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2014 Prius III Inverter Failure Question

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by HoosierGirl, Feb 16, 2021.

  1. HoosierGirl

    HoosierGirl New Member

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    Hello everyone! I'm new here & I hope I'm in the right place for my question.
    My 2014 Prius (175,000 miles) would not start when I tried driving home from work yesterday.
    I have a message that says 'check hybrid system stop in a safe place', or close to that.
    My boyfriend had the car towed to his house, & he is trying to figure things out, to no avail.
    My Googling the problem led me to you all. I have done a lot of reading & I've learned that the hybrid system
    has an extended warranty. I'll have to call the dealer tomorrow, but does anyone know if Toyota will cover a hybrid system (invertor?) failure, IF the car has not had a software update? I must have not received anything, or just discarded a notice as junk. My bf thinks they probably won't. Thank you in advance.
     
    #1 HoosierGirl, Feb 16, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2021
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    There is an extended warranty on the inverter. So if that ends up being your problem, then they'll fix it for free. But have you checked the 12v battery on the car? Make sure that's not the reason the car won't start?
     
  3. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Yes the inverter can be covered regardless of software. It could also be something simpler. The dealer will sort it out.

    By the way, the inverter extended warranty should be called the inverter "customer support program" to ensure the dealer knows what you are talking about.
     
    #3 rjparker, Feb 16, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2021
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Do you even know that the problem with the car has anything to do with the inverter yet? Has anyone pulled the trouble codes?

    If it does turn out to have anything to do with the inverter, the exact language in the extended warranty ZE3 notification is "the vehicles covered under this Warranty Enhancement must first have Safety Recall E0E performed". To me that could be read two ways: one would be "if you didn't have E0E done and your inverter failed, don't come running to us!", and the other way could just mean "ok, so we have to apply the E0E patch before we proceed to fix your inverter." I honestly don't know which way they meant it.

    Anyway, E0E came out something like seven years ago now. Are you positive the car hasn't had it done?

    And get those trouble codes before much more time gets spent on guesses about whether the inverter is even involved. :)
     
  5. HoosierGirl

    HoosierGirl New Member

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    JC91006.....The 12 volt battery is reading 12.7 volts. It's less than 1 year old & had a smart charger on it overnight.
    rjparker.....I hope you are correct :) And, I do need support right now :(
    ChapmanF.....Not 100% & I have learned here that we should not speculate. Told bf that I thought I had smelled something that I had never smelled before, just before I arrived at work Monday morning. It was faint, but it seemed like something was hot. No warning lights for overheating tho. We just have a standard code reader & bf says no codes present. According to the Toyota owners site, it has not had the firmware update & I'm 99% certain that that's true. I am worried that the dealer will tell me it isn't covered, because it does not have the update....that's the way we are leaning. I hope we are wrong.
    We are waiting for the tow truck now. I will update later, with good news, I hope.
    I really appreciate all of your help! Thank you!!
     
  6. HoosierGirl

    HoosierGirl New Member

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    It's at the dealer now. Expecting a call tomorrow or Friday. Update later. Good night all.
     
  7. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    If it is the inverter and for some reason the dealer says no, contact Toyota corporate. They are often more interested than the dealers because a warranty repair is reimbursed at a lower labor rate.
     
  8. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Hang around here longer and then see if that statement still applies.
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Sometimes the way you learn something like that is by watching a lot of people speculate,
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    There was an interesting experiment: a number of people were asked to estimate the quantity of beans in a large jar. Their responses varied a lot, but when averaged it was close to spot-on.
     
  11. HoosierGirl

    HoosierGirl New Member

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    Hello all! Sorry for the lag in responding. It's been a week.
    After diagnosing, dealer told us there were random misfire codes & the throttle body was dirty. They also said oil level was low, which I can understand. Sadly it does consume oil & with the nasty cold & snow we were experiencing, it had not been checked when it should have. We typically don't go more than 2 weeks w/o checking. We picked it up after hours with only sales & cashiers available. All we got from the service advisor was the hybrid system was functioning properly, even though we had the 'hybrid malfunction' indication (they did do the J0V recall update).
    Anyway, I guess it's safe to say that we are confused.
    In summary....Hybrid malfunction warning = spark plugs, throttle body service, oil change, software update = $582.00.
    Has any of you all ever heard of anything similar?
    Enjoy you Sunday!
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    That warning can come on for anything and everything. Presume they didn't share any codes? Any on the paperwork?

    Sounds like they just cleared codes and did some service items, didn't really figure out cause.
     
  13. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Hope it does not come back.