Recall Alert-2004-2007 Inverter Water Pump

Don't hold your breath while waiting for a reply: my request was received on January 10 or 11, yet no response as of this writing.

 

Received my refund today, 21 Apr 11. Toyota received my request on 7 Mar 11, so it took about 45 days. They refunded the entire amount.

 

Got my $390 refund this week.

 

I had my inverter pump replaced at a local Toyota repair shop in May of 2010. Per directions in the limited service campaign I received, I sent Toyota Customer Experience my repair order, proof of payment ($350) and proof of ownership. I received their response this week - "Repairs performed not covered under LSC. Repair order from an authorized Toyota dealership showing completion of LSC A0N. In order to continue review it will be necessary for you to visit your local Toyota dealer and have the updated part(s) installed on your vehicle at no cost to you".

So rather than reimburse me for my repair cost, they want to remove the new inverter pump I had installed and then have another one installed at their expense. Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bottom line -they're refusing to cover my our of pocket costs for the repair.

 

My refund was postmarked on May 9. They did not pay for pump freight ($15) but did cover my other requested expenses, total of $110.86.

At least I did not have to have my car inspected by a local dealer. When speaking on the phone with a rep, I made the point that the old pump and new pump look identical, so what is an inspection going to show. I've driven >40K miles with the new pump so obviously it was correctly installed...

 

Just got the news that my 2008 Prius HV Water Pump has to be replaced but the recall is only until 2007. Called Toyota Experience and she said I was not included and they would review the telephone calls at the end of the month to "notice if there is a trend." Is there anything else I can do to get the 2008's included? I'm so sad...at least $600 to fix

Christina

 

- How many miles on your car?

- The pump itself costs ~$100 so I suggest you call around to find a dealer who will quote you a reasonable labor charge. 1 hour of labor really should be sufficient.

 

81,000 miles

I will have to go over the numbers with Toyota.

Thanks.

 

One more Prius P0A93 code here.
It has been a while-maybe 3 years -since I posted.
Yesterday my wife tells me the 2006 Prius-56,000 miles-suddenly made a alerting noise-and a triangle showed up on the display.
She drove the 1 mile home.
Well I hooked up the scan gauge and read the code-P0A93.

I'm guessing this is the same thing you folks have?
Plenty of red-very clean looking-coolant in the reservoir.
Any reason to think it is anything other than a failure or pending failure of the coolant pump??
On another forum someone suggested that whenever the ignition is on you should be able to see coolant movement in the reservoir(by taking off the cap and staring in- or maybe you can seem movement right thru the translucent reservoir)? Well I don't see any movement, but it doesn't make sense that the pump would pump before the inverter heated up a bit??

My questions-
1)Any reason to think it is anything but a recall covered failure?
2)Is coolant always being pumped whenever the ignition is on?? Seems unlikely, but??
3) How much risk in driving it the 7 miles to the dealer? South Louisiana- 80 degrees at 8 am?
Thanks
Charlie

 

1. No, almost 100% that it's the inverter coolant pump.

2. Yes it pumps whenever the car is in "ready" mode. Unlike the internal combustion engine, which performs better when warm, the inverter and electric motors perform best when cool. So there is no reason at all to delay the onset of cooling until it's "warmed up" as is done with the engine.

3. Drive it easy and it should be ok.

BTW. If the coolant is circulating then yes it is very easy to see when looking down with the filler cap removed. But no it is not easy to detect by just looking through the side of the translucent reservoir - I tried that and couldn't notice the movement. So you have to remove the cap and look down into the reservoir.

 

UART,
Thanks. I took the cap off and no movement.
Charlie

 

One last question-
Will they be changing out the majority of the coolant when they do the pump replacement?
I'm guessing there is maybe 1 quart or so in the reservoir, but there must be quite a bit in the hoses and the radiator(which I can't actually make out).
I'm just wondering if I should pay them to replace all the fluid if they aren't going to do it otherwise.
Thanks
Charlie
PS Checked again with a flashlight- ZERO MOVEMENT- even with the ICE on-I now get that the inverter cooling system is always on- probably on for a while after the "ignition" is off also, right?

 

The capacity of the inverter/transaxle coolant system is around 3 quarts in total. That system does not involve any connection to a radiator.

The tech is supposed to drain and replace the inverter/transaxle coolant when the inverter coolant pump is replaced under the LSC. (Toyota is reimbursing the dealer for the cost of the coolant and the labor time involved.)

However some techs may clamp off the pump hoses instead, to save some time. I suggest that you make a point of asking for the coolant to be replaced.

The inverter coolant system runs whenever the car is either IG-ON or READY. It will not run when the car is IG-OFF.

 

Thanks! This is what I was wondering. It would be easier to check in IG-ON (as opposed to Ready) mode since the engine won't come on, plus less chance that the car decides to shift to drive on its own and run me over.

 

jdenenberg Patrick Wong -thanks for the info.
PW-I kinda wondered if what I was hearing when the ignition is off was that inverter pump continuing to pump- but it isn't .Maybe I'm hearing the radiator fan and something else??

