Repair
Prius headlight problem, D4R HID bulbs *still overpriced, not covered under warranty*
Owners of 2006-2009 Toyota Prius equipped with HID (high intensity discharge) headlights will receive an apology letter from Toyota this month, in response to their overpriced parts and/or incompetence. Toyota has reduced the price of the bulbs to $150 from $300, and will reimburse anyone the difference who paid more than $150 for one. They will also reimburse you for any charges incurred to replace the headlight control computer (ECU) in case a dealer technician misdiagnosed the problem.
If you had your bulbs replaced here, at Luscious Garage, you are not eligible for this reimbursement because we have always charged around $100 per bulb, which is less than Toyota charges even after this good will campaign. Yes, ours are OE Philips D4R XenEco brand, the exact same as Toyota sells. Current price is $94. And no, we have never sold a Headlight ECU. Why would we? It’s common knowledge that the problem is just the bulbs.
But what of the installation price, which is repeatedly quoted at $250-$300, allegedly to “pull the front clip” (front bumper) to access the bulbs? The Toyota letter mentions nothing of that crooked sales pitch. As I have said to many customers here in person, if the dealer technicians are actually pulling the bumper to replace the bulbs, they are idiots. I am quite sure they are not, rather replacing the bulbs from above (which is what we do, which takes 10 minutes or so), which only makes them crooks. But I would rather have a crook working on my car than an idiot.
Needless to say, here at LG, you don’t have to deal with crooks or idiots. We continue to charge $30 for installation per bulb. Price of bulb, install, and tax, out the door, is $132.93.
And we have a box of them here, in stock, and can do it while you wait. Email for an appointment
For our original blog on HIDs: Prius HID D4R D2R Headlights
Posted by Carolyn
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Toyota Hybrids P3009: High Voltage Leak Detected, internal to battery
All hybrids have two electrical systems, low and high voltage. Low is 12v and high is whatever the HV battery happens to be; the important distinction is that they are kept separate from each other. Yes, a DC:DC converter is used to charge the 12v from HV (previously the job of the alternator), and sometimes the HV can be “bootstrapped” or trickle charged by the 12v (Fords), but both of these tasks are accomplished through induction, so there is no electrical connection (only magnetic).
The systems are kept separate for a critical reason: to keep high voltage under close watch and control. In the car, the 12v system 
is all around us; we wouldn’t want that with HV. Toyota hybrids constantly check high voltage isolation to confirm integrity of wire insulation, circuit insulation, and battery storage. If there is any HV reference to ground (low voltage), the car can detect it and warn the driver. One short to ground is ok; two shorts is a short of HV through the body (bad).
When the car detects reference between HV and ground it sets trouble code P3009. The Japanese translation is poor; the Mastertech will read “High Voltage Leak Detective”. Again, this is not a fluid leak but continuity between high voltage and low voltage.
Later models will add information subcodes within P3009 to help pinpoint the problem. The gen 2 Prius (and I expect other late models) will not restart ("ready on") once a high voltage leak is stored.
P3009 is common to gen 1 Prius transmission failures (read more on transmission failures here) when the coils of the electric motor short to the transaxle case or when insulation is otherwise degraded. The short can occur through the transmission fluid too, if it’s old and therefore become conductive, which is why changing the transmission fluid can sometimes help (even though the insulation on the motor windings is definitely deteriorated).
But we at LG are now frequently seeing P3009 on gen 1s due to corrosion internal to the battery. This can be confirmed by clearing trouble codes and then waiting with the key on (ready off) to see if the fault resets. If so, then you know its happening within the battery assembly, since the system main relays (SMRs) are open when the ready light is off.
This is very important because battery corrosion can be cleaned off, even though the dealer will often insist on a whole new battery.
At the bottom of this blog are some close up pics of the corrosion to show how it is reaching the battery cover. The flat side is where the mushroomed deposits have hit the top of the case and are therefore providing continuity.
The prevailing service procedure for checking HV insulation is with a mega-ohmmeter, which applies up to 1000V to the HV line to check for any continuity. But the car does not come equipped with a “megger”, 
so how does it know when it loses HV insulation? In fact the Battery ECU does provide some reference between low voltage and high voltage to check. I’m not exactly sure how it works (circuitry internal to the ECU), but there is capacitance between HV negative and body ground (hence the need to discharge this capacitance through a multimeter whenever you service the battery). I would just assume it’s a capacitor but the HV reading between negative and ground will change as the car is driven, which tells me it’s not hard wired…
Anyway, I digress. Regardless of the HV reading, the car will have an A/C wave running over this value (see first pic) whenever the key is on (power to the Battery ECU). When there is a short to ground, the ECU’s ability to maintain this wave is reduced (see second pic, smaller wave amplitude). 
The more direct the short, the more the wave is depressed. I’ve seen direct shorts from plug-in conversions (where secondary HV batteries have had accidental contact to their cases) where the A/C wave was basically gone.
The car checks the performance of this wave, and when it gets too weak, it will set the P3009. If it sets when the car is ready off, we will inspect the battery for corrosion, clean, and reassemble. We can verify the repair with an improved A/C reference wave. The car is fixed, of course, when the P3009 does not return.
Labor to inspect the battery terminals and confirm voltage leak: $240
Labor to clean all terminals and confirm repair: $120
Total: $360
Note this is a lot less money that a new battery, which runs $2300-3000.
Posted by Carolyn
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Prius Axle Seal Leak
One of the few common problems with the Gen 2 Prius (MY 2004-2009) is a leaking output shaft seal from the transaxle, always driver’s side. We’ve seen it on Gen 1 Prius as well, but less frequently. It’s not the end of the world, but there’s no question it should be fixed, since the car seldom leaks otherwise.
