Toyota Dealer responses to Enginer kit ?

If the check engine light (Malfunction Indicator Light, "MIL") is caused by driving with a PHEV unit (I got one once, when in EV mode), then I would recommend getting your own OBD2 reader. (I bought one from Welcome to CanOBD2! and it seems to work fine.)

My dealer (Toyota Sunnyvale) didn't even mention the PHEV mod when I went in for the 50,000 mile oil change.

 

Part of it has to do with what type of maintenance is required. If it's something like changing oil or rotating tires they probably won't care. However, if it requires working on the high voltage portion of the vehicle they probably will complain. The reason is that they need to know for 100% certain that their technicians will be safe while they are working on the vehicle and the only way they can guarantee that is by having the hybrid system in OEM format.

My guess is that they'll pull codes for you but they probably won't want to try fixing the car with the modifications installed (that's the response I got a while back when I had a CalCars DIY conversion system installed when trying to get the AC recharged--not entirely sure why that needed HV access...).

I think it also depends on the dealer (my local dealer is a royal pain and I haven't been back since)--you really wont know for sure until you try. Hopefully dealers have become more educated since I was last in...

Andrew

 

Is it just the check engine light (yellow light) or are there other lights as well? Usually just the check engine light means it's a generic engine code which can be queried with any generic OBD2 scantool. I'm a little surprised that your tool wasn't able to detect it--was it able to pull any sort of real-time values from the engine at all?

You could also try going to a shop like Auto-zone (or whatever automotive shop equivalent you have in the area) since they pull generic codes for you for free and see if that works. If their tools also don't pick it up still then you'll probably need an actual Toyota scantool (some DTCs are proprietary and cannot be detected by generic OBD2 scantools). Again, I would be surprised if an engine code was not detectable by the generic tools.

Another possibility is that the check engine light is not working properly (perhaps you spliced the wrong wire or there is electromagnetic interference?). That would also explain why no codes were showing...Have you modified anything behind the glove box besides putting in the EV mode switch?

Andrew

 

I would recommend having it checked--especially if it's free. If they give you grief you can always take the car to an auto shop and have them check it for free. Might as well know now if they'll give you grief versus later.

There are engine codes that will prevent the accumulation of performance collection which can reduce the efficiency of your engine over time (EG: your engine learns about how to perform most efficiently over time and some codes block this learning process). I'm not saying that that's the case, but it's a possibility and in my book would merit having it checked. This could be causing reduced MPG or increased emissions.

Most states will outright reject your vehicle during emissions testing if the check engine light is illuminated during the test. Since you've had the problem for awhile I assume this hasn't happened?

The light generally turns off if the code hasn't appeared in several driving cycles so the fact that the light is still on suggests that whatever the problem is is still actively occurring on a regular basis. Have you checked your coolant levels?

Andrew

 

What type of radiator coolant it will be? I noticed it's cherry red in color and how to measure it?, with the car cold and idle?
Mine is 6 years new..........

 

it's toyota's super long life coolant. Yes, you must measure when the car is cold and idle (especially if you want to look in your radiator). If I were you, I'd just double-check the coolant reservoir.

 

isn't s.f. closer to you?... call up Lucious garage and see what they can do to help....

 

nevermind... los gatos... i was thinking palo alto for some reason. i just moved to Los Angeles... my experiance is that just about Every dealer in the southbay kinda sucks...

 

All of the codes you've listed here have to do with coolant (both engine and inverter). Was the car in an accident ever? Are there leaks? Have you verified that the coolant levels are not too low for both the inverter and radiator?...

Andrew

 

There is an upgraded coolant pump available that should last much longer than the one used on 2004-2005(?) vehicles. I don't know about the price, but would urge you to get that pump replaced. Cooking the inverter is one of the most expensive things you can do to a Prius.

 

The codes are with both the inverter coolant and engine coolant--the inverter coolant codes may be caused by a defective / outdated inverter coolant pump but I don't think the engine coolant ones are the same. Is your car still under warranty? If so, they should upgrade the inverter coolant pump for free.

Something is very wrong one way or another...

Andrew

 

The inverter coolant pump is covered only under the powertrain warranty. (5 years)