LIC#: 35
CTM
1 00272-1LLAC Antifreeze/coolant
So I wonder did they do the radiator or the inverter coolant drain/fill? You guys know what the adverter is!!?? LOL!!

Joe

 

This does appear to be a weak link, however; I believe all who posted on here with a failure except one were pre-2007. The TSB states that changes were made to the pump assembly so it would appear they have fixed the vast majority of the problems for 2007 going forward.

Kirk

 

I doubt both were changed, and I don't know how you are ever going to be sure which was actually done. I would demand they change both now, and charge for one.

 

Hi Joe,

My guess is that the inverter coolant had been changed, if anything had actually been done. $60 is not a sufficient charge to cover the labor and coolant used if the engine and inverter cooling systems had been serviced. ~10 quarts of coolant are needed, so they should charge you for 3 US gallons or ~$65 just for the coolant. Labor time would probably be at least two hours.