Toyota replacing coolant pump in 650,000 Prius hybrids

In the NHW11 forum, we've been looking at the NHW11 pump as well as the ZVW30 pump. One finding is the single bearing, NHW11 pump 'rattles'. The impeller assembly consists of a cup structure which might capture or entrap air:

There are two small holes that should allow air to escape the inner space of the cup.

In contrast, the ZVW30 pump uses two bearing and does not rattle. The ZVW30 new car features identifies this dual-bearing design as a significant improvement. It certainly is a larger, multi-speed unit:

What isn't clear is how the four pins, ground and three pins, handle the variable speed.

But going back to the NHW20, it might help if someone can snag an old-style, NHW20 inverter pump (perhaps one replaced before the recall) and using a Dremel tool, take it apart. In an ideal world, get a new-style inverter pump and take it apart to compare and contrast. My understanding is the old inverter pumps replaced in this effort are not returned because of the risk of reselling of a bad part. However, if disabled by cutting off the pipe nipples, maybe.

Bob Wilson

 

MJ2005,

RE : your post #47

If your pump replacement was done at a Toyota dealer, their work order usually lists the part numbers replaced during any service. Look around here on this thread or any of the other ones on this same topic & you should see that somebody posted the entire part number of the new (since mid-2007) inverter coolant pump [all I can remember is it starts with a "G" prefix & ends with the last 2 digits being 31 (such as Gxxxx-xxx31)].

Edit : See this link for pictures to clarify both the previous & the next paragraph---
http://www.techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/maint100k/part4.html
[& scroll about 3/4 of the way down (or about 9 pix up from the bottom)]. You will see a picture of the new pump & the part number on the box (G9020-47031) which came out in mid-2007. A big caution if you happen to click on the word "here" in the top line of text next to the picture of the pump, bracket, & box with P/N : the TSB that comes up was issued in Jan of 2007 (before they came out with the improved part with the new number I just gave you) & in the parts information block you'll see that they were replacing the pump at that time with the same old pump & part number that the cars came off the assembly line with in 2004 through 2006 (the 47030 number that's being replaced now by the better 47031 number.

If you had an independent mechanic do the job, then try to go back to him as soon as possible so he may still remember which one he replaced (have him point it out to you under the hood) & if the pump is the right one (do a search on this site to find photos of this same pump that others may have changed on their own---I know there are some pix somewhere) & have him write the part number of the proper pump on his work order (if it's an original Toyota part & NOT an aftermarket one).

With your receipt & an inspection at a dealer (to see if the right pump was replaced with the proper Toyota one) you will be able to get the pump, gasket, labor & coolant paid for under the terms of the Limited Service Campaign.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

FrankD,

The work you are getting done/had done today to replace the inverter coolant pump & its gasket for free also includes free coolant (up to 1.1 gallons) & free labor (it's on the Limited Service Campaign document---see a copy of it that JDenenberg & a Toyota tech both posted somewhere in this thread or another related thread).

I'm surprised your dealer has the pump so soon, seeing as there is about to be a mass influx of us who want to get this done (even though the deadline is Nov 30, 2013), but then again many dealers already have one or 2 of them on hand at all times (& it will be the right one specified in the LSC since it's been available since mid-2007---that's why the LSC only covers part of the 2007 model year).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Toyota got a +1 in my book because of this recall. This is not a safety driven recall nor did the Feds require this recall either. Toyota realized there was a problem with the pumps and issued a improved one with new cars. There was nothing forcing them to fix the older Prii.

 

I just dropped mine off at the dealer to have the pump replaced today. There were 3 other GenII Prius there when I drove up. I wonder if they are getting the same service done.

 

The upper part, the impeller section, looks a lot like the NHW11 pump. Only the base looks different. This suggests the impeller shares the same design between the NHW11 and NHW20.

Bob Wilson

 

Well Ken,
Thanks to PriusChat and Facebook, I found out about it like the first day. I called the local dealer, (who did not sem to know much about it), and he called me back, ordered a bunch, and scheduled me.
I have mixed feelings about how it went today, but I do not want to hijack a thread, so I'll start a new one....

Frank D.

 

171,111 miles on my 2005.

I bought 4 new Yoko AVID TRZ 195/65/15's from Tire Rack as replacements for the 4 tires of the same brand and style put on at 110,000 miles. My ASM said 'Oh btw do you want the inverter pump replaced?' Duh I forgot about it entirely even after posting here in this thread...helllloooooo. I'm still refusing the pedal-shaving recall though.

Cost: $75 Mount, Balance, Align, Nada for the pump and coolant.

 

I just got my notice this morning. Apparently the recall does apply to Canadian models, and will be performed at no cost to the owner, which answers the earlier question about replacement fluids.

 

Had mine done on Tuesday and there was no charge.

 

I have received no letter from Toyota, but I did get a message on my answering machine from the local Toyota dealer to call for an appointment to get this done. Have not called them back yet due to some other things in my life that need a lot of attention right now. Hope I don't forget. It always helps me remember when I have hard copy....

