It happened. Christmas came early... Which Gen three surprise was it this time, you guessed it, P324E, P0A7A, P0A93, P0A94. Good guesses. Alternative factoid, the inverter has gone the way of my turkey dinner. BTW, happy belated turkey day! Good news! Toyota is covering all costs related to said post Thanksgiving dinner. Here is a rough estimate of the parts being replaced: 04899-47070 TRANSISTOR KIT, P0WE 08826-00100 SEAL PACKING 00272-SLLC2 SUPER LONG LIFE COOL 04899-47060 PLUG KIT, INVERTER * 90430-A0003 GASKET G922L-47010 COVER, INVERTER SIGN 90105-A0431 BOLT, FLANGE 091X1-47020 SEAL, MASKING, NO.1 08887-02809 GREASE X 23 7884 4 Now, time to light up my Christmas tree like Toyota has lit up my dash. Cheers, -Eggnog
Hey I guess that's lucky? (Since you get most of a new inverter on Toyota's dime.) Are they covering it under the normal warranty or is it a "goodwill" thing? Did you have the inverter recall software update applied previously? I wonder if it might be a good time to replace the pump while they're at it...
Good questions. I do plan on replacing the pump sooner rather than later. I want to give the parts parts some thorough testing though. I'm lucky that Toyota covered the costs of fixing the issue but will it fail prematurely again? Toyota issued a 'Warranty Enhancement Program' for gen 3 2010-2014 model years. It's weird that the 2015 model year isn't listed. Did the 2015 get updated inverters with rings and pistons?! I did get the update, related to this, a little over a year ago. Looking back from then, I did notice some odd behaviors from said update. Comparing my time with the car before the update, with the update and now with a new inverter I am realizing some trends with this experience. More on that with time. The inverter does a few functions: -It takes in the high voltage form the battery and reduces it to a lower voltage -It powers the AC -It drives the motor generators I noticed it's not a new inverter but the invoice said they used a IPM transistor kit. Is this the brains of the inverter they replaced?
"Is this the brains of the inverter they replaced?" My understanding is that it's not the inverter 'overheating' per se, but the inability of the transistors Toyota designed into the inverter to tolerate heat. The transistors fail; the inverter fails. Thus, they replace the transistor set with one that is hopefully more robust and heat-resistant.
Yes, and to add what might already be obvious -- these transistors are more the actual brawn than brains of the inverter. One hears "transistors" and thinks logic gates and CPUs, but this is more like MOSFETs which physically control the actual flow of power.
I just went through the same ordeal, and Toyota also covered the costs. When I noticed that the Inverter wasn't fully replaced, I looked to see what they did do and it was indeed the transistor replacement. I too have the same concerns you had as to whether it was a band aid and would ultimately fail again. Can you please share if you have had any problems since? Thanks!
