2005 Toyota Prius. Consumer states problem with vehicle overheating it was determined the water pump was defective and needed to replaced.

- Sloatsburg, NY, USA

2005 Toyota Prius stalled on an overpass with no shoulders. The transmission became stuck in park, and the vehicle could not be pushed since the front wheels were locked up. The car was eventually towed, and it had to be dragged onto the flatbed wrecker since the front wheels would not roll. The problem was determined to be a failed pump for cooling the inverter. The pump failed such that it blew a fuse that also controlled the transmission shifter, preventing the car from being put into neutral so that it could be pushed out of traffic lanes. This is a very unsafe failure mode.

- Little Rock, AR, USA

The contact owns a 2005 Toyota Prius. The contact stated that the inverter cooling water pump failed. While driving 72 mph with the vehicle speed control engaged, there were several warning lights illuminating causing the vehicle speed control to lose power. He drove onto the side of the road, turned the engine off and allowed the vehicle to cool down and it began to function normally. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and drive safely to his residence. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who diagnosed the failure as the water pump which listed error code P0A93. The vehicle was not repaired since the parts were on back order until September 16, 2010. He then contacted the dealer and manufacturer who also informed him that the parts were on critical back order until September 16, 2010. The failure mileage was 41,000.

- Lake Forest, CA, USA

2005 Prius stalling problem!! I never received any notification on this issue. As the article said"Toyota motor sales (tms), U.S.a., Inc., will launch a special service campaign involving certain 2004 and early 2005 model year Prius sold in the U.S. on the involved vehicles, an issue with the program logic in the electronic control module (ECM) system may cause some or all of the following warning lights to illuminate: Master, hybrid system, engine, vehicle stability control, and brake. If this occurs, the vehicle will enter a "fail-safe" mode which allows limited operation via the electric motor. However, the electrically-powered brake and steering operation will continue to function normally if this condition occurs. The electric motor will also provide enough power to allow the driver to pull the vehicle over and away from traffic. Once the vehicle is stopped, the driver may be able to restart the gasoline engine in the vehicle by pushing the start button.Toyota is proactively conducting a campaign in the interest of its customers. Toyota will inform owners of the involved vehicles with a special service campaign notification letter sent via first class mail beginning in late-October. Owners are requested to contact their local Toyota dealer for diagnosis and repair upon receiving their notification. Toyota will reprogram the ECM system at no charge to the owners of the vehicle." NHTSA action number : PE05029 NHTSA recall campaign number : N/a component : engine and engine cooling engine and engine cooling:engine unknown or other my car have this same issue while I was on a freeway. I called Toyota dealership and was told that I would have to pays around $100 to get analysis. What can I do to get Toyota to correct this when they never sent me a notice for this problem. I bought this car brand new from Toyota around summer of 2005. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Cedar Hill, TX, USA

I'm writing about an defective inverter cooling pump in my 2005 Toyota Prius. I was driving when all of a sudden my car loses the ability to accelerate. Numerous warning lights came on as I coasted to a stop in a nearby neighborhood. The car would not shut off at first. After I finally got the car to turn off, it would not turn on again. The display in the center of the dashboard would come on fine, but when it came time for the main engine to turn on (when pushing the start button), it would blink and shut off immediately. When I took a look under the hood, I could smell something electrical burning. I finally got the car towed to a local shop that was Toyota/Lexus certified. They figured out that the inverter cooling pump was defective and it was blowing fuses (hence the smell of something electrical burning). Total cost was almost $500 for the repair: Parts and labor. I tried calling Toyota to see if I could get any type of reimbursement, but I got many reasons why I should not get one: - the warranty was for 60,000 or 8 years. I was in the 8 years, the mileage was 62,000. (I guess customer service does not mean much - previously I own a 94 Toyota corolla - 16 years with a Toyota car) - I did not get it repaired at a Toyota "dealership" (even though they were "Toyota" certified) - I did not buy the car new. (so if you buy a used Toyota, apparently that does not make the car a Toyota anymore.) bottom line, after being fixed the car runs even better then before the inverter cooling pump failure: Better gas mileage and no more phantom steering wheel movements when driving on the highway (happened when the engine would switch over to battery and vice versa).

- Apollo Beach, FL, USA

I am writing about an incident with my 2005 Toyota Prius. On July 20, 2009 as my wife was driving our Prius the engine light went on. She immediately drove into the parking lot of a small business and stopped the car. We had it towed to a repair shop. The mechanics there diagnosed the problem. The inverter pump that supplies coolant to all the engine parts had malfunctioned. The mechanics told us that the Toyota company was aware that this problem could occur on our 05 Prius. If we had the car towed to a Toyota dealer the defective inverter pump would be replaced with a more recent model free of charge. The next day we had the car towed to the dealership. They examined the car and verified that the problem was a defective inverter pump. Their codes as printed on their invoice number 524093 [21 July 2009] are "34352 pulled code poa93, sub code 346-inverter cooling system performance. Found tsb EG001-07 to correct this concern. Replaced inverter water pump as per stb." This catastrophic malfunction occurred without any prior warning. We have maintained the car with regular maintenance as per the schedule in the owners manual. We were very lucky that the malfunction occurred while we were in town. Since we live in New Mexico the malfunction could have occurred out in one of our deserts or on one of our mountains. We are both 73 years of age and both cancer survivors. The last thing that we needed was to be stranded somewhere or to have the engine completely destroyed if we were not able to immediately stop the car. I do hope that Toyota will be required to perform a recall on the Prius models that have this type if inverter pump so that owners can continue to drive their cars safely.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

1. I bought a new Prius in early March of 2005. I was coasting to stop (around 8-10 mph) for a yield sign and when I hit the foot on the brake, the vehicle started to accelerate. Funny, but this problem happens only occansionally! 2. stimes the vehicles seems to come to a stall, at low speeds while making a turn or before coming to an dead stop. I personally have felt the vehicle going off the power during a turn, at low speeds <10 mph. 3. I tried to find any recalls on the vehicle, but was unsucessfull.

- Douglasville, GA, USA