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2007 Prius - Inverter died (82k miles)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Barani, Aug 14, 2014.

  1. Barani

    Barani New Member

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    I have a 2007 Toyota Prius and it was driving well (till yesterday morning).

    I parked my car yesterday in my office parking lot and when I came back (after couple of hours) I noticed that my car was not responding at all.

    I couldn't open the doors using the remote, hence I opened the doors using the keyfob and got in to the car to notice that none of the lights were working.

    I tried to start the car (pressing the power button) but all the lights in the dashboard came on for a minute and stopped again all together. I tried to start couple of times and got the exact same results (attached with this post).

    I had to get back to my work then and came back to my car after couple of hours. This time, my car died totally. I could just see the green light on my power button but pressing it didn't even display the dashboard indicators.

    I called AAA to jump start my car, they came with portable jump starter and tried to revive my car but in vain. Then they towed my car to Toyota dealership, they tried to jump start the car but they couldn't start it either.

    I got a call today morning from the dealership that some fuse was blown and they had to replace it to fix my car and gave an estimate of 400$ (+110$ for diagnostics). I told them to go ahead with the repair.

    After couple of hours, I got another call stating that the issue is even bigger than they expected. This time they said that the hybrid battery inverter has to be replaced and it would cost more than 5000$. I was so shocked and almost fainted when I heard that $ amount.

    Dealership says that the issue might be with jump starting my car but I told them that my car didn't respond even before jump starting and some of the indicators in the dashboard (that I have never seen before) was on.

    AAA tried to revive the car using the portable jump starter kit and they tried just once.

    When I looked up on Toyota.com website, I got to know that the hybrid system has 100,000 miles/ 8 year warranty. I told this to service manager but he is not convinced that it would be covered by the warranty.

    It would be great if someone can provide me any suggestion on this issue?

    Thanks a lot in advance!!!
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 Barani, Aug 14, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2014
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    You should pursue this as a warranty repair. Call Toyota headquarters directly if the service manager doesn't know
     
  3. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Barani, welcome to the site.

    At first your story sounds like you could have had a weak or dead 12v battery and a third attempt to start the car may have worked.

    However it only takes one jump start with reversed polarity (attaching the negative lead to the positive terminal) to blow the fuse and damage the inverter. The warranty doesn't cover this situation.

    I'd start shopping around for an inverter and an indy garage like Luscious Garage for the install. Also check the voltage of the 12v battery and replace it if it is low.
     
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If the DC/DC 100A fuse was blown, that is circumstantial evidence that the jumpstart was botched and therefore the inverter was damaged due to negligence on the part of whomever did the jump.

    The good news is that a used inverter can be bought for a three-digit amount and it is not very difficult to replace.
     
    alekska likes this.
  5. Barani

    Barani New Member

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    Thanks for your response.

    AAA tried to jump start the car only once, but there were multiple attempts made to jump start the car in Toyota dealership so the fuse might have blown away during their attempt too right?

    As of now, the service manager is going to file a case with Toyota to see if it can be covered by warranty. I will keep you all updated.
     
  6. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    There are a number of stories here about reversed jump starts by AAA and the like. It happens more often than one would expect. It is trivial to jump the Prius as no major current is involved, so if it didn't work the first time then that would be the likely scenario.
     
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  7. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Yeah it definitely sounds like the initial problem was nothing more than a flat (or failed) 12V battery, and that all the other problems have arisen from a failed jump start. I'd be 99.9% certain of that, particularly with the blown fuse which is pretty much a sure sign.

    It's more likely that the AAA guy did the damage than the dealer in my opinion. The dealer tech would know for sure to use the front jump terminal (under the hood), which is pretty hard to get wrong. The AAA guy might have gone straight for the battery (in the rear hatch) which is a bit darker and harder to access, and a lot easier to make a mistake.

    Do you remember seeing where exactly the AAA guy tried to jump it? Was it up front under the hood, or was it in the hatch at the rear?
     
  8. Barani

    Barani New Member

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    AAA guy opened the fuse box (That's what it said on the box) under the hood and connected the red clip to a clamp (below a red flap with +ve sign on it) and connected the black clip to the bolt under the hood.
     
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Good so far. The next question is what was connected to the other end of the cable that the red clip was attached to.
     
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  10. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    You would think that after a few botched jump starts and claims or law suits for damage repair those motor clubs like AAA would warn all the tow truck drivers ahead of time adamantly about the proper way to jump start a Prius (or any hybrid for that matter).

    I would assume those instances of botched jump starts to be very few and far between by now.

    Well you know what happens when you assume . . .

    Patrick, since you are monitoring this thread can you quickly go off topic for a sec and tell me if you are aware of any front or rear bumper changes between 2004 and 2009. The reason I ask is some of the aftermarket bumpers on ebay are advertised 2004-2009 while some are 2006-2009 and some are 2008-2009. I need a front and rear and nobody is answer this in my thread so i figured I'd ask you since you know quite a bit about the Prius . . . thanks
     
  11. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I am not aware of any bumper cover changes. However there could be, I just don't know.

    For example, the engine plastic under covers design changed during the 2G model years. So this may have affected the front bumper cover.

    Your best bet would be to buy a used bumper from a donor vehicle of a similar model year instead of buying an aftermarket part of unknown quality and fit.
     
  12. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    thank you Patrick, while I agree used oem is better than new aftermarket, I would think that in a car accident the bumpers are the first thing to get destroyed so finding a prius in a salvage yard with good bumpers will be very difficult but I'll call around. thank you.
     
  13. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Yes, it may not be easy. Try autobeyours.com
     
  14. Barani

    Barani New Member

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    It was some portable jump starter kit. My car was sandwiched between 2 other cars (in parking lot) so I had to wait for AAA to bring the portable jump starter kit.
     
  15. Barani

    Barani New Member

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    Toyota should put a sticker with the directions to jump start the Prius right? Or at least a warning sticker with the warranty implications when jump starting the car using any third party service providers.
     
  16. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    If it was a portable jump kit and you witnessed the AAA connect the car correctly as stated in your post 8 then the damage must have been done at the dealers.

    John (Britprius)
     
  17. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    They put information in the user manual for the owner to read, not that any do. If people don't read the book they're not going to read any stickers.

    They are not in the job of training third party providers either.
     
  18. Barani

    Barani New Member

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    This is not practical.. Have you ever read a complete disclaimer before buying a product online or in store? Even if you read it, can you remember it forever?

    It's not practical to read a 500 page book and remember everything and that too when your car stops in middle of the road.

    Toyota has to publish advisory warning to third party service providers. They should atleast put a sticker on top of fuse box so that the emergency service providers are aware of the implications.
     
  19. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    While in part I agree how many stickers do you want on your car. If it had been parked so that you could not get to the jump point under the hood you would need a sticker by the battery in the rear of the car. Then you would need a sticker on the outside of the hatch to explain how to open the hatch to get to the battery, because the release on the hatch will not work with a flat battery.

    John (Britprius)
     
  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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