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2010 Inverter Failure

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by lucaspiller, May 18, 2018.

  1. lucaspiller

    lucaspiller Junior Member

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    So the other week I was taking a leisurely drive on Saturday morning. Stopped at a set of traffic lights waiting to turn onto a big road. Started driving, put my foot down a little (but no way near to the ground) as the road was open, and had the dreaded “Check hybrid system” error come up and lost power. I knew from being a lurker here that it was most likely the inverter that had failed.

    After the failure the car lost power, but unlike other people who had experienced issues with the inverter, my car is still drivable at highway speeds. The engine runs all the time, and other than being slower to accelerate and brake (the brake needs to be pushed down more) it’s perfectly drivable.

    I went to a friend who had a code reader and it gave P0A94. It couldn’t read sub codes, so we booked an appointment with Toyota to see what they thought of it.

    They finally did that today (two weeks to even get a diagnostics appointment) and the full codes are as follows:

    P0A0D - 350
    P0A94 - 553, 557

    The weird thing however is they suggested not to get it fixed by them. They said they’d have to replace the whole inverter which would take a few weeks to get the part and be very expensive. They gave the number of another mechanic who apparently will fix it for a few hundred euro with a used part - so let’s see.

    Before the failure happened I didn’t have any warning signs. I’d been driving for around 10 minutes before the failure and the hybrid system was working without any problems. The 12v was replaced a couple of months ago, but I still haven’t diagnosed my high fuel consumption so maybe it’s related.

    The other week my wife was driving and said the throttle wasn’t doing anything - she was in a small road so parked and turned the car on and off which fixed it. I put this down to the floor mat being loose, but maybe it’s related?

    If I was in the US this would be converted under the IPM extended warranty, but as I understand that doesn’t apply here in Europe (my car was first registered in Belgium). I did have the ECU update applied last year however, so even with that fix it seems like the problem persists which is a bit disappointing. The car has done 157,000 km / 97,000 miles so its not been used hard either.
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what a wonderful dealer! hopefully the mech will get you back on the road with a used part for short money. all the best!(y)
     
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  3. lucaspiller

    lucaspiller Junior Member

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    So we got it fixed this evening (yes Sunday!). The mechanic was quite surprised how low the mileage was, as normally he doesn't see issues with the inverter until they are closer to 300,000km. He wondered whether the clock had been turned back (pretty common here), but after carrying out the work he said it seemed legit.

    IMG_2851 copy.jpg

    The old inverter, still dripping a bit of coolant...

    He ended up replacing the whole inverter, with a used part from a 2016 Lexus CT. So a bit of an upgrade :D Fingers crossed Toyota fixed the issues by this point and I won't have any problems again - given it's a used part, so no warranty. All in it was €290 to get it replaced, so not anywhere near as bad as I thought when it happened.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that's a great price, well done.
     
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  5. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

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    It sounds like you are dealing with some good people. Good luck and keep us informed with an update later.
     
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  6. jeopardymaster

    jeopardymaster New Member

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  7. jeopardymaster

    jeopardymaster New Member

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    I'm late to the party on this issue. I've owned my 2010 Prius for 2 years but have not had any trouble with my inverter. Didn't even know I HAD one until the recent LA Times article was sent to me. So my question is, has Toyota or anyone else released a failure rate or similar useful data on this issue? I'd like to know whether I'm living on borrowed time or watching out for black swans, or how close to either extreme.
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!
    nothing. if you go by owners report here, it seems pretty rare. we've had a few though
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    There was a software update to protect the inverter better, during hard acceleration. Let a dealership run your VIN, it should show if you've got the update.
     
  10. lucaspiller

    lucaspiller Junior Member

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    I should note that I had the update applied the year before this happened, so it won't prevent it. However, as the update was applied rather late, maybe there was more wear-and-tear than usual on my old inverter. My understanding is in the US, this is covered under the "IPM extended warranty" once the update is applied.
     
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  11. sugeroby

    sugeroby New Member

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    what part number did you replace it with? Still working fine?
     
