Inverter Repair

Do you know the diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) that your mechanic used to determine that the inverter with converter assembly, or one of its parts, was faulty?

Depending on the problem, you may be able to have repairs made at no cost by a Toyota dealer, as part of Safety Recall J0V, discussed extensively on PriusChat.

 

The latest inverter recall was to prevent the dead-in-the-water scenario? There was also an earlier one: mine from Toyota Canada is dated March 2014, with the id "SOSH-230-1A". @Classicalme do you know if that recall was done?



In either event, dealership should be able to check on that.

 

You should check your warranty documentation to see if it says in fine print covers “inverter” manufacture defect. If so, you won the inverter lotto.

 

You have a free inveter replacement coming from Toyota. Hopefully it had the firmware updated.....
They are supposed to tow it and give you a loaner car. Keep towing receipt and they are supposed to reimburse you. Call dealer and have it towed to their location. They might charge you for diagnosis but will refund or not charge for that when it is established it's the inverter.

 

In the Toyota Warranty Policy and Procedures Manual (available by subscription to techinfo.toyota.com), see Policy 4.7, California Emission Warranty, under the heading “Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV) Emission Warranty Coverage,” where Toyota writes (emphasis in original):

“Under the California Emission Warranty, performance coverage for any repair required to correct a defect in materials or workmanship of any part that causes the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) to illuminate or results in a failed Inspection/Maintenance (I/M) test is 15 years or 150,000 miles from the vehicle’s in-service date, whichever occurs first, except for the Hybrid Battery which is warranted for 10 years or 150,000 miles from the vehicle’s in-service date, whichever occurs first. Vehicles subject to abuse, neglect, improper maintenance or unapproved modifications are ineligible for this warranty coverage.”​

Not all hybrid system DTCs cause the MIL (“Check Engine” light) to come on; see the Diagnostic Trouble Code Chart pages in the Repair Manual for details. Also, for later readers, note that this coverage applies to Prius cars for model years 2004–2017 only; for 2018 and later, only Prius Prime cars are covered.

 

First see if Toyota covers it under warranty. If you live in a CARB state, you might have coverage to 150,000 miles... and you’re a miraculous 300 miles inside of that. If Toyota covers it, you’ll need to have a dealership do the work.

 

The inveter warranty is 15 years regardless of miles. I know....mine blew....with 196,000.

 

IIRC there is one part, the "Integrated Power Module, or IPM", inside the inverter case, that Toyota is claiming to not be part of the inverter? Just food for thought.

IPM Extended Warranty (Canada?) | PriusChat

 

Getting back on topic. 2012 at 81,292 car wouldn't start, dead in garage. All lights on dashboard were lit up. All software recalls had been done at various dealers. Dealer found following “P3004 with info #800 following TSB#0036-16 repair procedure. Remove and replace inverter “IPM” clear and reset hybrid system” Car how has 98,xxx and runs great. This was done under warranty. I hope that helps. Download pic and rotate or turn your head.

 

C1259 and C1310 are both familiar off the top of my head; they're just codes that are set in certain ECUs to say "hey, such-and-such other ECU told me there was a problem." So they aren't telling you about anything the primary codes aren't.

The rest are not codes I've committed to memory, so one of us would have to look in the repair manual for their meanings.

In general, you don't always have to be disheartened when you pull up n different codes; it rarely means your car is suffering from n different problems. What you're getting is often n different perspectives on one or two problems, and when you look up the different "detection conditions" in the manual and consider them together (picture a Venn diagram), they are often a gift that will help you focus your troubleshooting more than just one or two codes would.

 

Three of these DTCs—P0A94, P324E, and P0A1A—are among those stored in situations for which Toyota will cover the cost of repair parts and labor, in some cases, under Safety Recall J0V or Warranty Enhancement Program ZE3, regardless of mileage. If the Check Engine light came on, there is also 300 miles of emissions performance warranty coverage remaining, as I described in post #7.

Considering these Toyota programs and warranty coverage, I’d suggest bringing the car to a Toyota dealer (on a tow truck, if necessary), where it might be able to be repaired at no cost to you, rather then having an independent mechanic, however skilled or trustworthy, continue diagnosis. It’s also important that the DTCs now stored in the car not be cleared, since the dealer may need to record them for a warranty claim.

If the problem is one Toyota wouldn’t cover, such as wiring damaged by rodents, you’d have to pay the dealer’s diagnostic fee, but I imagine your mechanic may have already checked for visible signs of that, loose electrical connectors, and similar obvious causes.

 

Eh what, sounds like a job for Rotation Man:

 

When I was a kid, the number of superheroes seemed more manageable somehow.

 

Chuck Patterson Toyota is a certified collision repair center, they can help you.