I just did my wife's inverter coolant pump at 127,000 miles without any issues. I was going to have the dealer do it, but that means scheduling an appointment, leaving it for a day, trusting them not to mess anything else up while they're in there, etc...easier to do it myself on my own schedule. It took under two hours including fiddling with the bleeder and a drive around the block. It's a tight space to work in but not the worst I have experienced. My hands only hurt a little. Fingers crossed that I really got all the air out. Wife has instructions to pull over and shut it down if she sees the triangle of death, just in case.
That was my experience and reasoning when I did it. Plus, I bought the pump online at a better price. Bleeding is really a non-issue for the inverter loop - put a piece of tubing on the bleeder, put the other end in the top of the inverter coolant tank, hit ready and let it bleed until there are no more bubbles.
If you guys have not already done so, you can apply for reimbursement by writing to Toyota in Torrance, CA, providing a copy of your receipts. The LSC owner notification provides an address to be used for this purpose.
Thanks! I already applied for reimbursement. After they asked me for a letter, on my mechanic's letterhead saying why the pump needed to be replaced, I called them and chided them for not even reading what I sent them. Many weeks later, they FINALLY reimbursed me the cost of the pump.
Yup, that's exactly what I did. Most of the time I spent on that task was looking at the loop and convincing myself that it really, truly was that simple. To tell you the truth, I didn't realize I could do that! My local dealer really is shady enough that I would rather spend $130 of my own money than leave a car with them for a day. Thanks for mentioning it.
I'm bringing this thread back to life to report that my 2004 with 130K miles suffered another inverter coolant pump failure, three years and 49K miles after the original was replaced. My daughter is driving this car now in the Orange County (CA) area, had a problem yesterday, and promptly took the vehicle to her local Toyota dealer for help. I had applied for and received reimbursement from Toyota after replacing the first pump in 2009. However no record of this replacement was logged in the national service database, so every time this car was taken to a Toyota dealer, the service writer wanted to replace the pump under the recall, which I declined. Now the pump will be replaced for a second time as a recall and I suppose the database will finally reflect this. I am wondering what will happen the next time the pump fails (regarding eligibility for replacement under the recall), if we should own the 2004 that long. Anyway, this is a heads up to other 2G owners: Just because you had the inverter coolant pump replaced under the recall, don't expect that the new pump will be 100% trouble-free.
If you're having a hard time with the hoses, you have two options that don't involve lubricant: 1) Use a hot air gun to heat the hoses (a hair drier will do in a pinch). They'll be much more pliable once heated. Don't worry about damage -- these are cooling hoses, they're designed to handle higher temperatures! 2) Replace the rubber hose with one made of silicone (example: Durion® Silicone Coolant Hose - Hose - Products | Gates Corporation) The silicone hose will last longer than the rest of the car, and will stay quite pliable at any temperature. Yes, it's overkill, but think of it this way... if you want to keep your Prius on the road for 20+ years, you'll have to replace that hose eventually!
I got the P0A93 code, as mentioned here. The inverter water pump is in the mail so I am planning on change it myself. I saw a video here where they do not seem to replace the coolant. Is that mandatory since it is sort of difficult for me to get access underneath to the transaxle coolant drain plug?
It is not mandatory to replace the inverter coolant when the pump is replaced, although the factory-fill coolant should be replaced after 100K miles; then at 50K mile intervals after the initial replacement. I am wondering why you are replacing the inverter coolant pump yourself, rather than having your local Toyota dealer do this under the recall?
Thanks for the update, Patrick. Luscious Garage has reported pump failures on late model Gen II cars, so perhaps the pump hasn't really been substantially redesigned. I'm waiting until close to the end of the recall window before taking our car in... although the pump was replaced early on.
But anyway I need to take the air out ... can I do it without accessing the drain plug? I relocated to Europe with my Pri, so it's not covered by warranty.
Yes, you will find a bleed nipple for that purpose, after you remove the large black plastic cover over the radiator.
Great! Thank you! At first quick read I missed the bleed nipple detail. Btw, I forgot to say that in late 2009 I had my Pri in service for a pump replacement under a TSB. I thought it is the inverter coolant pump it was replaced ... but maybe I remember wrong, maybe it was the "coolant heat system" - CHS noisy pump ... I will check if the base of my inverter pump is black or silver.
It will probably be silver. If you look at the photos in my OP on page 1, you will see that my original pump had a silver base. The color of the base is irrelevant to determining whether the inverter coolant pump qualifies for replacement under the recall.
I read somewhere (Luscious Garage blog) that the original base used to be black, while for the redesigned pump, the base is silver.
I got a new pump from an American site. I also bought 1 quart of SLLC from local Toyota for about $15 (!). So today I managed to do the pump replacement following the video made by Luscious garage and instructions from this thread. It took me about 2 hours. Then I put a tube from the bleed nipple to the coolant reservoir, left the car in IG ON (twice the start button) and topped the coolant (used only about third of the quart). While in IG ON, the coolant is flowing by the tube from the nipple to the reservoir. What I am concerned about is the fact that the pump seems to me quite noisy ... some sort of electrical noise when I put my ear at the hood level. So am not sure whether I am done with the bleeding or not.
