I blew up the inverter????

A simple battery booster type of box will work well for starting a Prius with a dead battery. The current draw is much less than that for a normal car, so almost any one will do. The types that plug into a 12 V socket won't work, as the power outlets are disconnected until the car powers up. Many people carry a rechargeable unit that also has an air compressor.

Tom

 

I thought there was a way to dispute a warranty claim with Toyota. I believe you go to one-way binding arbitration. You meet the arbitrator. They make a ruling. If the consumer agrees, Toyota must abide by it. If the consumer dissagrees they can sue if they want to. Why doesn't Ginny try that?

 

Like this?
Deltran SuperSmart Battery Tender Plus 12-Volt 1.25 AMP Battery Charger
http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B00068XCQU?tag=priuschatcom-20

 

I was one of those folks who had their Prius turn off at 65 mph on the freeway at night with about 7,000 miles on it. I coasted to the side but was nearly hit 3 times until some kind folks stopped and helped me push the thing uphill to the side of the exit. It would not restart, and the inside and outside lights wouldn't turn off.

Then the Toyota Regional director was obnoxious to me. First he said I had run out of gas - I was low, but there was gas in it - then the warranty wouldn't OK a rental and I was stuck 60 miles from home at midnight after the car was towed. I called my dealer the next day after going online and finding 60 + people with the same problem. The dealer didn't know anything about these failures and was shocked when he went online. The regional office was intransigent. 2 days later I got a call from the dealer where it was towed to saying that they were flying someone in from NY to replace the computer which had failed. They, the repairing dealer, finally oked a rental car. The regional office was still making like it was "my fault"but the dealer was clear that it couldn't have been my fault since I was just driving on the freeway when it happened. I don't know what has happened to Toyota's customer service, but I, and my kids, have owned Toyotas for years and rarely had a problem, then, if we did the company was great to deal with.

Things are very different now. Keep the pressure on your dealer and talk to your regional rep. GOogle "inverter failure Prius" on the internet and find others who may have had the same problem. Keep at them steadily and courteously until they do something.

I hate to say it, but they will more often pull this on a woman than a man. Hang in there, then if they don't eventually make it right contact a lawyer. Also, have a man or several people call about your situation. The squeaky wheel eventually gets grease.

 

In your case the dealer was very upfront and cooperative. Just an afterthought in Ginnys case, (don't know what is going on there) to continue, I dropped into Toyota parts and inquired about the where-abouts, part# and cost of the 120A fuse. He was extremely cooperative and friendly, but really could not identify the fuse nor ascertain it's location from the parts diagram. He did however readily volunteer that THIS is the fuse which prevents reverse polarity damage!!! So appparently this is a well known and oft discussed subject at Toyota dealerships. The question begs: What is the function of this 120AMP fuse (fusible link) according to Toyota designers. So...................what happened to Ginnys car?????????

 

I still wouldn't trust them.

Pay the bill and have the car towed to a reputable dealership. Then dispute the charges under warranty with Toyota. Sue the dealership if you have to.

Quite frankly, I don't see that they've 1. proven the inverter is fried, 2. proven anything was your fault. They have proven that they don't seem to know what they're doing which to me is a red flag to have someone else work on my Prius.

Did you ask if they have a certified Prius Tech? If they do, have you talked to him?

 

This is amazing, I can understand that the work cannot be guaranteed with a used inverter. The crux of the problem is: Is there protection against reverse polarity at both the battery position and the jumper position. ( to protect inverter ) Pat says possibly NO, if that's the case, Toyota has a very bad case against them. This is not just your problem and a uncooperative dealership. This is a serious problem that Toyota has to address nationally. I would take Godivas advice and also elevate to a national TV or radio station. That inverter at $5000 apiece should be totally protected. We can discuss all we want, but there is no national exposure and unfortunately Ginny you are elected.

 

Perhaps if a large number of owners emailed Toyota asking how they can prevent Ginny's dilemma from happening to them, they might get some useful feedback.

My concern is why something so easy to mis-connect can cause so much damage, and only to inverter, nothing else seems to be bothered.

Why is the owner held responsible? Any service person could have made the error, including the dealer. Just because a person is a certified Toyota tech doesn't make them immune to brain farts.

