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2005 Prius won't start

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Cezarcaz, Nov 14, 2014.

  1. Cezarcaz

    Cezarcaz Member

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    Thank you to all who sent in tips. Just wanted to share the solution to my problem. The problem was this pump.
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1416093937.067873.jpg
    Went bad and blew this fuse ImageUploadedByTapatalk1416094043.955244.jpg
    ImageUploadedByTapatalk1416094113.361038.jpg
    After replacing the pump and bleeding the coolant lines I also replaced the 15amp fuse.

    Happy to report car is running and ready to go.

    By the way my car is a
    2005 Prius 2 with 275k and this is the first problem it has ever given me. Everything else has just been regular maintenance.

    Thank you again to all who responded to this topic.
     
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  2. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    There was / is a ongoing recall on the inverter pump. Had it ever been changed before? You can get a refund on parts and they will rein spect .
     
  3. Cezarcaz

    Cezarcaz Member

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    Thank you for the feed back. The recall had already been done.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats! well done.(y)
     
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  5. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Apologies got to admit I missed that one. The pump fails in two basic modes.
    (1) The pump fails to turn because it goes open circuit or seizes. This causes the inverter to shut down through overheating. Turning the car off, and allowing it to cool allows it to be driven again "till it overheats again".
    (2) The pump motor goes short circuit, and blows the fuse with the results you now know. This is not so common as the first scenario.
    The fault has been traced by Toyota to scratched motor winding's in production "the reason for the recall". It would be worth a phone call to Toyota Corporate to see if they are willing to contribute towards the cost of the repairs particularly if you car has low miles. Given the correct attitude in the call they are known to be sympathetic.
    I believe these pumps have been the subject of two recalls. The first for bearing failure, and the pump was replaced with a modified version. The second due to possible scratched winding's in production. This was considered a safety hazard because of the possibility of cars shutting down in the middle of the freeway.
    Thanks for returning with the information as this will no doubt help someone else in the future.

    John (Britprius)
     
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  6. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the update.

    Do you know at what odometer reading the inverter pump had been previously replaced under recall?

    How did you bleed the coolant lines prior to replacing the fuse? Did you use a vacuum device to move fluid through the system? Normally you would have the inverter coolant pump running to bleed that system.
     
    #26 Patrick Wong, Nov 16, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2014
  7. Cezarcaz

    Cezarcaz Member

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    Sorry for the confusion, I changed the pump replaced the fuse them bleed. You are absolutely correct the inverter coolant pumps has to be running to bleed the system.
     
  8. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

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    Hey Cezarcaz,

    Who determined the root cause of the problem. You? Or did someone else?

    As an owner of an 05 with over 200K miles I'm especially interested in finding out how many miles your second HV inverter coolant pump lasted. The first one in mine lasted 180K miles. The second one has been running for 48K miles.

    It seems this little pump was underengineered (hard to believe that Toyota would slip up on this).

    Another reason for me to be cautious and not drive my Prius several hundred miles away from home. If the pump failed and blew the fuse in an inconvenient location (interstate highway) and date (think middle of the winter and bitter cold (<0°F)) I would curse myself for taking a stupid risk by driving it then. My Prius is now a local car - never driven >30 miles one way from home.
     
  9. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    It would appear Toyota slipped up more with the supply electrics to the pump than the pump it's self. Why was it not on it's own fuse so that a short within the pump would not immediately shut down the car. Monitor the pump current through the ECU? No current, no pump = warning light or DTC light. The car could then be driven in the same way as it is when the pump fails in other modes, but even this should have a warning/DTC light.
    A small modification using a relay fed from the pump supply switching on the pump fed via a separate fuse would be easy to accomplish.

    John (Britprius)
     
  10. Cezarcaz

    Cezarcaz Member

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    I'm original pump was changed with the recall when the car had 141k
     
  11. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Maybe everyone should just replace their pump every 100k miles to prevent this from happening.
     
  12. Cezarcaz

    Cezarcaz Member

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    Sounds like a good idea
     
  13. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    A poor connection can still show the right voltage. It may not be able to pass enough amps to start the car.
     
  14. stonerider

    stonerider Member

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    How difficult is it to replace the inverter coolant pump?
     
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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  16. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    Well, I'm glad the system won't run without an inverter cooling pump.

    I had a bad experience with an HP laptop with something like this. My niece left it turned on, sitting on a bed. It overheated and fried the motherboard. The warranty was voided due to "abuse." I'm sure motherboards normally have thermal overheating protection by default, but HP must have disabled it, after some financial analyst decided it was a good way to make extra money on repairs. It didn't work on me; I swore off the brand and haven't bought one of their products since.
     
  17. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    Great idea, let's spend the most money possible. The dealers will love us forever. ;)
     
    #37 GregP507, Nov 27, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2014
  18. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    And I am sure that they are NOT, based on 20 years of actually working on and with them.
     
  19. GregP507

    GregP507 Senior Member

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    You could be right, but that was the first one I'd seen that didn't.
     
  20. Easy Rider 2

    Easy Rider 2 Senior Member

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    Maybe I'm about to learn something.
    Just exactly what form did that "thermal overheating protection" take ?
    What components provided the "protection" ??