Thanks for the heads up on the coolant change.I will specifically ask about it-and eyeball the fluid(but it looked clean/clear as it was,so probably can't tell)
What a big time cheapout/goof off idea.
Clamping a rubber hose, so they can save maybe 10 minutes and charge Toyota for 3 quarts of coolant while just using 1-.
Those stiff rubber hoses tend to get a bit brittle over time so a clamping is a double bad idea.

It has been an excellent car- zero problems in 5 years 55,000 miles.
I think I read -somewhere here I think- that one member noticed a drop in mpg before his pump croaked-and got better mpg after the repair??
Anyone else notice this? I wouldn't have guessed it would be a measurable change- but he got 15 mpg better post repair??
Thanks
Charlie

 

Wow

Just heard for the service writer-
They said the recall stuff was free -BUT THEY WANTED TO DO $1250 WORTH OF OTHER STUFF
1) Replace the engine water pump -$387-They claim it is leaking-losing COOLANT- I never noticed any leak.
2) Replace a belt-$50
3) Do front brake job-claim pads are "down to 2 mm" -they aren't making the squeal-so I have my doubts about that.
4) Replace cabin filter-OK-fair enough
5)Replace rear tires-OK

All and all they wanted to do $1250 in EXTRA repairs/service.

I told them to just do the recalls-I would have them do the other stuff when I had the $$.

In truth I'll take a look at the pads- if as I suspect and they aren't 2mm-I'll know it is just a pure scam.
I check the coolant and if possible-and necessary- replace the "engine water pump" myself. Is that a tough-special tools-job??
When I brought the car in the writer specifically mentioned "it has 4 water pumps"-this makes me suspicious that this is just one of their usual scams to make extra $$ .Why mention the 4 pumps to me-and then low and behold-I have 2 BROKEN PUMPS AT JUST 55,000 MILES ON A TOYOTA??
Heck my lumbering 216,000 mile-bought used with 195,000 miles--$2950) to evacuate 2 dogs, 4 cats- 3 adults-(NOLA suburb) has only had 2 water pumps(115,000 and 212,000 miles) .
I've had 6 Toyotas- never replaced a wp in any other them-4 were over 115,000 miles.-in fact very few things ever "broke"

Oh well
If anyone has any experience replacing a Prius water pump- let me know if it is a tough special tool job
Thanks
Charlie

PS -The last two days I've been looking for fluid leaking under the belt driven WP-I haven't found ANYTHING!! I put my finder under the wp-no slippery fluid felt-and no grunge to speak of either.
I looked with a flashlight at the cowl under the wp-no wet spots.I put paper under the car.under the wp-NO SPOTS(but the fluid would be caught initially by the cowling under the engine bay,so it would take a pretty good leak to leave spots).
I don't know what to think about the wp leak.The coolant was 15 ounces low in the plastic reservoir, so it lost 15 ounces over 55,000 miles.There is water in the coolant,so some will evaporate, but 15 ounces??

I'll keep looking for a leak.

 

Just got it replaced on my 2008 Prius - 62,700 miles for 340.00 parts/labor in NC. The service manager gave me the number of Toyota Experience and I plan to call. I will let you know what they say. Tell you - it was a little scary when it went bad - all the lights in the dashboard, less the oil light, came on at once. Once it settled down, the bright red triangle, check engine, and hybrid with exclamation mark lights were the only ones visible. Glad I looked on line with the signs before I went to the dealership - knew what I was getting into.

 

ledford Priusgirl

So your inverter coolant pump died also-.
I notice both of you have 2008's??!!Not supposed to have the "bad pumps"in 2008's.
Vegasgirl must be in Vegas.I'm near New Orleans- both hot places(but Vegas is MUCH MUCH HOTTER).
Ledford203- where do you live- hot climate??
ledford 203- my wife was driving when it happened-luckily it was just 1 mile from home.
She described just as you did- kinda shocking-dash lights up-AC quit cooling also.

Big aside-I can't find any signs of a leak around my belt driven water pump-I looked VERY CAREFULLY- jacked up car looked at underside of WP, put newspaper under car when it returned from trips.
NOTHING-no drip spots, no stains of note- no collections of grunge.
The coolant reservoir(just above radiator) was 15 ounces low when I got it home from the dealer, but I haven't been able to find the leak the service writer said it has?? I'm puzzled-no leak evidence at all in or under the engine bay-looked-flashlight- at all the cowling under the engine bay where it would have hit/pooled.Also looked at the top of the AC compressor which is partially under the WP.
It lost 15 ounces,so it must be leaking/weeping somewhere.
Can you lose 15 ounces in 5.25 years 55,000 miles just by evaporation?My Prius is black,so the engine bay is hot much of the year.
I just don't know how/where that coolant was lost.I have looked very diligently the last 4 days(80 miles worth of trips in a hot climate)
Thanks-any ideas out there?
Charlie