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Red triangle of doom

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by ericisbacchus, Aug 28, 2010.

  1. ericisbacchus

    ericisbacchus Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Okay here's the situation.

    About to go on a road trip to my mom's lake house. I went and fueled up the '05. 10 minutes later, I got the red triangle of doom. Also the VSC light and the check engine light. I pulled over. Turned the car off. I got the oil changed a week or two ago -- with Mobil 1 synthetic. Car has about 70,000 miles.

    Anyway, when I started it back up the red triangles came up, as did the check engine light. I checked the oil and it appeared to be fine. I drove about 15 minutes back home. Along the way, I noticed the AC stopped working.

    Oh, the battery was basically at full charge when this happened. I noticed no loss of power on my trip back home.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks

    PS - what exactly is under warranty at this point? Like I said, it has about 70K miles.
     
    #1 ericisbacchus, Aug 28, 2010
  2. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    Trumbull, CT
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius
    Model:
    LE AWD-e
    Was it a hot day? This sounds like the result of overheating either the HV battery (clogged air vent) or overheating the inverter (bad inverter coolant pump). The computer is protecting these expensive components by reducing the load (shutting down the AC).

    The inverter coolant pump in 2004 and 2005 Prii has had a high failure rate and there is a redesigned replacement pump that should be more reliable. If you look at the coolant tank with the Prius in ready mode there should be some turbulence, if not you need a new pump.

    You do still have the Hybrid system warranty (until 100k miles), but it doesn't cover this pump (~$400 at a dealer). Good luck.

    JeffD
     
    #2 jdenenberg, Aug 28, 2010
  3. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    What is the condition of the 12v battery? Is it still the original? Is so, it may need to be repalced. A bad 12v battery causes all sorts of strange happenings.
     
    #3 firepa63, Aug 28, 2010
  4. ericisbacchus

    ericisbacchus Junior Member

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    2005 Prius
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    IV

    Sure enough, it's the inverter coolant pump.

    I was hopeful that it was just an engine pressure problem (I had just fueled up w/out turning the car off). I know, bad idea. The kids were in the car, it was hot out, and they were watching the DVD players. It would have forced them to restart the dvd :)
     
    #4 ericisbacchus, Aug 30, 2010
  5. paulincolorado

    paulincolorado Junior Member

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    How did you find out it was the inverter coolant pump?

     
    #5 paulincolorado, Sep 1, 2010
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