When the axle comes out (to access the seal) so too does transmission fluid, so we just include a transmission fluid flush with the service. Since we recommend transmission fluid changes every 30k for all Series/Parallel hybrids (Toyota, Ford, Nissan), we can usually time the seal replacement with a 30k service to stay on track with maintenance intervals.
Toyota Axle Seal: $20
Gen 1 P/N 90311-35046
Gen 2 P/N 90311-35054
4 Qts of Transmission Fluid: $6.50 x 4 = $26
Gen 1 Toyota ATF Type T-IV
Gen 2 Toyota ATF WS (World Standard)
Axle Nut: $6.50
Sales Tax 9.5%: $4.99
Labor: $180
Total: $237.49
Posted by Carolyn
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Gen 1 Prius code P3130: Inverter System Cooling Malfunction
NEWS FLASH!
Prius have two cooling systems: one for the engine and one for the high voltage inverter. They have two separate fill points (see pic: Carolyn’s left hand is pointing to the inverter reservoir, right to the radiator cap).
Technicians failing to fill both systems will cause overheating to whichever system is neglected (illuminating the Master Warning Light (red triangle) and the “check engine” light). I’ve seen this so many times that I’m starting to get angry!!! I mean, if you don’t know (or can’t figure out) that the car has two cooling systems, you have no business working on it!!!!
To be fair, inverter cooling systems are predisposed to another problem (besides unqualified techs) of failing water pumps. Gen 2 inverter water pump issues have been discussed previously: Prius Code P0A93: Inverter Water Pump Failure. But 2001, 2002, and 2003 Prius have the same problem. 
At the moment we have three Gen 1 Prius here with inverter cooling issues (with P3130 stored), to which I dedicate this blog.
When Gen 1 Prius inverters overheat, they set a trouble code P3130: Inverter Cooling System malfunction. The next step is to pop the hood and look at the reservoir. Does it have coolant? If not, there is problem #1. Of the three cars here, one was simply left unfilled (system overlooked); the second had the 
drain plug left loose and consequently lost all its coolant down the road (see pic of dried coolant trail).
If the car has coolant, the next question is whether it’s flowing. Remove the cap on the inverter reservoir (the one ATTACHED to the inverter) and look for turbulence. No turbulence? The car either has air in the system or the pump is stopped.
Find the pump (hint: it’s behind the driver’s headlamp assembly) and put your hand on it. Is it vibrating? Then there’s probably air in the system prohibiting coolant flow. (In this case the pump should also be noisy; you can massage the hoses to work the air out of the system; when it’s quiet and you confirm turbulence in the reservoir, you’re done.) It is possible that the motor is running but the impeller has broken free, in the case that you have vibration but no noise and no turbulence. I have never seen this, but it’s possible. Let common sense guide you.
No vibration? Check the power and ground to the pump, at the connector. I use a noid light; when it illuminates I know the pump is bad; otherwise troubleshoot the circuit.
Of the three cars here, one has a seized pump (it just went bad on its own, which is common); the one with the missing coolant was also disconnected from power (I will have to check it once I fill the system) with the pump actually tucked under the inverter (!) so it appeared to be missing; the third one—with the loose drain plug—has a powered pump that’s now seized from being run without any coolant in the system (which also cools the motor and probably lubricates it too).
To fill and bleed the cooling system LG charges $80 plus tax:
Labor: $60
1 Gallon Super Long Life Coolant: $20
To replace the pump costs $380 plus tax:
Labor: $240
Inverter Water Pump G9020-47022: $140
(Pic of three inverter water pumps today: two for cars and one for inventory)
Posted by Carolyn
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Gen 2 Prius MFD Screen Repair, $500
2004-2005 Prius multi-function displays have some weak soldering points, causing a failure well documented by our colleagues across the bay at Art’s Automotive:
Repairing the Multi-function Display via ArtsAutomotive.com
New screens from the dealer are unmercifully expensive, between $3000-$5000 depending on the model (navigation or no). Much more attractive—not to mention green—is the prospect of repairing the original screen.
Paul from Art’s, author of the earlier link, openly admits that he got his info from Hobbit, the east-coast Prius guru (pictured demonstrating the safety of Prius high voltage AC motor phases, from a class Carolyn attended back in 2006). His original account of repairing the screen is also available online:
Evaluation and repair of a failed Prius MFD via techno-fandom.org
Hobbit basically pinpoints his problem to a pair of joints on the top board, the most common point of failure. Like Art’s, we offer resoldering of these joints in house. 
(To be honest we hire Eric, our friend and IT computer science geek, to perform the very fine solders himself.)
The price for the service, including removal and reinstallation of the screen: $500
Admittedly there are other possibilities for failure. Because the diagnostic time necessary to chase those other potential soldering breaks quickly outpaces the value of an already repaired (or otherwise guaranteed) used unit, we offer a fall back solution: if the first soldering attempt does not work, we’ll replace the unit with a known-good one from Steve Woodruff of AutoBeYours, which comes with a 1 year warranty, at no additional cost.
In other words, if the initial repair doesn’t work, we’ll replace with a used unit, parts and labor, for the same price, $500. Of course we’re happy just to switch yours out with a replacement screen, if you prefer.
Use the contact page for appointments... or call us: 415-875-9030
Photo Gallery of Screen Repairs, for the curious:
Screen removed and on the bench, Carolyn disassembles for Eric:
Two screens that recently failed in two separate Prius, ready for attention:
Eric, the 21st century mechanic, working his magic:
