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2005 Prius huge problem

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by yungprius, Aug 25, 2019.

  1. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
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    N/A
    I drive 2005 Prius with about 212k miles on it, drove to work on Friday and it drove completely normal. Later I had to go on a road trip, so I was driving on the freeway while it was ~95 degrees out and suddenly all these various lights turn on on my dashboard. The big red triangle with the exclamation mark showed up, the check engine light, along with the light that looked like an exclamation with parenthesis around it, (((!))), and on the small navigator screen a picture of a car with an exclamation mark thru it popped up as well. I exited the freeway and took it to an oreilys, where they scanned it and said there was an error that popped up sayin, P0A93: Inverter A Cooling System Performance. The dude told me to take it to a nearby car shop a few exits away on the freeway, and i start driving and about a mile down the road, my car completely shuts off on me. I’m in the middle of the road with my car barely inching to get to the curb, and it was not turning back on. I had to wait in the heat for about an hour for a tow truck to come get me out of the busy road i was blocking, got ripped off and paid $120 bucks to get towed about 50 feet away. Called my emergency roadside assistance and they had to come tow my prius because i would put my foot on the break and press the power button, and it would turn on for about half a second before turning back off. I was able to roll the windows up and down but that is all i was able to do. My car is currently in the shop and my guy said he’s gonna find out what the issue is tomorrow, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be a cheap or easy fix. Anyone on here have any idea what could have happened and how bad it’s gonna be?
     
  2. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Side note: I got the battery changed about 4 years ago because someone real ended me pretty bad and they damaged the battery, so I was lucky enough to get it covered by my insurance. Someone told me it could be a battery issue but I’m hoping it’s not that.
     
  3. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Prime Plus
    Welcome to Prius Chat (y).

    You have a failed inverter water pump ;).

    Swap that out and your in good shape :).

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
  4. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Thank you for your quick response! And you think that's the issue? That would cause the car to shut down so quickly? Do you think there will be permanent/expensive damage? Sorry my car knowledge is at a bare minimum so any information you have I will gladly accept it
     
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  5. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    If you replace the pump, you’ll not experience any additional damage;).

    But if the inverter loses cooling, it protects itself, which is what you experienced :).

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
    yungprius and Prius from Dad like this.
  6. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    and of course....keep in mind that the inverter cooling water pump motor has been known to fail and cause the AM2 fuse to open, which will kill the dash display and the car. This pump is located directly behind the driver side headlight. Takes about one hour to replace if you do it by removing the headlight and just clamp the hoses so the coolant doesn't drain out. It will need to have air bled out afterward and about 3-5 ounces of fluid replaced.
     
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  7. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    I don't know the first thing about repairing my car myself and I would not even want to try in fear of messing up my daily commuter :eek:

    I have a mechanic I take my car too so I'll leave the work to him lol

    Thank you guys for your good info! Feeling a lot better about my car troubles now
     
    bisco likes this.
  8. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Ok well bad news, my car guy just just called me up and said he changed the pump and the car still isn't turning on. Said something under the hood smells a little burnt, I thought it was just a recent incident where I drove a mile without the oil cap on and maybe some spilled, but I could definitely be wrong.The car is still just shutting off immediately after you press the power button. My car dude said he is calling in a technician friend tomorrow, if anyone has any idea whats going on please lemme know, I can't imagine it's going to be a cheap or quick fix this sucks
     
  9. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    What are you using to read the codes?
     
  10. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    went to oreilys auto parts and they had one of the scanners you can plug in just under the wheel.

    my mechanic told me he thinks the main battery is dead, thinks it overheated. He’s unplugging everything for the night and letting it reset, not really sure what my options are after that.
     
  11. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    You need a better code reader. One that can read all the codes like techstream. Not that it will have any codes after you unplug everything but at least if it doesn’t start tomorrow it should log some.
     
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  12. IMkenNY

    IMkenNY Im just being nosy

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    TMR-JWAP mentions above that when the pump failed it likely took out that AM2 fuse, have your mechanic check that fuse.
     
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  13. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Yeah I'm ordering one this weekend when I finally get some time, been lookin at some bluetooth obd2 scanners. if you have any recommendations for one im interested!
     
  14. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Called him right now to tell him and he said he just checked it out and it seems to be fine. The problem seems to be an engine or battery one, hopefully he has more information or good news for me tomorrow after a reset.
     
  15. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Not a Bluetooth scanner. Techstream and a mini vci. If you have a laptop see if you can install this:
    Free Download and install Toyota Techstream 12.20.024 on Windows 7 | OBDII365.com Official Blog
    If you can then all you need is the mini Vci cable. The cables come with a new version of techstream but it’s just for the newest Toyota and Lexus models. The above version will be fine.
     
    #15 Skibob, Aug 28, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2019
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  16. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Ok I'm not gonna lie to you I'm lookin in into this Techstream stuff and im a lil lost. So I can basically download a program on my computer and plug in my computer in to my car and get a more detailed idea of whats goin on with my car? Even if it isnt even turning on? Also I think my laptop runs windows 10 so I'm not sure if that windows 7 download would be any different, but ill check it out when im home from work and look into it. Thanks for the suggestion
     
  17. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    As long as it’s a single core processor your good to go. I have it on 2 netbooks that run windows 10. Plus how much can an old used laptop that runs windows 7 cost?
    The car doesn’t have to be running but there does have to be power to the computers. Like the dash has to light up.
     
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  18. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Dash lights up for about half a second before everything turns off. Hope thats enough. I'm able to roll the windows up and down for a little bit as well so there is power in the car, just not sure why its not turning on.
     
  19. yungprius

    yungprius New Member

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    Just an update for everyone...my mechanic got my car running again! He said resetting/unplugging everything connected to the battery and letting it sit for a few hours worked, he scanned it with 2 different scanners and no problems at all!
     
    Skibob likes this.