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Major Failures--2005 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by NCNyrk, Feb 6, 2012.

  1. NCNyrk

    NCNyrk New Member

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    Owner of a 2005 Prius with 108K miles, and never any problems, until Friday, when the Christmas Tree lights appeared while driving 65mph on an interstate. Had car towed to dealer and after consulting with Toyota Engineering, diagnosis is Replace Transaxle for $4800. Even more unfortunately, there is another error code related to Inverter, and dealer warned me that the Transaxle replacement may not solve that problem, and more repairs may be necessary. (Luscious Garage in SF seems to suggest the Inverter code is related...)

    Error Codes:
    P0A7A (325)
    P0A90 (605)
    P0A92 (261)

    Was hoping to get 3 more years out of this car, so I was willing to spend $3K to keep it running, but at $5K+ I'm not sure. Value of car is probably only ~8K.

    It's had 20 oil changes in 108K miles, and of course, the 100K warranty just ran out a few months ago. A friend and I did just replace the 12V battery ourselves about 3 weeks ago.

    Any advice or recommendations? My technical skills and understanding of car mechanics is about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10 (ie, I knew where to shine the flashlight as my friend unbolted the battery brackets last month...)

    Thanks in advance...
     
    #1 NCNyrk, Feb 6, 2012
  2. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Have you had the inverter coolant pump replacement done yet?

    Also, were there any other symptoms that you noticed before it went. Any noises or performance issues?

    It's definitively a good idea to get a second opinion before dropping 5k on a new transaxle.
     
    #2 uart, Feb 6, 2012
  3. NCNyrk

    NCNyrk New Member

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    Yes, I had the recall work done very quickly after the notice came out.

    No other symptoms that I noticed recently.
     
    #3 NCNyrk, Feb 6, 2012
  4. Hal W

    Hal W New Member

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    II
    Check for flow in the inverter coolant tank! Could have air in the system. Put the e-brake on and have the car on ready while checking for flow in the tank. Hal
     
    #4 Hal W, Feb 6, 2012
  5. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Get thee to Taylor Automotive in Sanford, NC. The best independent shop within 500 miles of you. They'd surely get you sorted in the neighborhood of $2000 or less.

    P0a7a (325) comes up on a TSB for replace inverter, while the other codes are generally transaxle related. So unless the dealer did a bunch of hard-core diagnostics with Techstream and a meg ohm meter, it is hard to say which it is.
     
    #5 seilerts, Feb 6, 2012
    1 person likes this.
  6. NCNyrk

    NCNyrk New Member

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    Thanks for the recommendation for Taylor Automotive...I'm going to get the car to them to get a 2nd opinion, and hopefully a fix to my problems.

    It's about 50 miles away; I am wondering if I should attempt to drive it (with someone following me), or if I should just have it towed, which I'm guessing would cost about $200 or so.
     
    #6 NCNyrk, Feb 6, 2012
  7. NCNyrk

    NCNyrk New Member

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    Taylor Automotive confirmed that the Transaxle needed replacing, along with Inverter. While they had everything out, they noticed a leak in the water pump, so had them replace that and the serpentine belt all at once...total hit $2900

    Next day, I'm hearing some whining noise when 30mph+, especially while curving or turning to the left. Guessing it's got to go back for Wheel Bearing issues ugh...

    Thanks for the advice...
     
    #7 NCNyrk, Feb 14, 2012
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