U0288: Lost Communication With DC/AC Converter Control Module A
What to do
What matters here depends entirely on what has stopped working, so establish that first.
If it is a mains socket in the cabin or load bay that has gone dead, this is an inconvenience and nothing more. Try unplugging whatever was connected and switching the vehicle off and on — these units have their own overload protection, and it often resets once the load is removed.
If instead you have a hybrid or electric vehicle and there is a system warning light or reduced power, treat it seriously. That points at an inverter on the high-voltage side, and the car should be taken to somebody equipped for high-voltage work.
Do not investigate anything with orange cabling yourself. Orange marks the high-voltage system on hybrids and electric vehicles, and those voltages are lethal rather than just unpleasant. This is one of the few places where the sensible advice is to leave it entirely alone.
What this code means
The first DC to AC converter control module has stopped being heard from. See U0200 for the block's framing.
A DC to AC converter — an inverter — turns the vehicle's direct current into alternating current, and on a modern vehicle it may be doing either of two quite different jobs. Establishing which applies to the vehicle in front of you is the first step, because the consequences are not comparable.
The domestic-supply role is the common one on pickups, vans, camper conversions and some SUVs: a mains-voltage socket in the cabin or load bay for tools, appliances or charging equipment. Losing it is an inconvenience — nothing about the vehicle's operation changes.
The propulsion role belongs to hybrids and electric vehicles, where inverters convert pack DC into the alternating current that drives the traction motors and, on many vehicles, the electric air conditioning compressor. Losing one of those is not an inconvenience at all — expect reduced power, a hybrid or EV system warning, and on some vehicles a refusal to move.
The distinguishing question is simply what stopped working, and it is worth reporting precisely: a dead socket in the load bay is one situation, a warning light and reduced power is another entirely.
A safety point applies to the second case and should not be softened. Traction inverters sit on the high-voltage side of an electric or hybrid vehicle, at voltages that are lethal rather than merely unpleasant, and their cabling is orange for that reason. This is not a circuit to inspect at home. The corpus's usual encouragement to look at connectors yourself does not extend to anything orange, and a vehicle with a high-voltage fault should go to somebody trained and equipped for it.
For the domestic-supply case the ordinary causes apply — supply, earth, connector, and the possibility of an overload having tripped the unit's own protection, which frequently resets by itself once the load is removed.
Likely causes
Start here
- Corroded or loose connector · easy
- Failed power or earth supply to the module · moderate
- Damaged data bus wiring · moderate
- Blown fuse or failed supply · easy
Less common
- Water ingress into module · moderate
Symptoms
Components involved
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Community experience
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