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High Voltage Cable Big Corrosion Problem

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#1,361 ·
I realise that all car makes have their issues. I've been on both the Honda and KIA forums. And both the 2023 KIA Sportage and Honda CRV are the first model of a new generation. So who knows what issues those will have.

The problem I have with the RAV4 hybrid is the corrosion issue appears to happen within 3 years if you live in the salt belt ( which I do). That could mean replacing the cable 3 times if I keep the car 10+ years. Of course, I'd ditch it well before that! If I have to pay for one repair, evening half of the $6k reported, it will be more than any fuel economy I will ever see.
 
#1,362 ·
Still do not understand why the location of the cables changed .
from the top of the MGR



Wonder if there was some problem with the top location....


Image


It's present location


Another thread. " Lexes "



Image


Similar type of connector,,,back in 08
"RX 400h"

"
I had it inspected before buying, and found something unusual (picture attached). With the vehicle up on a lift, I saw this on the underside, on the driver's side towards the back. It's the high-voltage hybrid wires, and it looks like they're going into the rear electric motor. It looks like the sheathing has pulled away because of the rust that has built up there. What i'm concerned with most is that the wires are now exposed to the rain, snow, and slush of my climate. I brought this up with my sales rep and he added it as an issue to fix on the sales contract.

Yesterday, I was told that the Service tech said that it can't be "fixed." He goes on to say that this is how it looks, even on a brand new vehicle, and that it's not a safety issue.

He goes on to say that the metal holder that has corroded/oxidized will not corrode further or look differently years from now."

Rx 400h - Ever see this before? - ClubLexus - Lexus Forum Discussion

Hybrid Technology - Rx 400h - Ever see this before? - I will be getting a 08 RX 400h tentatively on Saturday from a local dealership. The car was a courtesy vehicle, and was only put into service in 2009. Surprisingly, it's still under the bumper to bumper warranty for another few months, and...
www.clublexus.com

Quite interesting,,,



1. Did the older Rav4 have any problems with the MGR cable...location...
2. Wonder if it was a problem for the RX400 at the time..
 
#1,364 ·
There is no reason to replace the entire HV cable because of a shield grounding issue. If problem arises when vehicle is out of warranty it can be repaired with a $2 stainless steel hose clamp and less than one Hr labor.
Remove orange protective cover
Cut off corroded ring clamp
Clean up contact area of braid and connector
Reinstall braid with hose clamp
Spray area with rust preventive spray or something similar
Drill a couple drain holes in bottom of orange protective and reinstall

Good for life of vehicle
In the meantime I am sure Toyota is working hard to resolve this issue one way or another.
 
#1,365 ·
RobertB said:
There is no reason to replace the entire HV cable because of a shield grounding issue. If problem arises when vehicle is out of warranty it can be repaired with a $2 stainless steel hose clamp and less than one Hr labor.
Remove orange protective cover
Cut off corroded ring clamp
Clean up contact area of braid and connector
Reinstall braid with hose clamp
Spray area with rust preventive spray or something similar
Drill a couple drain holes in bottom of orange protective and reinstall

Good for life of vehicle
In the meantime I am sure Toyota is working hard to resolve this issue one way or another.
Click to expand...
Simple, Cheap, Effective solution that actually works.....
 
#1,366 ·
RobertB said:
There is no reason to replace the entire HV cable because of a shield grounding issue. If problem arises when vehicle is out of warranty it can be repaired with a $2 stainless steel hose clamp and less than one Hr labor.
Click to expand...
Is this something you've done and tested ? 🤔

Seems like a logical / reasonable approach although some mentioned that the cable connection grounding is part of some type of safety system..shutting down the system if a certain resistance or lack of is found...caused by the corrosion.

a "problem" if true, not just a cosmetic issue...

Maybe not a problem for the "R400h" Lexes,,at the time although could be the owners didn't see it, and
it didn't affect or shut down the hybrid system...

Yep, very sure Toyota is working on it,,,to soon to tell if the 2022 are still affected, hope not ...😐
Let's hope a permeant fix is found soon, one that will be applied under warranty free of charge to those affected by the problem. and retroactively to those not yet affected by it.
 