 

You should contact the American Arbitration Association at AAA - Arbitration, Mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
They may have experience with this type of problem.
You can file a brief yourself without requiring a lawyer if the claim is under $10,000.
If you do file with the AAA it will cost both you and the dealership approximately a few hundred dollars which you will get back if you win the case.

 

Hi Ginny,

Thanks for the update. It would be interesting to know what are the DTC now that the battery and DC/DC fusible link have been replaced. All of the old codes should have been cleared first, so that the tech can see what DTC currently are being logged and what problems still exist.

If no other fuses popped, this provides evidence that the battery had been properly jumped both by you and the tow truck driver, which is what you asserted all along.

Regarding a salvage inverter, a Toyota dealer will not install used parts. So you would have to find an independent mechanic willing to learn how to do that procedure.

Another poster asked where the 120A fuse is located. It lives in the fuse block on top of the positive battery terminal, located under the right-side back of the hatch. This fuse would not protect against an improper jump start if the jump cables are connected directly to the battery. The fuse might protect the battery against an improper jump start if the jump was performed at the front of the car.

The 100A DC/DC fusible link may or may not protect the inverter against an improper jump start. Based upon other posts, it appears that some owners are lucky while others are not. Hence I conclude that the diodes at the DC/DC converter output must be rated very near 100A current capacity - so it is touch & go whether the fusible link or the diodes pop first.

 

Ginny: Do you now have possesion of the original battery?

 

Houston, actually.

Hmmm .. someone using my handle and they're only second best..

 

alright... kinda lost track of all that's going on but let's see what info DH can toss out there for consumption.

$716 for all that but the inverter... consider yourself lucky. :/

sorry, but if this tech is the second best in the world for hybrids, he's either intentionally trying to screw you by not even testing the inverter prior to telling you that you need a new one OR he doesn't know HOW to test the inverter and really isn't the second best anything.

none of the codes they found initially would indicate a bad inverter coolant pump. it indicated a burned up dc-dc converter. and by "burned up" it is probably meant the electronics and not a literal overheat.

post 20 is not a valid scenario. the 12v cannot draw more than the fuses will allow. even a battery with 1 or 2 flaky cells would probably be enough to start the car. DH has seen batteries with pretty low voltage start a prius- one classic he worked on had a battery that tested with his dmm at under 7v and the thing started!

the fuse link in the big gray plastic box we've been talking about is more expensive than $59.

 

oh- one more thing- get the list of NEW codes they've retrieved now that they replaced that fuse link. when they replaced your 12v, the old codes cleared. so the new codes will tell your new story after replacing the fuse link and battery.

 

Hi Galaxee,

See post #14 from the following string:
http://priuschat.com/forums/care-ma...02-12v-battery-replaced-wrong-polarity-2.html

In that post, Jenny indicated that the fusible link in the grey/clear box cost her $60.

Hi Ginny,

I could not find the part number that you listed in the parts catalog of the Toyota dealer where I buy parts. However, the $60 price that you cited is the same price as Jenny quoted in the post that I mentioned above. On that basis I assume that your tech also changed the same fusible link assembly which is located in the main relay/fuse box near the driver's side fender. This assembly contains multiple fusible links including the 100A DC/DC fusible link that is intended to protect the DC to DC converter.

Note that Jenny's post #14 also indicated that the DOME and ETCS fuses popped as a result of her installing a battery with incorrect polarity. So if those fuses survived in your car, that would be some evidence that the car was not incorrectly jumped.

Your msg says that you don't know for sure whether the tech has checked all fuses. I think this is a reasonable concern. I'd like to understand what are the new DTC codes that have been logged before we rule out the inverter coolant pump as a problem.


It may be worth your while to pay $700 (or a mutually-agreed to amount) so that your car can be released from the dealer's parking lot, and tow it to another dealer for the purpose of:

• verifying that all fuses are functioning
• clearing existing DTC codes
• powering up the car to see what DTC currently exist, and recording them

This will provide you with a second opinion about whether the inverter needs to be replaced.

 

patrick,

there would have been a code stored prior to the car failure if the inverter coolant pump or an overheat was a problem. now if this code shows up after replacement of the fuses, then sure it needs to be looked into. but the fact that the code was not present upon initial failure pretty much excludes that problem from initial consideration. at least from the diagnostic troubleshooting standpoint.

there's just a whole lot of speculation going on and not enough evidence to back most of it up. from all sides- even the dealership, who couldn't back up the inverter diagnosis because they didn't *do* it!