1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

MY CAR KEEPS LETTING ME DOWN.

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Danny W, Feb 21, 2018.

Tags:
  1. Danny W

    Danny W New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2017
    5
    6
    0
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I have a second hand 2011 Prius that I took great care of since it had 60k miles (Now at 174k).
    A few months ago, the car would not start and I was stranded in a Target parking lot. Dealer inspected it and after trial and error, the fuel pump was the culprit. After a lot of $,$$$.$$, the car came home and 10 days later, when exiting the freeway, all the dash lights came on and the car was starting but running in safe mode.

    I pulled the codes and this is what I found.

    P0A94 DC/DC CONVERTER PERFORMANCE
    P0A7A GENERATOR INVERTER PERFORMANCE
    C1259 HV SYSTEM REGENERATIVE MALFUNCTION
    C1310 MALFUNCTION IN HV SYSTEM

    Would any warranty you guys might know of help me out here?

    I got a mechanic to check the car and he said it looks like the inverter overheated. It was 103 degrees that day when it stopped working.

    Would replacing the inverter with a used one from eBay be a viable solution?
    What is required in clearing the dash lights?
    What other parts I should look into? Pump? Harness?
     
    #1 Danny W, Feb 21, 2018
  2. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,491
    14,100
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Welcome. Sorry about your car troubles.

    I think those codes should have sub codes that will help you narrow it down. Don't clear the codes that are triggering the lights till you know what's actually wrong.

    Also, I know this gets said a lot here, but a low 12V battery can give all kinds of spurious codes.

    Other easy things to look are are to see if the coolant in the inverter coolant tank is swirling. If not, that would indicate a coolant pump malfunction which would lead to overheating in the inverter.

    In California, the warranty on the hybrid system is 8 years or 150,000 miles, so it looks like you've out-driven your mileage limit on the warranty.
     
    #2 jerrymildred, Feb 21, 2018
    Raytheeagle and Danny W like this.
  3. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    2,763
    2,250
    13
    Location:
    Chesterton, Indiana Another third world country.
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    This video will show you how to tell if your inverter is being cooled.

     
    #3 padroo, Feb 21, 2018
    4est and Danny W like this.
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,470
    8,383
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    If the inverter is bad, used one is the way to go. They are pretty cheap on the 2nd hand market
     
    #4 JC91006, Feb 21, 2018
    pbk5621, Raytheeagle, Danny W and 1 other person like this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,801
    48,999
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    cali is 10/150
     
    #5 bisco, Feb 21, 2018
  6. Danny W

    Danny W New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2017
    5
    6
    0
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    I have a simple code reader that doesn't go in-depth enough to pull sub codes. I will try to get better info on this. I didn't clear anything yet. I will also inspect he 12V battery. So is it safe to assume that the inverter is toast if there is no movement of coolant? Would there be a scenario you're aware of that puts the car in safe mode and light up all those dash lights without the inverter components completely getting damaged?

    Thank you for all the info!
     
    #6 Danny W, Feb 21, 2018
  7. Danny W

    Danny W New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2017
    5
    6
    0
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Thank you very much!!!! I'll do this later today when I get home.
     
    #7 Danny W, Feb 21, 2018
  8. m.wynn

    m.wynn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2013
    684
    1,226
    0
    Location:
    Queensbury, NY
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    P0A94, inverter IPM failure covered for 15 years/unlimited miles by ZE3 warranty. Get it to a dealer with a decent reputation and it will be a free repair. Assuming car is clear title. Without P0A93 your inverter water pump is likely fine, the IPM failure is a high current issue and not a cooling problem.
     
    #8 m.wynn, Feb 21, 2018
    danlatu, jerrymildred, Raytheeagle and 2 others like this.
  9. Danny W

    Danny W New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2017
    5
    6
    0
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    So let me see if I understand this correctly, because that error code is coming up, it qualifies the car for that warranty? I didn't know about 'ZE3 warranty' and I will find out more info about that!. Car is clear title and well taken care off. It's in great shape and it was fine until it wasn't. So do I just take it in and tell the dealer the car should be covered by ZE3 Warranty? Should I call and check first? I've never used any kind of warranty before. Sorry for all the questions.
     
    #9 Danny W, Feb 21, 2018
  10. m.wynn

    m.wynn Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2013
    684
    1,226
    0
    Location:
    Queensbury, NY
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Up to you how you want to handle the dealer. I'd just bring it in, tell them what happened and let them take it from there. I would only let them know I have a clue if they forced it by attempting to sell me the repair. This is a pretty common issue reported here over several years now and there hasn't been a single case of it not being handled as warranty repair that I'm aware of. Toyota is currently being sued by one of it's own dealers over this very issue. There are at least a couple of active threads right now regarding the lawsuit, and scores of IPM failure threads both active and dormant. You should not have any issue getting a warranty repair.
     
    #10 m.wynn, Feb 21, 2018
    danlatu, jerrymildred, Raytheeagle and 2 others like this.
  11. Danny W

    Danny W New Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2017
    5
    6
    0
    Location:
    Sunnyvale, CA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Thank you for the info!

    I will do my due-diligence from here and I will come back with an update!

    Thanks everyone.
     
    #11 Danny W, Feb 21, 2018
    m.wynn, jerrymildred, mjoo and 3 others like this.
  12. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,491
    14,100
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Thanks for the good new, @m.wynn!
     
    #12 jerrymildred, Feb 22, 2018
  13. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,491
    14,100
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    No movement indicates a pump not pumping. That will lead to an inverter failure. And it sounds like yours may have failed. I didn't know about that warranty extension, so a good dealer's shop should be able to get you on the road with a minimum of distress. At least, I hope so.
     
    #13 jerrymildred, Feb 22, 2018
    Danny W likes this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)