Inverter pump life?

My original inverter pump was changed at 91K miles, under the recall; never had any issues with it whatsoever. I'm sure I could have gone 9K+ miles more for a total of 100K+ miles.

91K (my original) - 65K (your current replacement) = 26K miles to go, potentially. Granted this isn't a fair comparison b/c my original vs your replacement probably didn't come from the same inverter production batch (ie same day), and the supplied parts to make it could have come from different suppliers. But, this should give you some perspective and perhaps peace of mind.

You can always do any maintenance early, you'll just be spending more money, some may say unnecessarily. IE, conventional motor oil change intervals (5K miles vs 3K miles; this has near universal consensus of 5K), transaxle oil changes (30K miles vs 60K miles vs 90K miles vs never; this maintenance item is a hot button topic w/ no absolute consensus, esp if you read the other Generation Prius forums here). Ultimately, your car, your money, and your peace of mind. Do what brings you peace w/o breaking your wallet or purse.

 

Do you know the date that the pump was changed? Toyota replaced a lot of 2nd gen inverter pumps under the recall. It is possible that a working pump was replaced. The recall was announced at the end of 2012 with letters going to owners in January 2013. The dealer record should tell you if the pump was replaced under recall or if it was replaced due to failure. The recall was intended to replace pumps that were failing prematurely due to a manufacturing defect.

 

Absolutely, a lot of working pumps were replaced; mine was one. Dealer isn't going to pass up on easy money form Toyota. Notifications started in December 2010. Campaign ended November 30, 2013.

There is NO replacement schedule listed, for both the engine water pump and inverter pump.

OEM water pumps have a reputation of lasting a REALLY LONG TIME (well, well, well, beyond 100K miles; I have heard people breaking 200K+ miles). The dealer will encourage you to replace the engine water pump at the slightest sign of weepage; some people continue to drive with this slight weepage, getting many more miles out of it. Assuming your engine water pump has never been replaced, you know you should get at least 135K miles out of a new one.

The inverter pump contains moving parts and is also electrical; being electrical doesn't necessarily shorten or lengthen its service life. This pump will fail one day in the future. When will it fail? No on can answer that. For your peace of mind, pick a mileage interval you are comfortable with. But lets look at what we know. Your replacement OEM inverter pump, which is still in use, has given you 65K+ miles. I got 91K miles out of my initial OEM inverter pump; this pump may have been the improved redesigned one, but the dealership wanted the easy money, so they replaced it, and I'm fine with that. Professor Denenberg got 150,000 miles out of his initial OEM inverter pump; LINK Perhaps contact him for the exact mileage, as he could have rounded up (149,xxx miles).

 

Here's another stat. should it help you decide: my inverter pump was changed at 133k.

It was the original one and had no problem. Was it close to failing? Or I just took advantage of the recall to replace an aging part?

 

The pump is about the size of your fist (if you have small hands) and runs any time the car is in ready mode. With that in mind it seems like they shouldn't last as long as they do. I have only replaced one on a gen II that failed. That car had about 155k on it and was a 2007. I have had many much older and way higher miles that have only had the recall replacement. I have also replaced one on a gen I that failed (it was a 2001 with 85k).

You can always open the inverter coolant reservoir and look for turbulence to see if the pump is working. If it fails there will be a CEL and master warning light. You definitely don't want to drive it after it fails.

I am of the school "if it aint broken, don't fix it". Replacing it just as maintenance could cause additional unintended problems like air in the cooling system or you could get a defective pump out of the box.

 

Look at the high mileage threads to see how many have replaced their inverter pumps. Almost none!!!

BTW, I am at almost 160k miles and the engine water pump shows no leaks whatsoever!!!! The belt is the original too!

 

It was almost exactly 150k miles as I was doing the second drain/refill of my coolant. I replaced both water pumps (ICE and Inverter as well as the serpentine belt) at that time as a preventative measure (prior to the recall) as I had had water pumps fail on the road at inconvenient times in other cars. Both of these pumps are still working at 261k miles (Two coolant changes later).

JeffD

 

Did you have to complete the pump recall afterwards?

 

The recall was done at 200k miles (my 2004 was in for its third coolant drain/refill), but I don't recall if they just checked that the inverter pump was the "improved" version or replaced it again.

JeffD

 

My guess, they replaced it at 200k. Too much of a liability involved if not changed out.

 

My first replacement of the inverter coolant pump was at 71k miles, under the warranty replacement. That one went out today at 177k miles.