2012 Rav4 EV has coolant leaked into the drive unit inverter

[rav4evuser]

On April 9th 2018, my car stopped moving on 105 East carpool lane (southern California). It had all kind of warnings from Check EV, power steering failure, battery too hot..., it lost all the G48 blue coolant on the driver side. I had it towed to the Autonation Toyota dealer. It was there for three weeks for the diagnostic and finally I was told it was generator/motor drive unit. My car is out of warranty(78,000 miles), it will cost me $15,457.75 ($11,897.79 parts + labor + 9.5%tax). I contacted the Toyota representative with no help and I decided to take the car home since it would cost me more than my car worth ($11,000 fully function). So far, the car costs me $250 towing (twice) + $879.88 (dealer charged for their diagnosis). I asked the dealer about the coolant and they did not know where it went.Yesterday, I dropped the drive unit myself and when I disconnected the power cables from the inverter side, the coolant was pouring out like the Niagara Falls. This is as far as I've done so far. My next task is to take the inverter out and figure out how to coolant escapes into the unit. From there I might try to get a used inverter or even the whole drive unit. Could anyone suggest where can I get ether one of those items or what I should do to get my car back on the road? Thanks in advance.

 

[davewill]

They charged you most of a grand for diagnosis and didn't even discover THIS? Anyway, I'd contact Tony Williams at QuickChargePower.com and see if he could get a line on the parts you might need and/or an EV mechanic who could do the job.

 

[rav4evuser]

Hi Davewill,
Thanks for your quick response and help.

 

[smkettner]

Sorry about your troubles. These stories get worse every month.
Love the car but can't wait to trade it. Still going to be a while..... knocks on wood.
The Toyota option to only replace the entire drive as a single unit is just crazy.

Best of luck. Sounds like you are going the right way about this.
+1 to contact Tony.

 

[rav4evuser]

Thanks for your kind words. Yes, I did not expect this from Toyota that why I bought the car from them (I know it's Tesla's false for bad parts). Now, it reminds me of the old days when you buy a new car you only expected to last about three or four years before it brakes down, next car will not be a Toyota.
Last night I worked on my car a bit, today I will do the leak test with air pressure to see where it is coming from, will be posted.

 

[alflash]

... So far, the car costs me $250 towing (twice) + $879.88 (dealer charged for their diagnosis). ...

Please, if you can, show the actual (documentary, real) results (the data of the checked parameters) of their diagnostics*, and let me known how many norm-hours (time) are spent on this their diagnostic?

* E.g. by use diagnostic programs aka "Toyota Techstream" and/or "Tesla Powertrain Service Diagnostics RAV4".

 

[rav4evuser]

I will post the bill when I get home today. It shows no hour spent on the job, just the amount in dollars.

 

[alflash]

I will post the bill when I get home today. It shows no hour spent on the job, just the amount in dollars.

O'k, and there is not even a simple list of the work done? Then it's unclear why $879,88 , but not, for example, $87.98 or not $1879,88 ...

 

[rav4evuser]

Nop, there is not a simple list of work done shown on the invoice, just labor cost $879.88(eight hundred and seventy nine and 88 cents., I verified it on my credit card statement as well). When I saw the invoice I was shocked and I felt like I was getting ripped off not just from this dealer but also from the Toyota as well. By the way, I bought the car from this dealer as well.
Can I post pictures on this forum? If yes, hod do I do that?
Thanks.

 

[miimura]

If you want to post pictures you have to host it somewhere. I use ImgBB.com

 

[rav4evuser]

Here are pictures of my drive unit inverter.
https://ibb.co/gp00PS
https://ibb.co/eNoWW7
https://ibb.co/n3Eidn
https://ibb.co/hujGyn
https://ibb.co/e2RUJn
I apply 70 psi of air pressure and it holds well. This thing must be leaking when it got hot. It looks like the leak is from one of the three coolant ports in the center.
The following is the invoice from Autonation Toyota

My next question is can I just clean this inverter with contact cleaner and install it back? It is probably fried from the coolant!
If it is bad can someone tell me where can I get it? Thanks.

 

[miimura]

Call Quick Charge Power and ask for Tony. Explain what happened and ask his advice.

https://www.quickchargepower.com/contact

 

[rav4evuser]

Thanks miimura,
I will do that tomorrow.

 

[rav4evuser]

Just done talking with Tony and he has one available for my car. I am considering it, not sure yet.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I sold this RAV4 EV owner a used motor out of another car. Hopefully, he can get it installed in his car, and take it to the dealer to have the computer programmed to accept the new motor.

He should be up and running in no time. Hopefully, he will want to install JdeMO on his car, so that he can drive the car throughout the area without constraints. There are about 300 compatible fast charge stations in Southern California that can charge his car in 30-45 minutes.

I have the old motor, so perhaps I will make it a display unit.

 

[rav4evuser]

Tony,
I got it installed these weekends and now I am waiting for a tow truck to bring it Carson Toyota dealer to have it flashed for the new motor, not Autonation Toyota Buena Park who has never responded to my email about how much they would charge to do the job.
I will keep you posted.

 

[alflash]

Was (self-)revised. ...
Note. SAFETY RECALL F0I "EV GATEWAY CONTROL ECM SOFTWARE UPDATE" (March 11, 2015) recommended to update the software to new calibration 1.3.101 and "This update will be performed at No Charge to the vehicle’s owner".

 

[rav4evuser]

The dealer has had my car since Monday, May 14th and I have not got it back yet. The adviser said they had a hard time to get the car to accept the software after installing a new 12 volt battery, will keep everyone post it.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Was revised.
...
Note. SAFETY RECALL F0I "EV GATEWAY CONTROL ECM SOFTWARE UPDATE" (March 11, 2015) recommended to update the software to new calibration 1.3.101 and "This update will be performed at No Charge to the vehicle’s owner".

That’s not a “recommendation”. That firmware update is actually a result of a US Government recall. They are REQUIRED to update the firmware.

 

[alflash]

The dealer has had my car since Monday, May 14th and I have not got it back yet. The adviser said they had a hard time to get the car to accept the software after installing a new 12 volt battery, will keep everyone post it.

It is known which codes are stored?
For example, DTC P312F and Current Active Alert GTW_d001?

Was revised.... Note. SAFETY RECALL F0I "EV GATEWAY CONTROL ECM SOFTWARE UPDATE" (March 11, 2015) recommended to update the software to new calibration 1.3.101 and "This update will be performed at No Charge to the vehicle’s owner".

That’s not a “recommendation”. That firmware update is actually a result of a US Government recall. They are REQUIRED to update the firmware.

They all the more (especially the fact that), they must to update the software during the previous visit, for which a lot of money was paid. Or, at least, REQUIRED (necessarily) inform the client about the need for such a "modernization" of Teslas firmware to version ID 1.3.101 (UDS Drive Inverter: 0.25.13 = > 0.25.20, UDS BMS: 0.21.26 = > 0.21.29, Gateway: 0.61.31 = > 0.61.49, UDS Pedal Monitor: 0.5.10 = > 0.5.12).

Dear TonyWilliams, now is known the cause of the malfunction (the cause coolant leaked) of the "native" Traction Motor Assembly of RAV4EV of respected rav4evuser?