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My Prius doesn't feel well...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by BadDakota, Jun 17, 2016.

  1. BadDakota

    BadDakota New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2016
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    Location:
    Indianapolis
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hi All, first time posting. I have a 2007 with 115,000 miles. Bought it new, well maintained. One accident resulting in front end damage.

    Let me say here I don't know anything about fixing cars, so please bear with me.

    About a month ago I got all the warning lights, red triangle, vsc, check engine, ((!)). Took it to the dealership and they replaced the original 12v, all was fine for awhile. Then one week ago the lights returned. No problems driving the car. I took it to the toyota dealership. They did not include the codes on the receipt, but it states ""water control valve is bad", they installed a new water control valve.

    Five days later the lights returned. I took it back to toyota. They said the install was not done properly and "coolant system was air locked", they removed air and topped off coolant.

    I did not make it home before the lights returned. In addition, the gas engine stopped working and when I stopped at a light the mph readout disappeared and the car would not move. I shut it off and back on and the car seemed to be okay so I drove home.

    I went back to Toyota, receipt states "Codes P0A37.P0A93. Inverter Cooling Performance. Replaced hybrid water pump and purged air from the system. There could be an internal issue with the hybrid system. Inverter or trans assembly"

    Didn't make it home before the lights were back. Is the above technician speak for "we have no idea what is wrong"?

    P.S. This may have nothing to do with the problem, but 4 of the 5 day stretch I had with no lights was really very nice weather so I did not need a/c, the 5th day I did. All times lights came on was during the use of a/c but there is no direct a/c on = lights on as I was moving for at least 10-15 each time before the lights lit up.

    I really, really love my prius, I do not want to lose it. I know this car can go another 100k if I can find out what is actually wrong without draining life savings...

    Thank you in advance for any advice!!!!
    Dakota
     
    #1 BadDakota, Jun 17, 2016
  2. jadziasman

    jadziasman Prius owner emeritus

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2011
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    Location:
    District 6
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
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    Since you are not a DIY mechanic like some of us here, my advice is to go to a different stealership and have them diagnose what's wrong. I'd wager that the place that worked on your car botched the repair(s). Show the other stealership your repair receipt. You might have a short term warranty on the repair that another stealership will honor if you cannot get satisfaction from the initial one. Contact Toyota Corporate for help with this if the need arises.
     
    #2 jadziasman, Jun 17, 2016
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
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    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Definitely find another repair shop, sounds very incompetent over there
     
    #3 JC91006, Jun 17, 2016
  4. BadDakota

    BadDakota New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2016
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    Location:
    Indianapolis
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    thank you both. I figured they weren't doing a good job. It seems from reading posts on this site that that a lot of fixing a Prius is experience and diligence, which this dealership seems to be short on.

    Does anyone know of an independent hybrid mechanic, or even a well versed DIYer from this site, located in or around Indianapolis? I saw a list somewhere here from a few years back but the closest was 1.5 hrs from me.

    Thanks!!!!
     
    #4 BadDakota, Jun 18, 2016
  5. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2009
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    Location:
    Golden, CO
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Even though the same type of cooling issue seems to keep coming up, they are actually two different systems. The first problem with the water control valve is pretty common and deals with the engine coolant system. Bleeding the air out of that system is fairly difficult and needs to be done by a competent person with the right tools, and it sounds like that didn't happen. And that's not uncommon. Adding AC load to the engine would exacerbate that problem. The faulty work may have actually caused some engine overheat damage, so be sure to document this problem.

    The second cooling system problem was with the hybrid system and is completely separate from the engine system. Pump failures are not uncommon and it's possible you've just had really bad luck with this aging car.

    Getting nine years of life out of the original battery is almost unheard of. It was definitely time for a new battery.

    It's possible all these failures were unrelated (except for the botched engine coolant bleeding) and coincidentally all happened within weeks of each other. Hopefully it's been a good car up to now, and with luck you'll get more years out of it.
     
    #5 andrewclaus, Jun 18, 2016
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