Another Toyota Prius recall

TOYOTA Australia has issued a second recall on its petrol-electric Prius hybrid in as many weeks, after being notified of a potential fault with the electrically driven water pump.

The campaign affects 8119 second-generation Prius hatches sold here and built between July 2003 and April 2009, and is part of a global recall affecting around 630,000 vehicles.

The second-generation Prius was also the subject of the larger steering-related recall announced by Toyota last week, which affected 12,710 vehicles locally and around 2.76 million in total.

Many 2003-2009 Prius models will therefore be affected by both recalls, however Toyota Australia says owners of these vehicles will be notified if this is the case, and that both problems will be fixed at the same appointment.

Both recalls were announced simultaneously in many overseas markets, but Toyota Australia held off announcing any local action on the potential water pump defect until this week.

Toyota Australia media and external affairs manager Beck Angel told GoAuto today that this was because the company’s local arm only had preliminary information when the recall was first announced overseas.

A company statement released today said the mechanical gremlin affects the electrically driven water pump that circulates coolant through the hybrid components to dissipate excess heat.

“There is a possibility that the electric motor installed in the hybrid electric water pump may stop functioning, leading to illumination of various warning lights in the instrument panel,” it said.

“In the worst case, the electric power supply circuit fuse may open, causing the hybrid system to stop while the vehicle is being driven.

“If left unchecked the car could go into 'limp-home' or 'fail-safe' mode, in which engine power is cut.”

Ms Angel said three instances of water pump trouble have been reported by Australian owners.

Affected customers will be contacted by mail and urged to book an appointment with their dealer. The repair should take around one hour, but could be longer depending on the work schedule.

These latest recalls come around five weeks after the Japanese company recalled 7.4 million Aurion, Camry, Corolla, Kluger and Yaris models globally over a faulty window switch. That recall affected almost 300,000 vehicles in Australia alone.

Between 2009 and 2010, the company also recalled about nine million Toyota and Lexus vehicles globally to correct issues with sliding floor mats and sticking accelerator pedals.

In August this year, Toyota Australia also recalled almost 20,000 locally made Camry and Aurion sedans over a possible fuel leak.

Affected VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) range for water pump recall
JTDKB20U#00001146 – JTDKB20U#00133025
JTDKB20U#03001969 - JTDKB20U#03546220
JTDKB20U#07001067 - JTDKB20U#07892859
JTDKB22U#00001093 - JTDKB22U#00132299
JTDKB22U#03001419 - JTDKB22U#03546367
JTDKB22U#07000001 - JTDKB22U#07894033