2012 SE Not Starting, dealer want almost $8k for bad MCU inverter

Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum

Help Support Mitsubishi i-MiEV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
M

Matthewsre

Member
Joined
May 29, 2013
Messages
19
Just got sad news from the dealership that my 2012 I Miev SE has a bad Motor Control Unit Inverter. They informed me the warranty timed out in May even though it is still under 60k miles. The dealer said they were able to drive the vehicle around and had to reach out to their expert to find out why the car was giving the car with exclamation point icon (I had to have it towed into the dealership). The cost they called me with is almost $8k to be fixed, which seems to be much more then the car is worth these days. Any suggestion or alternative options?
 
$8k sounds hard to justify given the market value, maybe consider the alternatives for replacement - it seems resale on all electrics is pretty low, so maybe better to put that $8k toward a LEAF or Volt coming off lease? Any chance a more dedicated/ambitious i-MiEVer (I'm sure they're all here from time to time :cool: - chime in!) will pay a bit for a carcass to strip, or maybe even have a wreck with a good MCU inverter to sell? (given our low numbers, I realize this may depend on near-perfect timing, but worth a thought).

That's likely the way I'd go, anyway. Actually, due to other life circumstances, in this scenario I'd be mostly to get what I could for salvage and buy a new Prius Prime, but I wouldn't consider that general advice.
 
Matthewsre said:
...The dealer said they were able to drive the vehicle around and had to reach out to their expert to find out why the car was giving the car with exclamation point icon (I had to have it towed into the dealership)...
Click to expand...
Does that mean it still runs? If so, a piece of tape over the exclamation point is a lower-cost solution. :roll:

Are you still up in the Seattle area?

Does anyone know what interchangeability issues there would be if Matthewsre were to install a used MCU, or one from a different year? Is the MCU VIN-locked?

Lots of hand-wringing: $8K for the MCU is ridiculous (as is >$4K for the OBC). Do we have any recourse? Questions to ask when buying our next new electric car...
 
Have you checked your VIN at the Mitsubishi website for recall notices? i have a 2012 SE in which the MCU was replaced free-of-charge under a recall.

Can you request the Diagnostic Trouble Codes which were stored due to the HV error light (car with !)? Chances are good that they found the culprit, but we could always do a sanity check here with the DTCs.

If the MCU is indeed failed, then the car will not go to READY, but there may be other factors that also prevent starting, such as an old, weak or worn out 12V Aux battery. Has yours been changed recently or are you running the original Aux?
 
Very long time since I posted, but Mitsubishi was no help and they assured me that there were no related recalls. I'm still in the Seattle area and the car has been sitting here ever since.

If anyone in the area is interested in it feel free to send me a message/offer.
 
What are the fault codes? I have fixed loads of MCUs with P1A15 precharge fault (and I mean properly fixed by repairing failed components, not the dangerous resistor bodge !)

Cheers
 
Matthewsre said:
Very long time since I posted, but Mitsubishi was no help and they assured me that there were no related recalls. I'm still in the Seattle area and the car has been sitting here ever since.

If anyone in the area is interested in it feel free to send me a message/offer.
Click to expand...
Howdy Matthews, I'm interested and local. Am sending a PM. Thx, Jay
 
Gary12345 said:
Shame the US is far from the UK as I fixed one of these last week for a garage (shop) her I e.
Click to expand...
Hi Gary, I too have a car that won't go into ready and shoes high voltage error code P1A15. What's the best sequence of tests to confirm that it's definitely the Inverter hybrid board mid measuring the the condenser voltage. I have a Fluke 2 channel oscilloscope that I can use for diagnostics. Hobdrive drive is not showing any Condenser Voltage build up on the EV-ECU screen when I attempt a ( failed) start.

Thanks
 
Gary12345 said:
I have fixed loads of MCUs with P1A15 precharge fault (and I mean properly fixed by repairing failed components,
Click to expand...
Howdy Gary,
Would you be willing to share some of your findings about which components are failing?

It would be a big help towards understanding the failure mode and culprits.
 
