Hello everyone,This is my GF 2002 prius,The car MUST be parked in the shade at all times and when not it must be covered by a tarp,failure to do so results in the turtle light coming on and if driven with turtle light the red exclamation will come on and the car is done till it cools down,The red exclamation happened twice but the turtle light is more common.She drives it like a baby to help the battery but Im in need of ideas on how we can keep this cabin and battery cooled better?she has ac cranking when driving and so far the only time these issues happen are when the car sits in the sun but its still teetering on that edge of too hot with summer getting bad. I checked the fan and it was clean,My only ideas now are to add another fan or something?or make a type if intercooler or swamp cooler effect with ice water.
With that much environmental heat and an old car there’s only so much you can do. Maybe consider a remote starter, so the AC can get a head start? If it were me I’d probably just accelerate my plans to trade up to something newer.
You have checked the inverter pump to make sure it is still working, correct? To be absolutely sure the problem is caused by too much heat in the cabin, I would think it would be worth your while to have the codes read by a hybrid compatible code reader.
I have my PRIUS in the HOT Florida sun=NO ISSUES It's not the summer heat...It's your battery- HAVE IT CHECKED OUT
It's likely not the battery, tho it could be the battery fan. Needs to be checked out. More likely, it's the inverter coolant pump. Not expensive to fix if you can do the labor yourself. Mine had the symptoms you describe, on a road trip. It cooled off and resolved, but I ended up replacing the pump and never looked back. And, btw, never replace the inverter coolant pump with a wrecking yard/used one. They are a wear item and good replacements are available from Amazon or Rock auto.