  12. lucaspiller

    lucaspiller Junior Member

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    Sorry I don't know the part number. I've done another 50,000 km since the inverter was replaced, and no issues yet. I mostly drive around the city, so the hybrid system gets used quite hard compared to say highway driving.

    My fuel consumption is still high, so it didn't help with that. This summer I'm planning to do some bigger maintenance and clean out the engine (throttle body and EGR) and replace the water pump. So maybe that'll be it :D

    EDIT:

    Went to take a look. The part number is G9200-47190. Apparently this is only needed on the 2010/2011 models. Newer inverters already have this issue fixed.

    replace 2011 Prius inverter with a better one ... | PriusChat
     
    #12 lucaspiller, May 1, 2021
    Last edited: May 1, 2021
  13. sugeroby

    sugeroby New Member

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    Great, good to read your feedback. And thanks for checking the part number, its exactly the one I am planning to replace mine with.
    I saw the other thread you linked in your post too. Your confirmation of the same part number provides additional assurance.
    Will postan update after the replacement is completed.
     
  14. sugeroby

    sugeroby New Member

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    Last week I replaced the inverter (with help of mechanic) in a 2011 Prius Gen 3 (original part nr G920047140) with an inverter of Auris 2013 part nr G920047190. After clearing the error codes it works perfectly. If anyone get's in a similar situation I encourage doing the same (unless warranty applies).
     
  15. aucomp1

    aucomp1 New Member

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    2010 Prius in Australia. The inverter recently died and Toyota wanted $5k to replace.
    After extensive research decided to source a second hand newer model online.
    Managed to find one out of an Auris (UK car)
    Original: G9200 47140
    Replaced by: G900 47190

    Took around 8 hours to remove and replace, all working fine now.
    Of course only time will tell.
     
  16. BiaoH

    BiaoH Junior Member

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    Not too long ago I received a notice stating that people are gathering a class action against Toyota on the inferior inverters. While they are still working on it, I heard Toyota knows that the inverter is flawed and replaced it silently.
     
  17. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    The inverter is guaranteed for 15 years and has been for years.
    694BD296-ABA7-4351-8223-0409A2ABE60C.jpeg
     
  18. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    ... and that'll be 20 years, unlimited miles, if the recent proposed settlement gets approved in January, as it is expected to.

    We have a way around here of being really generous with words like 'inferior' and 'flawed' when we buy a thing with some part in it engineered for an eight year, 100,000 mile warranty, and we drive it for multiples of that time and mileage and sometimes the part conks out, and then they agree to give us new ones at nearly double or even nearly triple the original warranty duration, so we won't be sad if it conks out.
     
  19. BiaoH

    BiaoH Junior Member

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    I agree with that being generous, but the problem lays in if the issue is safety related. In automobile industry different parts are meant to be engineered to different life spans. For example an oxygen sensor can be engineered for 8yr/100k miles with no issue, but you certainly don't want any of your brake parts to be engineered to last this short. As a matter of fact the existence of the safety recall mandates that most safety related parts should be engineered to last way more than the typical life span of the whole vehicle. And if any of the safety related part does not meet this requirement, manufacturer should recall and repair it regardless of warranty status.

    Problem is that whether the inverter is safety related is of debate. I can see people concerned about safety in the case of inverter failure, but Toyota does not want to admit that. They say in case of inverter failure it enters limp mode which can move you out of traffic so it's not a big safety concern.
    After second recall, Toyota Prius electrical system is still overheating - Los Angeles Times.

    As a reference, years ago I bought a used Mercury Monterey (basically Ford freestar) with like 140k miles on the odometer. Shortly after I took ownership I received a recall notice saying the torque converter might be flawed and could cause the vehicle to lose power so it could be dangerous. Dealer replaced the torque converter for me.
     
  20. BiaoH

    BiaoH Junior Member

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    Wow I didn't know that. That means the inverter in my 2010 Prius with 218k miles is still under warranty? That's fabulous!

    But it's weird that several folks had to pay to replace their inverters as gen3 starts at 2010 so I assume all gen3 inverters are still under this 15yr unlimited miles warranty?