#1,367 ·
windwalker099 said:
Is this something you've done and tested ? 🤔

Seems like a logical / reasonable approach although some mentioned that the cable connection grounding is part of some type of safety system..shutting down the system if a certain resistance or lack of is found...caused by the corrosion.

a "problem" if true, not just a cosmetic issue...

Maybe not a problem for the "R400h" Lexes,,at the time although could be the owners didn't see it, and
it didn't affect or shut down the hybrid system...

Yep, very sure Toyota is working on it,,,to soon to tell if the 2022 are still affected, hope not ...😐
Let's hope a permeant fix is found soon, one that will be applied under warranty free of charge to those affected by the problem. and retroactively to those not yet affected by it.
Click to expand...
Applied this basic fix in April of this year (see Post # 507). Will re-examine connector after next winter and report results...

Keith A.
 
#1,368 ·
It is interesting

Image



"My 2015 prius c with 29k miles would not start yesterday after I pulled into a gas station for some coffee. Towed 2.5 hours to the dealer, "Found corroded positive battery cable" "replace pos. battery cable." $1,753.40 not covered under warranty!
:(


The mechanic told me to file an insurance claim, kept insisting I hit something. I did not hit anything"
priuschat.com

Big orange cable under the body... Safety concern?

Do you guys notice the orange electric cable under prius c's body? I think those are the cable from the battery pack to the engine bay. Any concern...
priuschat.com priuschat.com

Looks like the same type of connector....must be something that Toyota has been using throughout their hybrid line up
for many yrs..
 
#1,369 ·
The mechanic was giving you the line you were supposed to use when you filed an insurance claim. :ROFLMAO:

I'd have laughed and asked him for impact candidates.
 
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#1,371 ·
tagheuer said:
Do you have a basic fix for the leaking roof rails too?

Toyota hasn't fixed that, and I doubt they'll fix this
Click to expand...
My RAV4 spends most of the time in the garage when I'm not using it. In spite of all the rainfall we get here in Washington State, I haven't experienced that problem,,, yet....
 
#1,372 ·
Keith_A said:
Applied this basic fix in April of this year (see Post # 507). Will re-examine connector after next winter and report results...

Keith A.
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, it looks like you didn't have the check engine light which comes on when there is an issue with the high voltage cable. It sounds like you just cut open the connector and applied a corrosion inhibitor as a preventative measure. Windwalker099 was questioning if this has been tested "There is no reason to replace the entire HV cable because of a shield grounding issue. If problem arises when vehicle is out of warranty it can be repaired with a $2 stainless steel hose clamp and less than one Hr labor. "

post #507 High Voltage Wire Big Corrosion Problem
 
#1,373 ·
Keith_A said:
My RAV4 spends most of the time in the garage when I'm not using it. In spite of all the rainfall we get here in Washington State, I haven't experienced that problem,,, yet....
Click to expand...
Don't worry, you will.

It's amusing Toyotas issues stem from the inability to drain or prevent water intrusion

In both cases they overlooked obvious problems and created design defects
 
#1,374 ·
Hi everyone, after reading up and seeing that my 1800 miles 2022 has not had a serious solution to this issue. I decided to do something about it.
I took the cover off and after one hour of carful build up with liquid tape I got these results.
I think this is the best one can do short of molding these connectors water tight ourselves.
My gut says this is what the TSB will describe as "repair or replace" once Toyota owns up the oversight. :) Check out the pictures.
I made sure I had a thin coat first and kept building it till I couldn't see any gaps. The ground wires helped create the shape and I overlapped the liquid tape all the way around on both ends. I hope this will render it water tight. What do you guys think?

Image

Image
Image

Image
 
#1,375 ·
armozo said:
I took the cover off and after one hour of carful build up with liquid tape I got these results.
I think this is the best one can do short of molding these connectors water tight ourselves.
Click to expand...
Damn! My CRC spray coating looks pretty lame compared to this solution. I've never heard of Liquid Tape - I wonder what other products out there are similar. My 2022 Limited only has about 350 miles on it, so I'm ordering a can of liquid tape to do some preliminary testing. I have a feeling you'll need to do this fix very early in the life of the car, before any corrosion has started. Nice job.
 
#1,376 ·
armozo said:
Hi everyone, after reading up and seeing that my 1800 miles 2022 has not had a serious solution to this issue. I decided to do something about it.
Click to expand...

Wow 🤔

What happens when you take it in for service and they ask about the connector ?

