Hey guys: There is a guy a couple hours from me that has a used inverter from 2003 prius i think. it has 113,000 miles. I found it on craigslist. the guy wants $120 for it. which I think is a good price. he said the car got hit in the side but it moved forwards and backwards with no problems. he didnt however test the 12 volt side but believed it worked fine. the only issue is on of the grey connectors on the right side got broken off when he took it out. other than that he said its not broken, cracked, or split.' Is there a way to test the inverter (he is offering a 90 warranty) while its out of the car to make sure it works fine? by ohms or continuity on my voltmeter? thank you, Scott
None that I'm aware of. The only way I could think of would be to install it. I know that's not what you want to hear but continuity just wont cut it here. The circuit is too complex for simple continuity checks to provide assurance of a working inverter. I know $120 seems like good insurance in case yours goes out but, yours may never go out. I personally wouldn't buy an inverter unless I needed one (but that is a personal choice).
I didn't know if these inverters were prone to failure or not, I don't need one, but as you said, cheap insurance. that's why I came to this forum to ask. You guys know your prius's. Thank you usnavy for your input Ill get some more opinions and go from there. Guys what do you think?
As near as I can tell the problem with inverter death is almost always because of the failure of the system that keeps the inverter cool. Damage is also done to them if you do a reverse polarity jumpsart, but that's pretty easily avoidable for most people who DIY there car on a regular basis. So I'd say keeping your eye on your inverter cooling temp and having a spare inverter cooling pump ready to go is probably better insurance for you than having a spare inverter.
Thank you prius for your input. Ill set my scan gauge to inverter temp to make sure that is ok. Anyone else want to give me their opinion on this? I'm open to this
I wouldn't get it unless I needed it, on something complex like an inverter. If your's does blow, you can usually find a few online more or less reasonable. And usually you could have it in 3 or 4 days with luck. Just my .02 worth , That is a good price though if ya need it before you sell/ trade whatever. Maybe he'll throw in the cooling pump and a handful of misc relays and stuff to sweeten the deal if he thinks that'll net him a few $'s??
$120 is an awesome deal if it works. The only way I know that properly tests an inverter is to install it into a car, bleed it, then drive the car around...if you can make it 100 miles without coding it should be good. If you have not upgraded your inverter coolant pump I suggest buying the used inverter, removing yours, upgrading your pump then installing the "wreck" inverter. If it works, leave it in the car and put your original inverter "on the shelf" as a known good working spare. Don't install a used inverter pump unless it has the silvery/gold mounting bracket. (the newer design). I think it's wise for any Gen1 with over 100k miles to replace/upgrade the inverter coolant pump with the new one....otherwise you could cook the inverter and/or tranny if/when the original pump fails.
Ok heres an update. I wanted some more info regarding this inverter and the car it was in. the car which was hit in the side was fixed. the car then suffered a transaxle failure but the car moved just fine, no shudder, so i know MG2 didnt fail. however my last conversation with the guy he said "the car moved back and forth, the transaxle was replaced, this is the inverter from the replacement". I just asked him what were the trouble codes. Now im wondering if I should stay away from this. why would he replace the inverter along with the transaxle?
Even the dealers who fix Prius resort to replacing expensive components to see if it makes the fix rather than specifically isolating it before they make the fix. It can be pretty expensive simply because the diagnostic process is not very sophisticated.
