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Sudden DC converter failure

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by tmb_steve, Mar 7, 2017.

  1. tmb_steve

    tmb_steve New Member

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    Hi new here, I've only owned my 2012 prius for three months.

    The car was going great, no problems not even a rattle. I was accelerating to come off a roundabout when suddenly I lost all drive and a bunch of warning lights came on. The car slowed down as if under moderate braking and I had to think quickly to get into a nearby hotel car park.

    Switching off and on again produced a message "check hybrid system " on the dash so I called the local Toyota dealership which was only half a mile down the road. The man from toyota hooked up the computer and got a code saying it was the "DC converter".

    I am arranging with the insurance company to move the car to Toyota tomorrow and I'm hoping this will be covered by the hybrid warranty.

    If anyone has any advice for me about how to proceed with this from here, I'd be glad of it. Also is this a common experience with the hybrid system? I bought this car thinking it would super reliable

    Many thanks for any help or insight you can give.
     
    #1 tmb_steve, Mar 7, 2017
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! there's a piece in there that we had a recall on, not sure about u/k, but if you are still under warranty, you should be covered. all the best!(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Mar 7, 2017
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  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Just searching, looks like "DC Converter" equals "Inverter". As long as you're still within the hybrid warranty, should be covered.

    Also, in the 'States there was a warranty extension on the inverter. There might be under-the-table warranty extension elsewhere?
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Mar 7, 2017
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  4. m.wynn

    m.wynn Senior Member

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    In the U.S. there is a recall (E0E) for all Gen 3 Prii manufactured late March '09 - early Feb. 2014. It's a software re-flash to lower current to the inverter (DC-DC converter). There is a group of three capacitors within the inverter that are prone to heat related failure from the original software spec current load under heavy throttle. The software recall was then followed up by a warranty extension (ZE3) of the capacitors, a part Toyota calls Intelligent Power Module, or IPM. This extension warranties the IPM for 15 years/unlimited mileage.

    It does sound like you have incurred IPM failure. Whether or not the E0E and the ZE3 are in affect in Ireland would be the question.
     

    Attached Files:

    #4 m.wynn, Mar 7, 2017
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  5. tmb_steve

    tmb_steve New Member

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    Very, very interesting. Many thanks all, especially m.wynn for the documents: I'll show these to the Toyota service people tomorrow. The lights match exactly with what I saw. In fact my first thought was that I hit oil given the slip warning light.
     
    #5 tmb_steve, Mar 7, 2017
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  6. m.wynn

    m.wynn Senior Member

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    Let us know what you find out about E0E, ZE3 in the U.K. Also, what is your hybrid warranty years/mileage?... And yeah, the way you describe accelerating and your car going limp mode is the classic IPM failure story. I wouldn't say it's common but there are plenty reported here on PriusChat.
     
    #6 m.wynn, Mar 7, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 7, 2017
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  7. tmb_steve

    tmb_steve New Member

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    The car was delivered to Toyota today, they are fully booked until Monday so it might be a while before I have any news. My current understanding of the Hybrid warranty in Ireland is that it runs for 8 years. After that you can optionally extend it for a further 4 years by getting the Hybrid health check for €50 per year. Since the car is only 5 years old it's well within this range. I also got the Hybrid health check done back in December along with the full vehicle health check just to spot any problems before I bought it. So I'm really hoping and expecting that I'm covered but I'm really not relaxed about it.

    That said I'm not sure about any mileage limitations. The one year extension is actually "One year or 15,000 kms, whichever comes first". If the intial warranty is for 8x15,000 = 120,000kms, I could be already be into the extended warranty period as the car has 122,000 on the clock.
     
    #7 tmb_steve, Mar 8, 2017
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    IIRC Canada is 8 year or 160,000 km. Do you have your warranty booklet? It's all spelled out in there. And dealership should be on top of it.

    That said, it's good to go in forearmed.
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Mar 8, 2017
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  9. tmb_steve

    tmb_steve New Member

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    Ah yes, good idea! Looking at the warranty booklet, it's the same here - 8 years or 160,000 km. It also specifically mentions the inverter and converter as being covered.

    So looks good :)
     
    #9 tmb_steve, Mar 9, 2017
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  10. tmb_steve

    tmb_steve New Member

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    Update: Converter/Inverter was replaced under the warranty. There was no equivalent recall about this issue (in Ireland) to the one in the US. However there were two other unrelated recalls also done. One to do with curtain airbag cracking and the other to do with the fuel seal leaking.

    Prius is back with me now and running better than ever I seem to be getting 60 mpg (imp) regularly rather than 50 mpg before. (I may also be driving more slowly :) )

    Many thanks for all the help and information
     
    #10 tmb_steve, Mar 26, 2017
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  11. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Congrats, the ECU was reset during the replacement of the inverter. It will take a while for the ECU to relearn your driving habits and to remap the air/fuel mixtures, etc. So expect your mpg to change and settle in. ;)
     
    #11 xliderider, Mar 26, 2017
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