Yes I'm in Europe. Sweden to be more exact.
I'm using the Toyota/Lexus branded policy through the insurance company Folksam.

 

Another inverter failure....hmmm.....like I said...we're Beta testers for Lexus...lol. Seriously, though, more and more of these inverter failures are coming to light..scary...

 

hello to all you lexus hybrid owners,i found your web site and was very interested in your hybrid problems because even though i don't own a lexus on the out side i do have a car 2006 toyota highlander hybrid which has the same hybrid components as your lexus and the same nightmarish hybrid problems and repair costs.There are many toyota hh owners that are furious at toyota ,one for building such a unreliable cars and two for charging 130% above there costs for parts to repair these cars,i heard that these inverta's only cost the dealers about 600 to 700 hundred dollars at toyota's cost and they turn around and charge us 7000 to 9000 dollars for the inverta's,any body out there a lawyer ,i think it called anti trust and unfair competition,they won't sell these parts to independent auto mechanics and i have some very interesting news that i found out from a toyota hybrid tech,now hear me out it concerns lexus owners too,don't forget we have the same parts under the hood,(specific to the 2006 highlander hybrid there was a service bulletin for the known issue of inverta with converta failure,toyota did a update to the design of the unit,the part did not change,the part # 2wd was 992a0-48010,the same part #'s were also used on the lexusrx400 in 2006 only,the problem was identified mid-year and addressed so there is a vin break where they started installing the updated units(never letting us know of the problem inverta or recalling this defective unit)On the toyota they changed the inverta with vin#60009725 on the 2w on the 4wd with vin#60019910,and on the lexus 2wd 60002207 and 4wd 60036526.Toyota and lexus vin# are 17 digits and the last 8#'s are what determine the production information.Toyota technical data base to view corporate documents and technical service bulletins @wwwtecinfo.toyota.com.Hybrid warranty shows in factory warranty book as 10 yrs and 150,000 miles,but that is only for the prius or so says toyota corp, not for the lexus or toyota,why you ask i don't know,i think this could be challanged in court ,and i think if we the lexus and toyota's owners got together we could have a strong class action.there are a bunch of us that are talking attorney,and by the way i have the name and address of the toyota president and ceo if anybody wants to write him,i doubt if he really cares,his name is james lentz and i have his tel # also,toyota corp is only an hour away,P.S.I HATE TOYOTA AND I WILL NEVER BUY A HYBRID , THE COSTLY REPAIRS OUT WEIGHT THE FEW DOLLARS I SAVED AT THE PUMP,SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET KILLED IN ONE OF THESE HYBRIDS W/ INVERTA FAILURE ,UNTIL THEN BUYER BEWARE

 

Whoa, Holmes. Interesting information in there, but very hard to read when you don't split it into paragraphs or add the odd period or comma somewhere.

Still good info, my inverter was leaking and was replaced in 2009 with a new one - so hopefully the new one was the updated version. Currently the damn vehicle is leaking inverter coolant again, but not from the inverter, but from where the hybrid transmission mates to the mechanical engine.

Dealer does not know why it's leaking from there and their solution is to take it apart to diagnose it. Really...that makes sense - pay for 7 to 10 hours labour to remove the inverter and pull the tranny for them to tell me that the tranny needs to be replaced. What if I decide at that point that I don't want to splurge for a new tranny? I just spent ~$1000 (or more??) for them to diagnose a problem with my vehicle. Ridiculous.

I'm seriously looking a Subaru Tribeca right now - just because I've always been a Subaru fan (prior to the RX, I had an Outback) and I really like the dash of the Tribeca.

 

i agree i'm not the world's best writer,so what are you going to do with your car and what year is it,i just got an e-mail from an engineer who works for the us energy dept,i can pass on his information and e-mail to you,if you would like to send me your personal e-mai i can forward it,how many miles does your lexus have and what year,i would let your dealer know of the service bulletin and ask if your car has the new up-dated inverter,did you get the old inverter back,or maybe they put the older defective inverter in just because they have them sitting on the shelf.

