I recently purchased a USB car lighter adapter to charge my iPhone 5 in my 2008 Prius. Used it for the first time today. Noticed something weird, that the iPhone in my lap was getting hot.....I don't recall it getting hot when charged at home. Then after 20 minutes or so, I get a Warning light on the Prius, check engine, VSC. The A/C stops blowing out cold air. Getting closer to home, the Warning light comes on again, and says check engine, VSC, ABS. Then, the Prius makes an audible tone, I have no brake response, and shifts itself into neutral. Won't move. I turn off, wait a few minutes, and am able to put in drive and get off the road. Is it possible that the USB charger is drawing too much power from the cigarette lighter, causing a malfunction in the relay to the braking system? This particular USB charger plugs directly into the lighter, and has no inverter to regulate the power. Thanks, Russell
I HIGHLY doubt the above that you have plugged in should cause should a problem. If it somehow draws too much (would have to be somewhere past 120 watts), it would blow a fuse in the car. It sounds like you had the inverter pump fail. See LSC A0N - HV (Inverter) Water Pump; Dealer Letter and Technical Instructions | PriusChat. Unfortunately, for whatever reason 08s aren't listed but we've heard of people having their replacement inverter pumps (from the above) fail. Check for turbulence in the inverter coolant tank when the car's in READY mode. It's the tank close to the firewall near the inverter's silver box. It's not the one closest to the radiator. That's the engine coolant tank.
Then I'm pretty sure the inverter pump is bad. I checked mine recently and saw turbulence when in READY mode (READY light on in dash). Look at the TSB in the link I provided for possible symptoms of overheating inverter. BTW, I have blown the car's fuse that goes with cigarette lighter before. I had bought a new Y-splitter and tried it. It blew a fuse. I replaced it and tried again: fuse blown again. I trashed that splitter and went back to my old one.
Thanks for all your good info. I think you are probably correct. That job looks a bit beyond my DIY abilities. Would you recommend taking to Toyota dealer, vs. say the local Goodyear Service center? I saw this estimate online from a garage in San Fran: Toyota Inverter Water Pump G9020-47031 = $138.86 Quart of Super Long Life Coolant = $5 Sales Tax = $13.67 1.25 Hours Labor = $150 Total = $307.53
^^^ Provided you know of a reputable dealer, yes take it there. You might be able get the dealer to take it up with Toyota to see if they'll cover part of it. I don't think a Goodyear will have done this type of work before and they might not have the right coolant in stock either.
Update on my issue. Toyota dealership determined it was bad inverter pump (old model pump), and also bad water pump. $840 later, with two new pumps, I'm all good to go. Service advisor said it can't hurt to appeal to Toyota for full or partial help with expense. Anyone know best avenue to start with such a plea? Thanks, Russell
Don't know but there's Power negotiating after the car warranty expires | PriusChat and you can cite the LSC that unfortunately doesn't apply to you car. Maybe Googling around for Code: site:priuschat.com 08 inverter pump might help w/seeing how common (or not) this prob is?
