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Red Triangle + intermittent AC--codes inside.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by cosmokramer, Aug 4, 2019.

  1. cosmokramer

    cosmokramer Junior Member

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    Hello! I was out driving my '06 Prius today when I get the dreaded red triangle of death come up on the dash, along with the check engine, and traction light. It was pretty hot today, over 95F degrees - not a fun time.

    I get the car home, scan with the laptop and pull the following codes:

    Hybrid Control P0A93
    Air Conditioner B1421, B1433, and B1475
    Tire Pressure Monitor C2165 (don't think this is related, but figured I'd include it)

    Checking maintenance records on toyota owners, looks like the inverter pump was replaced back in 2011 at 47k miles. How often do these go bad? The prius now has 151k miles - time for a new pump? I pulled over and checked the pump to see if it was still running (to avoid inverter overheating) and it sounded like it was. I also listened to the overflow tank and it sounded like fluid was sloshing around in there. I figured the pump was still running so I drove the car home - without AC of course.

    One key thing to note: for the past year or so, I've heard this gurgling sound behind the dash on the drivers side. I searched this and it seemed to indicate air in the cooling system. Could this be the only issue?

    Any ideas what could be going on here? Would the AC condenser stop running if the inverter pump was throwing a code? The HVAC fan was still blowing, but the air was warm (as if running the system with AC off)

    Not sure if I should just replace the inverter pump and fluid. Any advice is appreciated here.
     
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Welcome to PriusChat!!

    Just replace the pump, and fluid if it hasn't been changed recently.

    AC/CC doesn't work if inverter is overheated.
     
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    get the coolant bled
     
  4. cosmokramer

    cosmokramer Junior Member

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    Thank you! Yeah I ended up doing that today. Put new coolant in and bled the system. So far so good!
     
  5. cosmokramer

    cosmokramer Junior Member

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    Do you know if the gurgling behind the drivers side dash is related to the inverter cooling system? I'm thinking I might need to bleed another part of the system to get rid of this.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i don't, but i thought it was the engine coolant making the sound
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The gurgling comes from the cabin heater and the engine coolant loop must be bled to deal with that.
     
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  8. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Check the coolant level at the radiator when the engine is cool. Don’t just trust the overflow bottle.
     
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