 

That just tells me that, as I suspected, these types of campaigns are a real boon to the dealer network service departments. They reconnect with customers, get them in the shop (which can lead to other work/purchases), create goodwill with the customer AND get paid by Toyota for the work. A dealer pro-actively reaching out to it's impacted customers is both good service and good business. Makes me surprised I had to call my dealership at all.

- D

 

Got the letter from the dealer regarding my '07 yesterday , and have until November 2013 to have it done. They probably break the announcements up by region, as they make the parts available.

Me? Not complaining, they're gonna do an expensive fix for free and give me plenty of time to make it happen. They do recommend to get it done before it fails. Sounds like good advice.

Now about those black helicopters...

 

Well, I just got my check from Toyota.

$592.46 !!!

Am I the first to get reimbursed?

I sent off for it very early, literally within days of the news...long before I got the letter from Toyota

 

Just went for my HV Pump this morning here in Canada, WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!

My "stealership" started working half an hour late even if I was appointed at 7h10 am (first available appointement and adding the fact that the bay where my Prius was serviced was free... no late job from the day before).

After that, when the guy tried to lift my Prius, the front driver side "leg" of the lift was misplaced and almost went through the driver floor (see pic below). What really made me angry was the mechanic's answer: "No problem sir, it's okay to lift your Prius there." That's the first time I went to see the service manager that morning (but not the last ). I know, I know... it's not Toyota's fault but when there mechanics charge 99$/hr they should at least know how to lift a car.

After two hours, what I find an unusually long work time to remove one plug, two hoses and 5 small bolts... it was time to put the coolant back in the system.

Second surprise: Holly sh*t! The guy tried to put back in the old and dirty coolant he just flushed from my Prius. (please note that we have severe winter here with lots of salt on the road and that salt was mixed with the coolant during the flush while the coolant flowed onto the protective plastics under my Prius and into the container .) That and other mixed fluids left in the container. I saw some yellow and some light brown colors over the pink long life coolant. I said "no way" and went to see the service manager, a second time... He told me it was Toyota procedure to "re-use" the old coolant !!! OMG

After arguing a bit, they decided to put new coolant in. I told them I'll surely call Toyota Canada to complaint!!

So, as I'm not already used to let someone else touch my Prius, or any of my cars, that will certainly not help for future repairs at stealership.

Way to go Toyota !

Plus I'll have to go to my friend garage tonigh to see under the underbody plastics to look for any damage...



p.s. cell phone pic sorry for the poor quality

EDITED: Here is another pic to show on what dirty plastic the coolant flowed

 

wow! that is scary! lucky you could watch what they were doing. we're not allowed into the service area. i can't believe they wanted to put the old CONTAMINATED coolant back in. that is a nightmare. scary to think there are dealers like that around and $100./hour? i hope my dealership doesn't find out about that. how is the floor. did it get pushed in? so much for connecting with customers and creating good will!

 

did I say "nightmare" ?? Well that was just the beginning... I've found something else

After looking into that topic http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ump-dealer-letter-technical-instructions.html

I've found Toyota's instructions on how to do the HV pump replacement step by step. What I've thought this morning is now confirmed: That stup*d mechanic DID NOT DO the correct coolant flush .

While I was looking at his job, I noticed that he never unbolted the 24mm HV coolant plug!!! He flushed the ICE coolant instead !! Which it is confirmed by me seeing him refill the ICE coolant with a lot of coolant.

OMFG, that means that when he removed the old pump, that's the only time when some of the HV coolant got flushed and only a small part of it. To add more to his ineptitude he never bleeded the HV coolant system as per instruction on page 9 of the manual found in the link above.

Having some doubts, I've taken a pic of the 24mm plug... you can clearly see it was NEVER removed


I really hope you got more qualified mechanics down south

I'll think my complaint to Toyota Canada wil be worth it!

 

the mystery continues. that is just scary. and sad. i would try to speak to the owner, and, an attorney if he doesn't cooperate. do you have some kind of consumer affairs advocate?

 

SyCo, that's totally unacceptable. I would contact Toyota Canada directly, and show them the pictures. Not only has the dealer failed to perform the required service, they've damaged your car.

 

Took the car to a friend's garage yesterday. First, the floor is NOT damaged... I'm lucky on that one.

BUT... the HV coolant pump job was NOT done properly at all. I've printed the instructions and I did the "bleed" part myself.

- Open bleeder
- IG-ON 5 sec then IG-OFF repeat three times
- IG-ON 1 min then IG-OFF 1 min repeat three times
- Close bleeder
- Done

That's what I did and there was a lot of air trapped in my system. So the new pump, which was supposed to replace an old one creating air bubbles, was actually worst since it has not been bleeded as per Toyota's instructions

Now everything is okay with my Prius... at least for me.

One thing though... I'll go back to see the service manager with a printed copy of the instructions and tell him to give that copy to the mechanic... I hope it will prevent future Prius owners from having an experience as bad as mine... and of course I'll add that I'll never go back there for ANY service !

Bleeder that was never opened at Toyota


How to bleed with a clear tube going back into the coolant tank


Pic of my driver floor, everything is ok