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Inverter Pump

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by drmanny3, Sep 24, 2010.

  1. drmanny3

    drmanny3 Member

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2004
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    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    I recently had the dreaded triangle appear. I took it to Tustin, CA Toyota. They checked it out and told me that we had a bad inverter pump. They would fix it for $745.00. I said I would get back to them and took it home. I got on the forum and after reading the posts felt confident I could fix it myself. First however, I thought I would call Toyota. I contacted them and asked if they would good will the repair. This is our second new Prius and I had a New Lexus back a few years. The guy said he would look into it. We were at 70,000 miles and just coming up to five years. Our car is a 2006. I also sent him a copy of the TSB that was listed.

    He finally got back to me about three days later and said they would cover half the costs. I said that I thought based on the forum that $745 seemed a bit high anyway. I asked him about the TSB suggesting that my vin number was before the fix and now they are much improved. He said the TSB was for the replacement of the inverter, not suggesting that a new inverter was required. I then declined thinking I would just fix it myself.

    I got the Tustin Toyota to price match my online price for the inverter pump. It cost $85 discounted. They also sold me some antifreeze for about $16.00. I decided to pull the driver side head light and go in from there. Since I have replaced the hids several times I know that I need only take three bolts off and then I can twist the bumper out and have the clearance to pull the headlight. Much easier than trying from the top. The car was not hot so I did not try and drain the system. I just took the hoses off one by one and tried to seal them. I then put the hoses on the new pump and then screwed it to the plate on the car. I hooked it up electrically and then got the car running. I was able to top off the antifreeze with about a quart and a half.

    I am disappointed in Toyota especially given their current problems with recalls. My prius has probably taken it in the shorts as for resale. I still think the workforce in Toyota that does the assembly are great. It is just the management that sucks.
    Manny
     
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2004
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    Location:
    United States
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Sweet!

    No worries, the new pump makes it better for resale.