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2008 Prius Not Starting after Inverter Change

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Ammon Kegel, Jul 30, 2024 at 1:43 PM.

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  1. Ammon Kegel

    Ammon Kegel New Member

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    I received a notice from the Toyota Dealership that my Power Inverter on my 2008 Prius needed to be replaced. This would only cost me $6,100 to get done!!! After watching some you tube videos and searching the internet. I thought I could replace it on my own. Bought a replacement Inverter and got it all hooked up to find out that it leaked coolant from one of the screws on the inverter. (Screw on the bottom left if looking at it from the front of the car). I then put my old inverter back into the car figuring I will have to order another one. Well, I get everything back together and the car has power but when I try to start it doesn't turn on. I look to see what I did wrong, and yes I forgot to slide the "orange plug down" I did that and still same issue no start. Read on the forums and everyone says you need a new 12 volt battery. I get that so I tried to jump start it. No luck. The lights all work. The doors unlock, the windshield wipers run. Headlights turn on. The indicator lights on the dash seem to be bright not dim. I used a voltage meter on the 12 volt battery it is says ok. I have jumped this car before when we have had 12 volt battery issues I guess have a charger so I am going to try to charge it tonight and see what happens. I have also ordered an ODB2 Scanner from Amazon that should be here tomorrow as well. Maybe that can give me more details. I keep thinking the orange plug didn't get put in right so have tried that about 20 times (making sure it is pushed down). No luck so far. I also understand that the inverter cover has a plug. I guess I am pretty sure it was connected when I put the cover back on. All the screws lined up and even the guide pin on the upper right. Just wondering if anyone has suggestions. Thank you in advance.
     
    #1 Ammon Kegel, Jul 30, 2024 at 1:43 PM
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The scanner was the right suggestion. Once you post what the car is saying is wrong, we can go from there.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Jul 30, 2024 at 6:37 PM
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  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    The Toyota dealer sent you a notice for a 2008 car recently for an inverter change that they want you to pay for That's pretty interesting and why would you even consider any of that business when your car is running just fine and everything is good right I guess being here one might know that inverters and generation twos are like so rare to go bad most mechanics have seen it enough to count it on one hand not saying it doesn't happen and that it's not the inverter that's usually bad usually it's the DC to DC converter in the bottom which is a pain to get out and change me personally I would change my inverter for that probably just easier try and pry that glue off and all that mess down there on the bottom of the inverter's ridiculous but I'm sure some would do it converters for this car are plentiful the world is full of them You should be able to get them for free out of the last of them and the 2009 so that should give you pretty much every update that went on in the series.
     
    #3 Tombukt2, Jul 30, 2024 at 7:09 PM
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  4. Ammon Kegel

    Ammon Kegel New Member

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    Looks like I am getting Codes P0A09 and P0A0D: "DC/DC converter status circuit input low" and "High voltage system interlock circuit high." If anybody can help me interpret what exactly this means, I would be grateful.

    As I mentioned before I removed the Power Inverter, and the car was starting fine. The replacement inverter leaked antifreeze, so I ended up putting the old inverter back in. Now, I am getting these codes.

    Do you think I might have damaged the inverter? If the recommendation is to replace it with another non-leaking inverter, do you have any suggestions? Thank you
     

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    #4 Ammon Kegel, Jul 31, 2024 at 4:14 PM
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    P0A0D is an easy one that comes up here often. It is a simple safety interlock to make sure you've got the inverter covers and the orange battery service plug all properly in place.

    The handle of the orange service plug completes the interlock circuit with a separate sliding motion that people often overlook when putting the plug back in. While that isn't the cause every time (the inverter covers are also checked), it very often is.

    The P0A09 is about a circuit between the inverter and the HV control ECU. Could be worth checking how well the control connections at the inverter are seated.
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Jul 31, 2024 at 4:55 PM
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  6. Ammon Kegel

    Ammon Kegel New Member

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    Thank you I will work on this tonight and see where this gets me. Thank you for your time and post
     
    #6 Ammon Kegel, Jul 31, 2024 at 5:04 PM
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