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Drove 40 miles with failed in inverter pump

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by sorka, May 11, 2019.

  1. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    So my wife calls me to tell me the red triangle of death came on. At 301K miles, I figured it was finally the battery giving out. So I told her to go ahead and drive home.

    Big mistake.

    So I get home and pull the code P0A93. The car starts fine and I can here the inverter buzzing away so it's not dead yet. Ordered a new pump.

    So what's the likely damage? Is the inverter one of those things that fails suddenly when it's had it or did I do damage that will result in it's inevitable failure?
     
    #1 sorka, May 11, 2019
  2. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    The Gen2 inverter pumps arent that pricey, so I’d swap it out and see what you’ve got left;).

    But if the battery is original, I wouldn’t wait too long to do the pump swap as the battery will not like rest, unless you maintain it:).

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
    #2 Raytheeagle, May 11, 2019
    Last edited: May 11, 2019
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  3. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Had the same scenario with the wife but it was only about 10-15 miles, speeds under 55mph and cool weather. No damage caused :whistle: and the new pump was fairly cheap and relatively easy to change at home (about 45 min.) with basic tools.

    At 300k miles on an 09 this car is being driven a lot so preventative (preemptive) maintenance like these pumps, belts, etc should be high on the list of things to do.
     
    #3 fotomoto, May 11, 2019
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  4. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    I assumed a dead pump would mean a dead inverter in minutes.

    Dumb question, but what does this have to do with the battery? Do you mean traction battery or 12v battery?
     
    #4 sorka, May 11, 2019
  5. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Traction battery ;).

    You’ve traveled a lot of miles and the hv battery has served you well. If you let it rest too long and not get the inverter pump swapped,I’d be concerned that a cell would not recover :cool:.

    But the computer stops the car before damage is done to the inverter:).

    Just don’t tempt fate and the programming too often(y).
     
    #5 Raytheeagle, May 11, 2019
  6. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    Got it. It's at 6 bars right now resting. Fortunately it does take a little while for the inverter to heat up so I could always start it and let idle for a few minutes if it falls to two bars.

    The factory toyota pump should be here on Thursday, so it won't be sitting long anyways.
     
    #6 sorka, May 11, 2019
  7. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    All in all, $55 for the factory toyota branded inverter pump and $73 two years ago for the coolant diverter valve. No other repairs out of pocket in 300K miles.
     
    #7 sorka, May 11, 2019
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    wow! you put a lot of miles on her. according to gen2 taxi drivers, prius like that
     
    #8 bisco, May 11, 2019
  9. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    So apparently the inverter up top is not the only thing cooled by the inverter coolant. Both MG1 and MG2 motors in the trans-axle are also cooled by the same coolant.

    So who knows how much damage I did that will come back to bite me later.
     
    #9 sorka, May 12, 2019
  10. sorka

    sorka Active Member

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    The pump arrived late yesterday afternoon. I had already removed the drivers side headlight and loosened up the hoses on the old pump so it was a 5 minute replacement.

    First thing I noticed is how much louder the new pump is. It has a hum to it that the old pump didn't. The old pump made a rhythmic oscillating sound where it sounded kind of like a squeaking heartbeat. The coolant now flows WAY faster with the new pump than it ever did with the old pump where you could barely tell it was flowing (before it failed).

    So it's clear that the old pump was marginal the entire 305K miles.

    Drove it 10 miles or so with no apparent drive train issues. So keeping my fingers crossed.
     
    #10 sorka, May 16, 2019
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