Or worse should something happen, could they claim that your "fix" contributed to it by altering their design ?

Completely, understand the feeling, 🙂 my 2022 LE has 3k on it now...

Reading the threads does and did make me wonder enough to check my own connection,
to see if it had the upgraded mod, it did 🙂

The same type of connectors seem to have been used across all their hybrid lines, for quite awhile....
Even having some of the same problems being discussed now to a very limited degree awhile back..even among the Prius, and Lexes lines..

Reading through the many post..

The main problem seems to be in the Rav4 it disables the hybrid system after reaching a certain point of corrosion, not so much so in some of the other hybrid lines made by Toyota where seems like it was more of a cosmetic issue...

As some have suggested,,,along with rolling upgrades,
they may come out with some type of warranty extension explicitly for this cable.

To early to tell the result of the mods to the 2022...
 
#1,377 ·
Liquid tape appears to be much the same as the normal plastidip, but the paint on version is missing some resins that are in the spray on version. The website indicates it can be cut and peeled off.

plastidip.com

Liquid Tape - PLASTI DIP®

Click Here Click Here Liquid Tape is a rubber coating that takes the place of electrical tape by providing electrical insulation to hard-to-reach places. ATTRIBUTES Protects coated items against moisture, acids, abrasion, corrosion, and skidding/slipping, and provides a comfortable, controlled...
plastidip.com plastidip.com
 
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#1,378 · (Edited)
Hey all, good questions @windwalker099.
To say the truth I do not really care. They will have to prove to me that the failure was in part to what I did. I am hard pressed that with the law suit in their record in this regard, that they would refuse warranty for the connector. I can't trust the dealer to do this with better care than I did. My dealer cant get right oil changes. They overfilled my engine by a whole quarter.

As far as the solution I chose, I would argue that using electrical liquid tape to seal the exposed ground conductors and the surrounding connector would be a good way to seal it. I overlapped the jacket that the braided ground conductor was exposed from to create a seal end to end.

I do not understand why they cant just ask their supplier to seal-mold that connector. It makes absolutely no sense.
I used to work in supply chain management and planing for an aerospace company. Updating a drawing by an engineer to a new revision and sending out the update to the supplier is all that you need. Then you choose a serial number to integrate the change while you use up or retroactively apply the change to whatever is in the line.

Anyway... I thought that doing this early will give me the best opportunity to protect my car, that I paid cash for. :)
If it fails I am willing to buy that cable when time comes and do the job myself if I have too. I highly doubt this will fail. They use a ton of salt in the winer here so those ground conductors would corrode in no time.

Update:
I went out there to see how it is drying... It dries into a rubber like consistency. It fully cures in 24 hours. I will button up all else tomorrow this time and let my wife drive it. As far as other solutions go, I think it is quite different from Plasti dip.
 
#1,380 ·
armozo said:
Hey all, good questions @windwalker099.
To say the truth I do not really care. They will have to prove to me that the failure was in part to what I did. I am hard pressed that with the law suit in their record in this regard, that they would refuse warranty for the connector.
Click to expand...

While I can understand your reasoning. Kind of went through this with my FJ cruiser.
a new 2010...🙂 in 2010 that I had.

Back then bought it with out understanding the problem of the time...
Image

in the early yrs of the FJ had cracks occurring in the inner engine bay fender walls

"Please bear with me here - The engine bay bulging / ripping issue is very serious, and we need to try and present Toyota with a better idea of how extensive this problem is, to impress upon them the urgency and seriousness of this issue."Do you have inner fender bulges / cracking?

2010 was the yr they did a mod for the problem, sold mine soon after due to other things...didn't follow it much after that..🤔

My point was that Toyota, did not feel this was due to a design flaw. It was not something covered as I remember...
People did try to address it as here using various methods.

Only found out about the issue with the Rav4 after buying one and coming here...😂 just like the FJ.

Happened to buy the model yr they did do some type of change to address the problem...

Hope it works out....

The mod you applied looks good, still don't understand why

1. they moved the connection location from top to present location bottom...
2. they continue to use the same connector
3. they don't apply a mod as you have done, sealing the connector...

hope things work out for all,,,
very much enjoy the tech on the Rav4 hybrid....ICE, ecvt and e-motors seems to be well built and thought out...

kind regards

david
 
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