Matthewsre said:
Just got sad news from the dealership that my 2012 I Miev SE has a bad Motor Control Unit Inverter. They informed me the warranty timed out in May even though it is still under 60k miles. The dealer said they were able to drive the vehicle around and had to reach out to their expert to find out why the car was giving the car with exclamation point icon (I had to have it towed into the dealership). The cost they called me with is almost $8k to be fixed, which seems to be much more then the car is worth these days. Any suggestion or alternative options?
Click to expand...
Same dealer SHOCK here! My 2012 with 26k miles and 2 year old batteries (both) have been diagnosed as needing the main drive battery replaced at $13,000! I question their diagnosis, BUT I’m selling it to someone smart enough to fix whatever the issue is…$3,000. It’s in great shape with one year old tires in addition.
 
Mine had the P1A15 error.

HobDrive and OBDLink LX cleared it.

Been driving it for a week. find a way to have someone fix that fault in this forum, or sell it.
 
Gary12345 said:
What are the fault codes? I have fixed loads of MCUs with P1A15 precharge fault (and I mean properly fixed by repairing failed components, not the dangerous resistor bodge !)

Cheers
Click to expand...
"...dangerous resistor bodge" - What's 'dangerous' about it?
 
gzero said:
Hi Gary, I too have a car that won't go into ready and shoes high voltage error code P1A15. What's the best sequence of tests to confirm that it's definitely the Inverter hybrid board mid measuring the the condenser voltage. I have a Fluke 2 channel oscilloscope that I can use for diagnostics. Hobdrive drive is not showing any Condenser Voltage build up on the EV-ECU screen when I attempt a ( failed) start.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Given how well this issue has been covered here and on speakev, I would recommend just doing the resistor fix anyway. If it does not work, you have only put in 12p worth of resistors and a couple (ok, maybe 4 if you haven't done it before) hours of your time. I've done 2 now and both have been fine ever since (months later)...
 
martinwinlow said:
"...dangerous resistor bodge" - What's 'dangerous' about it?
Click to expand...
The resistor bodge skews the voltage reading by a fixed amount - the voltage reading in the MCU on startup is an important check before the positive contactor is switched on - any leakage on the HV system is picked up by changes in the voltage rise while the mcu capacitor is charging via the precharge contactor so that voltage monitor is a really important safety check. I have seen several cars with HV leakage issues in either the heater or ac compressor and its picked up by the voltage monitoring on startup as there is a draw on the hv system that shouldnt be there.

I've also had to fix an MCU that someone put a resistor on and damaged the circuit board - bloody nightmare !!!
 
kiev said:
Howdy Gary,
Would you be willing to share some of your findings about which components are failing?

It would be a big help towards understanding the failure mode and culprits.
Click to expand...
Hi, there was a lot of R&D done at Hevra the diagnostic support company I work at - we help independent garages in the UK with diagnostics on hybrid and EV vehicles. I have to be slightly careful what I say because the knowledge is owned by the company. The hybrid board basically it becomes less accurate, leading to it under reporting the HV voltage in the MCU.

We looked at about 6 cars that all had this same fault as we have the i-miev, c-zero and ion in the UK and the company is quite well known among EV repair garages, and had some success replacing components on the isa hybrid board but the fault varied slightly car to car. The best solution was to replace the hybrid board with a custom printed circuit board with a new isolation amplifier. Removing the isa board takes some patience - it is very easy to pull the tracks off the board.

The replacement circuit board is larger so it took some attempts to get a nice way to fit it, which will survive road vibration. This repair is one that I carry out for the company, so garages send me the board or the whole MCU for repair and I stock the parts.

Cheers
 
Gary,

Thank you for your help and wisdom. Obviously your hands are tied and can't share all with us, but there is many I-Miev owners overseas with the same fault. I'm interested in repairing it, but i can;t send you my controller for repair, too time consuming, costly, etc.

Is there any ways these boards can be sold? I would purchase it.
 

Similar threads

M
Vehicle For Sale 2012 SE with premium package - Seattle Area
Replies
1
Views
570
Bjorn
B
M
A mystery force - car will start but won't move
Replies
18
Views
1K
PV1
P
B
Help!! Inverter/Motor Control Unit 2012
Replies
1
Views
2K
JoeS
J
J
Driving Without OBC/dcdc
Replies
2
Views
973
JoeS
J
M
i-MiEV New Owner Seeking Advice Please?
2
Replies
26
Views
23K
PV1
P

Latest posts

Back
Top