2003 Fuel Pump Replacement caused from 12v battery dying?

[NVMYMPG]

Hello,

I have a 2003 Prius with 91K miles. I have NEVER had any warning lights come on, nor had to have any major maintenence done...only oil changes and tire rotations.

I noticed about two days ago it took a little longer for the car to fully start, so I went to the dealer to have my 12v battery replaced. They did a test, and it was indeed dead. About two hours later the battery was replaced and I was headed out the door to go home. I turned on the car and every blooming error message came up on the computer and dash. They had their maintenance tech run their computer through the car to see what was wrong with it.

This morning I received a call from the dealer that my car would need a new fuel pump, and it would total $700 for the tank/pump and labor. They tell me that the pump worked in overdrive to make up for the dying battery and that is why it needs replacing.

My question is, are they full of crap? Should a Toyota with 91K on it need a fuel pump replaced yet? How many of you have had to replace the fuel pump on your first generation prius?

[orange4boy]

B.S.

The pump could be dead (not likely) but a low 12V battery would not cause that. Absolutely not. I would love to hear them explain the theory behind that one. If it did you would find tons of gen1 owners having to replace their fuel pumps becaue the 12V battery commonly fails maybe due to overheating but probably due to undercharging. There is a tsb about this battery problem.

And look at my post about the warranty extension. It has to do with "no start" problems.

Get a second opinion! Stealerships can be horrible.

Check your TSBs:ODI - Office of Defects Investigation

This starting trouble happens often when you remove the battery. If you can get it to start, quickly put it in neutral and leave it there for a few minutes. Apparently this lets the computer relearn some part of it's programming. There are a few threads about this here.

I'm new to the Prius but have been researching all the common problems. I'm sure someone with more experience will post here soon. Good luck.

By the way your hybrid system is still under warranty so don't let them talk out of covering something because your 12V battery died. That's their problem.

[bwilson4web]

Owch!

The car is at the dealership so your options seem somewhat limited. But it is a fair thing to ask for the codes and subcodes that show the fuel pump has failed. Bring them here and we can look them up in the Toyota Maintenance Manuals and hopefully make sense.

As the other posted pointed out, replacing the 12 VDC battery typically loses the previously stored engine and vehicle parameters. It is not uncommon to have to start and restart the car several times for it to 'relearn' the trim and other parameters. Also, other things can cause misleading codes (my favorite is a sticky throttle plate.)

Share the codes and we can interpret them but without the diagnostic codes, we're blind too.

Bob Wilson

[NVMYMPG]

Okay so I went to the dealer and the error codes were P3191 and P3190.

[Patrick Wong]

This is a known problem. DTC P3191 and P3190 relate to engine does not start, or low power. It is unlikely that the fuel pump is bad unless the tech has measured fuel line pressure and found it to be below spec. More likely, you need the throttle body to be cleaned.

If the throttle body interior and throttle plate are clean and your iridium spark plugs are in good condition, the next thing to check is the engine ECU. The part number should be 89661-47054. If below that, it should be replaced; see TSB EG011-03. If your car is no longer under warranty you might be able to buy a salvage ECU for ~$300 or so. This ECU is located behind the glove box and can be seen when you remove it.
Computer Replacement Under TSB