Failed inverter. 25 Days and counting.... Waiting for the part

Well! .....I guess you showed them! ......

 

Corporate Toyota should be notified that it takes so long to fix it.

 

finally, congrats!

 

Bought a ford some years ago , had it a week , took to the dealer for rust proofing ,, went to pick up , something leaking ,, fuel pump , I was heading out of town driving for a week or two ,, no fuel pump in stock on this NEW vehicle , long story short , they pulled a new car off the lot , pulled the fuel pump , and put it in my car ,,,, so there are inverters on the dealer lots .....

 

are you going to throw a party???

 

The Inverter failed on my brand-new Prius C. They had to order a new one from California. I guess that's better than waiting for it to be built in Japan...

 

I wouldn't doubt they also did the software update recall. It's to change the car's performance, main goal being to put less strain on some components in the inverter. Some owners are finding mpg improvements, after the software update.

 

What were the symptoms of the inverter failure? Just curious.

 

In my case, I got a "Check Hybrid System" error and the car was Immobilized.

 

When my inverter blew a year ago the symptoms were;

A loud high pitched whine when going down a long hill. It was like that high pitched whine the Prius does when you're slowing down (with the windows open), but much much louder. It lasted about 4 or 5 seconds and only happened once.

About 2 months later (going off memory) I was driving down that same long hill again in Power mode braking hard. I went round a roundabout and then floored the car past a long truck. I got half way past when Pop, the car cut out, the dash lit up and I pulled over to the side of the road. The car would crawl in electric but the engine wouldn't fire. I also got Check Hybrid System (or similar) message displayed.

I was out of UK warranty but Toyota replaced the inverter for free. I understand from the dealers that the inverter was sent away for investigation. I wonder if Toyota were starting to see a pattern at that time long before the recall? My mileage was 70,000!

 

Not surprisingly, as the weather is improving.

 

I just bought a 2010 that failed out of the lot before I ever got it home. It's at the dealer right now and they said it's probably going to have to go to Toyota, and that I'll get an update Monday. I'm hoping it isn't the same problem. The recall is still open on this car.

 

When my Inverter failed, it took about a week for the problem to get resolved. They had to order one in from California.

 

A week wouldn't be terrible.

 

One wonders, which is it?

1) Poor design?
2) Inappropriate application?
3) Beyond spec operation?
4) Just plain BAD KHARMA?

 

I answered this once before tonight, but what the heck, why not twice!

Toyota states the problem was tracked down after quite a few fits and starts to horizontal cracks in the solder directly under the switching transistors in the boost (300V -> 650V and vice versa) portion of the inverter. This is a really high power, high current environment, with mongo transistor die directly soldered to fancy, water-cooled heat sinks. Output of this boost circuit powers the switching transistors that make the motors move about, so all the battery power the market can bear goes through these trannies, no joke.

Not a place for the unwary designer. My best guess (others have other guesses) is that Toyota missed a 2nd/3rd order effect: When the boost goes from 310 V (normal, no boost) to 650V, abruptly, the rapid change in power dissipation of the boost transistors causes a fast change in the temperature of the transistor die. After a bit, the heat sink temperature also rises, but in that brief interval before it does is the period of maximum mechanical stress. Big enough mechanical stress and the solder cracks, followed by Real Fun as the software running in the inverter realizes that It's All Gone Pear Shaped and puts the car into Safe Mode just long enough to limp to the side of the road. Unless sparks and such fly, making the software Go To Lunch, in which case the car just stops where it is, not good in traffic.

The solution appears to be to reduce the rate of change of boost/rate of change of regen (both have the same effect on the trannies in question) to reduce the mechanical stress in question. Some people notice a change in driveability; others claim they notice nothing; and the change in time from 0 to 60 from before and after the update appears to be in the noise. The jury is still out on how big a change, if any, the change in gas mileage has been, but it hasn't appeared to be a whopper either way. But if there is a change, it ought to be in the amount of snap one feels when one goes from nothing to full throttle... But Prius drivers aren't usually that kind of driver anyway.

So, going back to your questions:

1. Poor design? Hard to say. 2nd/3rd order effects are hard to catch; I think that Toyota said there were something in the low double digits of inverter failures, although it could be much higher than that. They've sold millions of Priuses, so it's not a high failure rate.
2. Inappropriate application? Probably not. although other, later hybrids from Toyota have higher voltage batteries that need less boost to get to that 650V, so their transistors apparently haven't been popping about like popcorn.
3. Beyond spec operation? A metallurgist might think so... But they likely had them on staff when they designed the thing, and they didn't catch it then.
4. Just plain bad Karma? Now you're talking.

KBeck

 

Yea, but yours was one of those wacky right hand inverters

To the OP - this is what happens with "just in time" delivery ... nothing is ever in time. Our hybrid Lexus suv has been on an inverter coolant control ECU parts recall for over 6 months - we finally got notice that they have enough inventory to take care of us.
.

 

Toyota is providing you with a rental car and your car will be repaired under warranty. Be patient and wait.