Overheated Inverter - Need Expert Opinion

[PDWhite]

Hi,

A few days ago, my 2005 Prius suddenly showed a number of warning lights, including the master clear. This was a first for my Prius. Never happened since it rolled of the showroom floor 53,000 happy miles ago.

The dealer replaced the 12v battery which didn't fix the problem. On the way home from the from the repair, it overheated again, bigtime! -- It shifted into neutral and then wouldn't budge.

The service manager took it for a test ride and not so unexpectedly, it happened again. This time the car would not power down. THe lights on the console went on and off. A day later they called and told me I had a bad inverter coolant pump and it would take 4-5 days to get a replacement.

Now the question(s): What is likelihood that overheating the inverter several times could cause it to fail prematurely?

The inverter is a very expensive part to replace and I have approximately seven thousand miles left before my drive-train warranty expires. I am also aware that it is very difficult to tell if an overheated solid-state component has been damaged until it actually fails. This is often the case with power supply components.

I am afraid my overheated inverter may hang on just long enough to get past the warranty period and die.

An expert opinion is needed here:

Should I insistthat they replace the inverter, too?

Please RSVP and let me know what you think...


Thanks,

PDWhite

[qbee42]

Overheating is not good for electronics and can cause premature failure. You already know that or you wouldn't be posting this question. The real question is whether your inverter has been damaged. If it isn't throwing a code, there is no way to prove damage. I can't see a dealer or Toyota agreeing to replace an expensive part that has not failed. That said, if you don't have any codes, your inverter is probably fine.

Tom

[donee]

Hi PD,

I doubt your going to get them to replace the inverter. Possibly you could get them to extend the waranty on the inverter, based on the possible effects of a waranteed item that failed early.

[galaxee]

if there is no evidence of damage to the inverter and you choose to insist it is replaced, you will be paying for the replacement.

[PDWhite]

Originally Posted by donee

Hi PD,

I doubt your going to get them to replace the inverter. Possibly you could get them to extend the waranty on the inverter, based on the possible effects of a waranteed item that failed early.

donee, (& others,)

Thanks for your advice. Considering your replies, I think it would be best to put the dealer & Toyota on notice that this overheat has occured and that if the inverter dies (resonably) after the expiration of the 60,000 mile drive-train warranty, I will still expect it to be replaced for no charge. -- I'm hoping that will fly.

What say you on this?

-pdw

[Patrick Wong]

The inverter is covered by the 100K mile hybrid system warranty. So you've got coverage on that component for a reasonable amount of additional time and mileage.

[Shawn Clark]

Make sure that the problems and potential long term impact on the inverter are documented by the dealer. It doesn't make sense to replace it at this point. However, it if fails later due to the other warranted part that failed, you will have a pretty good basis for replacement. Of course, as Patrick noted, you already have a very long warranty on the inverter, but it doesn't hurt to have something to reference back to if they try to blame something on you later...

Do they do a flush and replacement of the inverter coolant system when they replace the pump? If not, then it really should be done. What about the transaxle fluid? Would it get a bit toasted since MG1/MG2 lost coolant and ended up in lockout? Seems like it would be prudent to flush it as well.

Seems like Toyota needs to give us some decent gauges so that we have some warning when parts like the coolant pump are failing. It's silly to have more ECU's than you can even list, and virtually nothing in the way of an interface for them. Even their dealer shops have trouble with stuff like this. A simple temp. readout on the inverter coolant would eliminate a lot of problems and guesswork.

[2009Prius]

Originally Posted by Shawn Clark

... A simple temp. readout on the inverter coolant would eliminate a lot of problems and guesswork.

So I suppose Scangauge II would not read the inverter coolant T?

[PDWhite]

Originally Posted by Shawn Clark

Re: Seems like Toyota needs to give us some decent gauges so that we have some warning when parts like the coolant pump are failing. It's silly to have more ECU's than you can even list, and virtually nothing in the way of an interface for them. Even their dealer shops have trouble with stuff like this. A simple temp. readout on the inverter coolant would eliminate a lot of problems and guesswork.

Shawn,

Thanks for the good advice. And I agree with you 100% regarding the need for improved built-in monitoring capabilities. - The Toyota Service Center had a hard time diagnosing the problem because the most recent error codes disappeared when the power died.

As for replacing "warning lights" with guages; there is a good reason why they are called "idiot lights..." BTW: I am seriously looking at the ScanGuage II as a potentially good alternative.

I am also looking for a good 3rd-party repair warranty. I've found one, but need to find a few more for comparison...

My thanks to everyone! -pdw

[JimboK]

Originally Posted by 2009Prius

So I suppose Scangauge II would not read the inverter coolant T?

If it had the proper X-gauge set up for it, it could, but to my knowledge no one has figured out the X-gauge code for it from the CAN data stream.