Prius with Check Engine Light and Exclamation Sign

I don't have the same year car. Have you looked up the symbol in the car manual? Don't have a manual? Check the forum I have seen links to at least one. I dont know what your light is and I cant get outside now to check my manual.

 

I am no expert, but it sounds to me like the pump for the inverter is not working. Put the Prius in "Ready Mode", then look at the coolant bottle for the inverter, it is on top of the engine in the center towards the rear of the engine compartment. What you want to see if there is movement in the fluid. If you see no movement, then the pump is out. If the pump is not working, the inverter will overheat and cause the A/C to shut down along with causing the master alarm (red triangle) and the CEL (check engine light) to come on.

There was a recall on these pumps recently and if the pump has not been replaced under the recall Toyota will replace it for you. Refer to the attached file and read concerning the recall COU. That recall did replace the pumps on most of the 09 Prius. It goes by Vin #. Your dealer can confirm if your Prius falls under the recall.

If you see movement in the bottle, then the pump is working and you should disregard this post.

Look at this link http://www.toyoguide.com/images/books/1235/4/page.h27.gif so you can recognize the bottle I am referring to.

FWIW, if your pump is NOT working, I would have the car towed to a Toyota dealer and have it repaired properly. You can damage the inverter which is a 4000 dollar repair if the inverter fries.

Ron

 

Check to see if there is movement in the bottle. It really sounds like the pump is out.

 

You can call me whatever you want for pointing this out, but I LOL'd when I read "I don't live far from my home." Anyways, I'm pretty shocked an A/C on a Toyota went out at 38K miles. My grandma's Chevrolet sedan's A/C in Oklahoma went out at like 30K miles. Maybe some midwestern curse on air conditioners?

 

When the inverter pump fails, the inverter control ECU starts shutting things off to protect from overheating. The A/C is the first to be turned off, followed by the hybrid system itself. That makes the car go into limp mode, which is why the inverter pump recall is safety issue.

So the A/C is just fine, the curse is on Toyota's poor quality pumps. If the OP has not been to Toyota for the recall, now is the time.

 

shah,

Keep the electrical use to a minimum so the inverter does not heat up. Fifteen minutes should be Ok as long as you don't get the MG's too hot. The pump also cools the MG's in the transaxle IIRC. I would suggest you drive the car in the coolest part of the day. Also if you are concerned, put a bag of ice on top of the inverter. That will keep the inverter cool. Remember though if you fry the inverter, you are talking a $4000 repair. It's your call on the drive or tow.

Your best bet and my best advice would be to tow it in, but you have been driving it too. The damage may or may not already be done...

Have them pull all of the codes, give them to you and post the codes here on PC.

P0A73 says something about "Generator Phase V Current Low". I am no mechanic, so it is gobble de gook to me. Without the info codes, the first part is only the beginning and a lot of times the scanners at AutoZone and places like that won't read out the way "Techstream" does. Techstream is what Toyota uses.

If you didn't see any movement when "Ready" was lit, the pump is not doing it's job or there is air in the system. I would bet it is the pump.

What part of town are you in? What dealer or mechanic do you use?

Ron

 

Note that DTC P0A73 is not listed for the Prius. There is P0A72, and P0A75, but no P0A73. It happens that the generic AutoZone readers will not give correct results on the Prius. Since there is no movement in the inverter coolant reservoir, that is what needs to be addressed first. Toyota can read the DTC with Techstream if there is anything further.

 

It shuts it down because it's an electrical load.

Yes, that's it.

 

You are not far from me. I am over by Gallery Furniture.

If you have no joy at Joe Myers, take it to Fred Haas in Spring. I take ours there and also Tejas in Humble.

Yes, you found the inverter. I have read on here about the bag of ice, I have no experience with it. I would think you would want to keep the inverter cool, but not allow water to enter it. But it has been suggested here on PC before.

I would suggest you have it towed in on a flatbed. Otherwise, drive it and try to keep the electrical loads to a minimum.

 

There's almost no thermal contact between the internal inverter components (the ones that get hot) and that silver cover. And that is by design. The bag of ice would be close to useless.

 

That could very well be true, as I wrote earlier I read the suggestion here on Prius Chat concerning the bag of ice.

warning lights, please help | PriusChat

Ron

 

i drove mine from willis to fred haas with the same issue.

 

Glad to hear that. Hope that all is good once the pump is replaced. If you can, ask for the DTC codes and please post them. I would not be surprised if they say they saw P0A93.

Ron

 

Who knows, the guy might have misread the scanner. Generic scanners are notorious for misreading Prius codes. Yes, P0A93 is a standard Prius code which plainly says inverter pump failure. Lots of info here on Prius Chat and also info on Luscious Garage Web Site. Those pumps fail often, I honestly think that is why Toyota did the recall that I mentioned.

Did Joe Myers get everything straightened up for you? Do you now see the flow in the bottle that I asked about?

Did they check your steering while you had the car there? There was also a recall on Prius on the steering earlier this year. Here's the info on it if you don't know about it.

Ron