thomas1

Had mine done today, The Dealership was unaware that the ISC was supposed to be reset when the 12volt battery was disconnected. When I got home do to my curiosity I removed the hybrid covers. I swear I couldn't see any evidence that anything was touched. The IPM cover was covered with the normal road dust and I saw no smudges of the dirt from what I would think when you removed the cover. Does anybody else have this uneasy feeling that it was a paper repair with the repair not being done. The info screen was reading the same mileage as before the repair? Is that normal? All radio stations were still tuned. Any thoughts anybody.?

maseace

Check the paperwork to see what parts were replaced. Mine showed the IPM transistor and some grease. I found evidence when I last changed the oil - a leftover bolt was sitting in a small hole in the bottom plastic cover that has to be removed to get to the oil filter. Couldn't find where it went so they must have used a new one (I hope).

The original recalls for this issue were inspection and replacement if necessary, so maybe yours didn't need replacement. But I thought they had to at least remove the inverter top cover to check the serial number of the IPM module.

thomas1

Mine showed transistor and two tubes of grease....No coolant on inventory. What about radio presets etc. were they gone.? still bothered by the lack of disturbance on the inverter top....I should know better, should have marked a bolt with finger nail polish.

spacecraft

By chance, do you know where such s/n is located exactly?

I've not done the recall yet, as I'm a fan of the principle "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"...
But you got me thinking, maybe I could ring the dealer and give him the s/n to check.
If mine isn't due for replacement, I would be more than happy to avoid a trip to the dealer....

maseace

Not exactly, but it's somewhere under the inverter cover that should not be removed due to high voltages inside (up to 500V). The orange high voltage cables should be disconnected properly by trained personnel. There is a service disconnect somewhere in the rear by the batteries, but don't try it at home.

mian

Its not funny , what a coincidence , I had mine done 19th of March 2014 up here in Toronto , Canada. I picked up the car yesterday and never had an inkling to look under the hood , that is until I read your post quoted above and decided to do little of my own Sherlock Holmes ( detective work) and was taken aback when I opened the hood when rusty old bolt was staring at me together with the rusty old cover of the Hybrid System. I was not brave enough to look underneath the cover lest I get a jolt of xx thousand volts from this hybrid system.

Other accompanying suspicious signs have started to crop up in my mind , when I left the car with the dealership I asked the service adviser as to what they would be doing with this recall. He said we will be doing campaign 216 on the car. After further prompting the adviser said they would be replacing the hybrid system. When I inquired further as to what it entails, he looked blank and did not say anything. I rephrased the question in what will you be taking out and what will you be putting in. He said he did not know exactly what the trained mechanic will be doing. I encouraged him to find out from the mechanic. Upon my insistence the adviser did call somebody and the he explained that only a part of the existing module will be replaced. By this time I had realized that perhaps even as a complete layman as far as the cars are concerned, I knew more from this forum than actually he did about this repair or rebuild or campaign what ever you want to call it.

I have looked at the work order now it says the following three lines as regards this campaign #216
Parts -------- Qty---F P Number-------------------- Description ------------------

1 04001 - 29148 TRANSISTER , PWR M WARRANTY
2 08887 - 02409 SMT FLUID MR2 WARRANTY
PART ON SPECIAL ORDER

Well much of the first two lines are internal part number and their description and the quantity needed to complete the repair. It is the third line which says PART ON SPECIAL ORDER which is begining to worry me. If the part is on special order then how did they complete the repair????

Perhaps there is completely rational explanation to this or just poor abbreviated communication.

I would love to hear from fellow Lexus Forum members opinion on this??????????????

On a positive note they did provide me with a loaner vehicle.
The adviser was very polite. And they did complete the work on time.

maseace

Maybe the transister had been on special order prior to your service?
Here's what was done on my 07 400h.

maseace

Here is some more info on the details of the recall procedure:
http://media.fixed-ops.com/Toy_Campaigns/B0J_dlrltr.pdf

thomas1

By the way they didn't fill my fuel tank, and no indication of fluid added....

maseace

They filled my fuel tank after all 3 recalls related to the inverter IPM. The 2nd and 3rd times, I brought it in nearly empty to take advantage of it. Always ask about it when bringing it in for a recall. It's part of the recall campaign, but maybe some dealers don't do it, hoping you don't know about it.

mian

After reading your response and seeing copy of your work order has cleared my misconception. I am pretty sure now that appropriate repairs have been performed an that one should hope for the best.
Reading through the link maseace posted , it gives you idea of the amount of work and planning required to perform any recall etc. and the potential customer service pitfalls which can ensue from these recalls. Thank you Thomas1 for your contribution to the discussion as well.

spacecraft

Interesting stuff, thanks for the link.
But it seems related only to 2006/7 models which were already subject of a previous recall.
Mine (and also mian and thomas1 cars, as I understand) is a 2008 model, which has never been recalled in the past.
Do you know if there are other instructions somewhere, specific for 2008 cars?
Or maybe the procedure remains the same...?

maseace

Same procedure, same issue as far as I can tell from the description. The recall was expanded in Sept 2013 because they didn't catch all the affected vehicles in the first two recalls.

"TORRANCE, CA September 3, 2013 – Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. today announced that it will conduct two voluntary safety recalls. One involves approximately 133,000 MY 2006-2010 Highlander Hybrid and MY 2006-2008 Lexus RX 400h vehicles. The other involves approximately 102,000 MY 2006-2011 Lexus IS 350, IS 350C, and GS 350 vehicles.

In the involved Toyota Highlander Hybrid and Lexus RX 400h vehicles, transistors within the hybrid system's inverter assembly can experience heat damage due to variations in characteristics of the transistors' parallel circuits. Should this occur, various warning lights on the instrument panel will illuminate, and in most cases the vehicle will enter "limp home mode." In limited instances, the hybrid system will shut down and resulting in the vehicle stopping while the vehicle is being driven."

spacecraft

Aha, I didn't realise that it's still the same problem as in the old recalls, thanks.
I've yet to bring my 2008 to the dealer.
Considering the mixed reviews I'm reading, and the fact that it's now running just perfectly, I'm tempted to keep it as it is....

smassey321

Keep in mind it is a bit of a safety issue. It generally fails under load. If I am accelerating out into traffic the last thing I want to happen is for my RX to cut off.