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2010 Prius died - P0A94 - Inverter Failure - Replaced

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by kc410, Jun 26, 2014.

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  1. kbeck

    kbeck Active Member

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    Well, the argument is that it is bad programming, in the sense that the pre-recall program would allow too much differential heating, thus causing the trannies to pop off the heatsink. (There are other theories, but, even if this one is wrong, the principle's correct.)

    Kinda reminds me of a situation I heard about some years back: Somebody driving a late-model manual car left it in third when they should've been in fifth. The engine threw a rod. The manufacturer replaced the engine, no cost, no questions asked - because the engine controller should have limited the RPMs and prevented the engine damage.

    Really, it shouldn't matter how hard one drives a Prius; the inverter shouldn't go blooey, no matter what the user does (save driving off a cliff). Which is why this is a recall and Toyota's not arguing about replacing inverters under warranty.

    KBeck
     
    #21 kbeck, Jun 30, 2014
    GrumpyCabbie and kc410 like this.
  2. kc410

    kc410 Active Member

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    As a final follow-up, today I received a check in the mail for the towing charge ($95) from the local dealer.
    The Prius continues to perform well.

    I have only been able to detect one small change in the way the traction-battery dash gauge works when driving around town:
    Now (after the inverter was changed & software recall done) the dash traction battery indicator will occasionally fill up to within 1-bar-from-the-top.
    This is during around-town stop & go driving.
    The indicator does not continue to stay at this level as it will shortly drop to its normal 2-bars-from-top level.

    Before the inverter replacement & software recall the dash gauge would max out at 2-bars below full.
    The _only_ way to get it to the 1-bar-below-full level was either coming to a rather abrupt stop from ~70 mph or gently riding the brake descending a long hill.

    I can detect no change in the driving characteristics of the Prius - it performs the same & mpg is the same.

    Kim
     
    #22 kc410, Jul 11, 2014
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sounds like it's working correctly for the first time.
     
    #23 bisco, Jul 11, 2014
  4. kc410

    kc410 Active Member

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    Just another update:
    With all the 12V battery failures I've been seeing on PC I decided to see what battery I really have...
    The oem battery has been replaced with a Toyota True Start, 84 month warranty, p/n: 00544-21171-325.
    It has a round sticker on the top with "6/12" on it so I'm guessing it was installed July 2012. Yeaaa :)
    One less thing to worry about.

    Kim
     
    #24 kc410, Jul 22, 2014
  5. HaroldW

    HaroldW Active Member

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    June 2012. H
     
    #25 HaroldW, Jul 23, 2014
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  6. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    The dated sticker could be date of manufacture, not installation.

    SCH-I535
     
    #26 xliderider, Jul 23, 2014
  7. duffasaurus

    duffasaurus Senior Member

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    Guess What Guys!! I had an inverter failure on 7/26/14 and I had the software upgrade done earlier this year, DUH! Without warning the dash lite up like a Christmas tree and the Prius went into limp mode. Limped into the Toyota dealer and it took them all of Thursday to crack the codes and identify the inverter has the culprit. However, after putting me in a rental(no charge) I got a phone call from the service dept. giving me some bad news! There were 69 inverters on backorder nation wide and it could take as long as one month to get the part under warranty!! After threatening to jump out the window (LOL) I got a phone call from the service manager stating that due to "special favors", an inverter would arrive at the dealership on Monday, July 28th. Will keep everyone updated after the repair is successful?? Wish me luck!
     
    #27 duffasaurus, Jul 25, 2014
  8. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Wow, calling in the special favors. :D

    Good luck, hope they're not getting your hopes up, then bad news later.

    SCH-I535
     
    #28 xliderider, Jul 25, 2014
  9. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    Wow! July 26, 2014 Inverter goes bad.
    Monday July 28,2014 Inverter is suppose to arrive a dealer!
    Now! That is calling in special favors.
    Good luck with the repair! :)
     
    #29 retired4999, Jul 25, 2014
  10. ben_boarder

    ben_boarder New Member

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    I have a 2010 Prius with 111k miles on it. The same thing happened, and I've been in a rental for a week, and they are expecting me to pay full price, and can't even give me a date when the inverter will be shipped. What recall is this related too? HELP PLEASE. The bill estimate they gave me was $4000
     
    #30 ben_boarder, Aug 21, 2014
  11. The Critic

    The Critic Resident Critic

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    In most states, the hybrid warranty is only 100k. At this point, I would either try to beg for goodwill or seek an independent shop to install an used inverter.
     
    #31 The Critic, Aug 21, 2014
  12. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    Yes!
    Have dealer check with Toyota, they may help you!!!!
    Good luck!
     
    #32 retired4999, Aug 21, 2014
  13. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    If you have a full Toyota dealer service history then chances are they might help you outside of warranty with some good will gesture. If not, then they have to draw the line somewhere.
     
    #33 GrumpyCabbie, Aug 21, 2014
  14. Tande

    Tande Active Member

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    Can someone tell me if there are certain "Driving/Habits" that are more likely to bring on this inverter failure? .....or what "Habits" to avoid? .....
     
    #34 Tande, Aug 21, 2014
  15. kc410

    kc410 Active Member

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    I don't think Toyota has shared any specific details of what actions might cause problems. This is how I described my inverter failure shortly after it occurred: I was at ~20mph & had just went around a corner & tried to accelerate fairly briskly & the car just dies.
    There was no warning of pending doom. The Prius was performing great, I was in eco mode & was not driving hard. I was not using 2 feet to drive with so I had to lift my foot off of the brake before pressing on the accelerator.
    The cause of my inverter failing could have been the specific driving pattern that I used at that time, or the inverter could have been previously stressed at unknown times & this time just pushed it over the edge & into a failure mode.
    As I understand the failure, it is possible for the inverter to get "stressed" but still not fail outright. When the inverter software recall is performed it seems part of the procedure is to do a stress test on the inverter to see if any of the power devices have bonding problems from being stressed previously. Even this test is not going to be 100% accurate, so there are going to be some inverters that fail after the recall is performed.
    So I know of no specific actions to avoid because I don't know when the inverter gets stressed to the breaking point, or just stressed.
     
    #35 kc410, Aug 21, 2014
  16. SmogSlide

    SmogSlide Member

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    This is an interesting point because I also in the same thinking of how far I have stressed the inverter before the software recall was done.

    The software update on mine was on 120,000km and the fact that my driving style would have stressed it somewhat.

    If that's the case, Toyota should extend out the inverter warranty to at least match the traction battery warranty to 8 years/160,000km. Right now in Australia, you are only covered for 3yr/100,000km for everything except the traction battery. So I am living on borrowed time.

    Our USA folks are lucky because you have this forum to complain about whereas us in Australia, the same leniency would not apply here...
     
    #36 SmogSlide, Aug 22, 2014
  17. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    lol and Toyota UK have just reduced the entire Prius warranty to just 5 years from April 2014. Make of that what you wish.

    Toyota Warranty | Toyota UK

    I agree with you Smog, if there's nothing to worry about they should extend the warranty to 8 years/100,000 miles, but actually reducing it following all the failures is worrysome to me at least.
     
    #37 GrumpyCabbie, Aug 22, 2014
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