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Triangle, (!), VSC... help please!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by lorkp, Jan 10, 2011.

  1. lorkp

    lorkp New Member

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    Today I got a new set of tires in size 195/65/15, and also took the car to the dealership to have the water pump recall , gas pedal recall , and an oil change done.

    The car was perfectly normal driving home. Later on, the car was driven for about two hours on the highway when the car lostpower and the triangle, (!), and VSC lights came on. When trying to turn the car on again, only the red triangle shows.

    The dealership will look at it tomorrow, but I'm wondering if anyone has an idea of what could have gone wrong...

    Do you think it's possibly related to any of the work that was done on the car today, or pure coincidence?

    Thanks so much!
     
    #1 lorkp, Jan 10, 2011
  2. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Absolutely, somebody caused a problem with your car. My guess is that they did not properly bleed air out of the inverter cooling system. IC pump shutdown + weak 12V battery could explain what happened. Also, pull your engine oil dipstick as well and see if it is either overfull or empty (!!!). If they come back saying that you need to pay for replacement computers, transaxle, etc., be very skeptical.
     
    #2 seilerts, Jan 11, 2011
  3. lorkp

    lorkp New Member

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    So it turns out it was the water pump. This idiot of a dealer, that originally installed the new pump it turns out, had not finished installing the new part! The dealer that just fixed it said they found vise grips still ON A HOSE connecting to the pump.

    WARNING TO CHICAGOLAND AREA PEOPLE: DO NOT GO TO MID-TOWN TOYOTA
     
    #3 lorkp, Jan 11, 2011
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Glad to hear that your problem was resolved...I would say that you win the prize for the worst dealer Prius service story...:eek:

    Did you get to take the vise grips home? Might come in handy for a future home repair project...:D

    Note that it took your car two hours for warning lights to come on, which shows that not much inverter cooling is needed during wintertime.
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Jan 11, 2011
  5. lorkp

    lorkp New Member

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    When we picked up the car they gave us the broken pump and the vise grips. I noticed the metal frame that the pump sits on was corroded and dirty, leading me to believe that this was in fact the original pump!

    The second dealer charged me for the part and labor to put a new pump in. I wonder if they had to do this because they couldn't get reimbursement from Toyota since the first dealer would have already claimed it.

    This whole thing makes my blood boil—I was left stranded on a highway and was lucky that the car could be towed to a dealership 7 miles away. I then had take a taxi to a rental car place so I could be on my way. Further, this crooked first dealer is getting payment for a part they never put in.

    Mid-town Toyota will pay every last cent—for what the second dealer charged me, for the towing, for the taxi, for the rental car.
     
    #5 lorkp, Jan 11, 2011
  6. nthach

    nthach New Member

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    I stay away from dealerships - while there are some that have really good mechanics working there, a majority of dealership techs are flat-rate wrenchturners that hustle every job to get hours in.
     
    #6 nthach, Jan 12, 2011
  7. bretaz

    bretaz Member

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    I would not have paid a dime, and had the second dealership contact the first dealership. What I find interesting here is that if they had done nothing at all, you would have thought the car was done and would have never known. That is just plain crazy.
     
    #7 bretaz, Jan 12, 2011
  8. coach81

    coach81 Active Member

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    wow...
     
    #8 coach81, Jan 12, 2011
  9. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    its not the mechanics but the dealerships presurering the mechanics but also car manaf. that dont pay more then 1 hour for a maybe 2 hours job replacing waranty stuff.

    and in anycase this mechanic could wel have caused a really normal human thing and thats a human mistake!
     
    #9 Flying White Dutchman, Jan 12, 2011
  10. lorkp

    lorkp New Member

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    I was pretty steamed when I wrote that last post and now realize that it was probably just a mistake on their part. But a very serious one, nonetheless. I talked to the dealership today and they're going to reimburse me for everything. The only thing I can't get back is the time frustration spent.
     
    #10 lorkp, Jan 12, 2011
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