Has anyone had to have their HVECU Computer changed in their Prius?? I have a 2001 Prius I bought in October of 2000. Currently I have over 120,000 miles on it. Today the dealer told me my HVECU is bad and it is going to cost me $1200 for a new one. Does anyone know if you can find on cheaper??? Possibly at a salvage yard?? Thank you for your help and Happy Holidays.
As it *just so happens*, one is now listed on ebay for $100. Item # 8023287722 I cannot vouch for the seller (Landon22 in Indiana) but he did answer an email inquiry of mine, if that counts. Interesting that the parts he is now auctioning are from a 2003 Prius crash test vehicle. Don't know how he acquired that... The Part #89981-47063 on his unit interested me particularly. Toyota has revised the software in this ECU several times, and unlike the new model Prius these changes require a whole new box. It cannot be "flashed" as in the new model Prius. Anyway this is the newest part number I have seen; the HV ECU that I received as replacement under warranty ended on 54. There are also national auto dismantlers, such as LKQ, who you might contact. See, I gave ya the part number you need. According to Toyota's terminology, HV in this case means "hybrid vehicle" not "high voltage". Please post again, how this situation gets resolved.
PS: this ECU is not hard to access and I betcha could swap it in yourself. Would need to more about what your servicer discovered, to be able to claim that it will completely resolve your situation. Make sure any valuable packages are shipped insured, there are a lot in the pipeline right now!
Interesting enough, I called around to other dealerships in the area and found prices for the HVECU from $1000.00 to $1200 dollars. The dealership where my car is located is going to beat the other dealerships price. I am just going to have it replaced by the dealership and get the warrenty. I tried to find infromation about the HVECU and some members here helped me. There is not much information out there. Thank you you for your time and help and I will keep you informed of how my Prius is performing. Besides the HVECU computer going it has made it through 5 New England winters. Gas milage is lower in the winter by 2 mpg than the summer. I still average around 48 for year round use. Several 800+ mile trips.
Uh-oh error and partial retraction. The problem is there are two boxes that I get confused, the HV ECU (#89981-470XX) and the engine control module (ECM, #89661-470XX). It is indeed the former that I mentioned offered on ebay. The only TSB I know that leads to the replacement of this one, the HV ECU, is EG006-01, wherein the motor and engine get kinda confused as to who's in charge at highway speeds. I do not believe that replacement of the HV ECU is as frequent as the following. The ECM was replaced in my car. The ECM gets the axe under TSB EG011-03 which seems to be the most common. Several times yearly a classic Prius driver will show up on the Yahoo group and say "error lights, car drives OK" and we say "EG011-03; ECM free till 80K". The deal here seems to be that the gas engine does not light up fast enough to please the ECM, the simplest repair is to replace the ECM with a more forgiving one. At least this is what we tell each other. ECM also goes under TSB EG006-02, where engine misfiring really gets serious. Beyond the ECM, one might also get fuel injectors and a valve adjustment here. I think I have heard of this being done about twice. Anyway, back to the HV ECU. I'm going to assume that your Toyota people are telling you the correct name, not getting mixed up (like me). If you get an official warranty with the new purchase, that certainly has value. DAS