 

Car was driving fine when "Check Hybrid System" indicator light came on; the inverter fluid was low, with some sign of leakage in the garage. Dealer says the transmission is leaking and must be replaced (out of warranty) before he can determine whether the inverter (in warranty) is damaged. This sounds similar to the problems on this thread. Is the dealer's story credible?

 

Yes, I've had both problems. First the inverter was leaking and replaced. Later I noticed that the inverter coolant reservoir was low and discovered that leaking transaxle. Sounds like your transaxle leak led to low inverter coolant (they share the same cooling system) which led to your warning light.

Search my posts here or at www.lexusownersclub.com (under the name 'lemon') (I can't remember which site I posted them to) and you can see pics of where my transaxle was leaking. Fortunately for me, it was covered under an extended warranty (the vehicle had close to 160 000 KM on it). A tranny is about $4500 CDN. I can almost bet your tranny leak is in the same place as mine was (and another person who posted pics of his tranny leak which was in the exact place mine was too).

 

Hi Shawn,Your warranty should cover up to 100,000 miles on your hybrid system,the inverter has no fluid,it is a sealed component,it's the trans axel that is leaking and that has fluid,it is like having your transmission leaking,it could be a hose or a clamp that is the problem,don't let them hood wink you into paying for something that is covered under warranty,your hybrid components are covered up to 100,000 miles,check with toyota customer care yourself or read your toyota book.We have a class action law suite here in california for selling defective hybrid parts.

 

Yes, the inverter does have fluid in it. It's coolant, that is used to cool the works - that's why there is a coolant reservoir on top of the inverter. Mine was leaking, so I'm not guessing at this (and I have a service manual to refer to).

The transaxle has both transmission fluid (ATF-WS) and coolant flowing though it. The coolant is part of the same system that cools the inverter and in the tranny it's used to cool the electric motors.

 

Wonder if this is related...

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/hyb...placement.html

 

Lexus 400h was fine until i took it in for inverter recall. Now they day transmission leak. It's pink fluid. A) what coolant do I by to top off the fluid?
B) is this a transmission seal leak as Lexus claims or an inverter power supply leak?

 

The inverter coolant (bright pink watery fluid) is Toyota Super Long Life Coolant (SLLC), which is also the same as the engine/radiator coolant. The tank on top near the hybrid drive logo is the inverter coolant. The transmission oil is a darker red color and would have nothing to do with the inverter recall.

 

The transmission uses the same coolant as the inverter. If you add it to the inverter tank, it will be used for both. The trans coolant leak is seen at the seam between the engine and trans. It is hard to be seen from up top but you can see what drips down from the bottom. The inverter can also leak. Check the corners of the black box for signs of pink crust. Inverter leaks are more messy than trans coolant leans so they stick out.

When the dealer replaced your inverter board, they did not open up the liquid cooled portion of the inverter. It is a simple repair in the dry area of the inverter and replacing the board only takes a few minutes (the software update takes many hours). Your post reminded me that my trans also started leaking coolant after the inverter recall repair. Less than 30 days later. It was a complete coincidence and my dealer was very worried that they had done some damage. They showed me whey the board is and it located in the top area of the inverter close to the firewall. My trans coolant leak is the lower front area of the engine/trans. The 06 inverter recall was 2 years ago and I had 70k miles at the time.

If I were you I would take it to every Lexus dealer within a 100 miles. One may be willing to go to bat for a good will repair from lexus. Low mileage should help you. If that does not work check with an independent shop.

 

Our 400h had a transmission/transaxle leak after 55000km.

This was according to Lexus service, the first one in Sweden suffering from this problem, was related to corrosion around the freeze plug due to a manufacturing problem. There was a TSB for it.
After a lot of discussions between Lexus and the insurance company, I was the second owner, the insurance company replaced the transmission.

 

any updates? anyone else have a failure or allowed to replace before failure. im at 96K and not feeling easy. I've had a TL tranny drop to 2nd gear on the freeway before, and even that was scary being on the inside lane.

anyone know the rough failure rates? or are all the inverters effected?


Thanks ahead