Toyota is to replace the electric coolant pumps in 650,000 second generation Prius models to prevent their hybrid mechanism from overheating, the company said.
Models affected were manufactured between 6 August, 2003 and 25 May, 2007 – not the current third generation which debuted in 2009.
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Toyota said that if drivers use the Prius with an insufficient amount of coolant for the inverter of its hybrid system, air bubbles could build up inside the pump, causing it to malfunction and driving up the coolant’s temperatures.
In some cases, air could intrude into the pump at the time of maintenance servicing, triggering a similar malfunction. Toyota described the repairs as a ”service campaign” rather than a “recall”, saying the fault is not as serious as to trigger a sudden stoppage of the car.
But the repair campaign is a further blow to the image of the automaker following a slew of recalls conducted since last year.
Of the 650,000 Prius models subject to the campaign, some 378,000 units are in the United States, 180,000 units in Japan, 70,000 units in Europe including 15,500 in the UK, and 7,000 units in Australia, with the remainder in other areas of the world.
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