Nick's P3030 and various C**** codes

Hi Nick,

As a general rule, shotgunning other threads with the same posts is not the best practice. Your problem is unique and taking over someone elses thread is not the best approach. Regardless, you've eventually found the right forum for:

So let's work down the list:

• P3000 - HV Battery Malfunction :: the manual lists four information codes, 123, 125, 388, and 389 that point to other codes. Since the vehicle still runs, 125, 'high voltage fuse blow out', seems unlikely.
• P3030 - Battery Voltage Detective line Snapped :: there are 19 pairs of battery modules and each has an independent sense line. However, corrosion can cause one of these sense lines to break. We would expect to find another code in the set P3011-P3029 to help identify the failed sense line.
• C1202 - Brake Fluid Warning Switch Circuit
• C1213 - HV ECU Communication Circuit Malfunction
• C1215 - Linear Solenoid Positive Voltage Malfunction
• C1241 - IG Power Source Circuit
• C1242 - IG2 Power Source Circuit
• C1259 - Malfunction in HV ECU
• C1551 - IG Power Source Circuit Malfunction

Now ordinarily this would be grim news but another possibility is a weak 12 V battery can lead to a suite of nearly random error codes. The 12 V battery provides power for the half dozen or so control computers. If it sags too much, all bets are off.

The first step is to check the 12 V battery:

• +12 V - with car off. Open the trunk and the auxilary battery is located behind the felt on the left hand side.
• 13.8-13.9 V - with the car on, the battery should show 13.8-13.9 V as the DC-DC converter is running.

So first let's make sure the 12 VDC system is OK before we take absolute faith in the error codes.

Now since you've already been to the Toyota dealer once, they no doubt have a perfect copy of the Techstream recorded data. So let me suggest the following:

• disconnect the 12 V battery for a couple of minutes at the ground and reconnect - this will clear all codes and engine trim data. The goal is to find out if the codes come back when you start the car or not . . . they represent a persistent error.

As a suggestion, you might want to go back to your duplicate posts and in the lower left corner is a "flag" icon used to report SPAM or abusive posts. This is also a way to ask the moderators to delete the duplicates. Alternatively, you could just edit the other posts and point out 'it is being discussed in the Gen I' forum.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

No problem. To find your other posts, click on your name from an existing post and window will come up with "Find more posts by ...". Pull the cursor down to highlight it and click and you'll see a list of your other postings. When you are ready to clean things up.

Gosh, "held them together" sounds exciting but what you mean is you ground the 12 V. lead to the car. But it sounds like your 12 V battery is probably OK.

Is the cover of the traction battery off? It should look like a large metal box.

There are over half a dozen control computers and two of them are behind the glove box, the steering and engine ECUs. There is another under the passenger floor board, several more in the dash and the traction battery ECU in the large metal box.

It sounds like the traction battery has at least one failed sensor line but there could be more. The problem is some of the codes you posted can show up if the OBD scanner is not configured right:

• ISO-9141 - an interface that uses the K-line and L-line
• KWP2000 - variable length messages

There are multiple OBD vehicle protocols and if the mechanic used an 'auto detect' scanner, it could induce false codes. But many scanners can be configured to use the right protocol: ISO-9141 and KWP2000. The real problem is only a small number of scanners are known to be able to return usable data:

• $1,200-1,500 - Techstream Lite, a Toyota product that requires a laptop and OBD interface
• $400 - Auto Enginuity, a 3d party, mostly working scanner that can report traction battery voltages by blocks
• $170 - Scangauge II, a 3d party scanner that w2co and vincent and I are working on mastering. So far, HV and battery ECUs, nothing on the engine or other ECUs, yet.
• $100 - ask Toyota Service Center to read out the codes and subcodes, to diagnose what is wrong and give you a list.
• rental - Graham Miniscanner, no longer in production, I rent them to folks rebuilding NHW11 Prius (2001-03.)

Since the problem comes back after you clear it by disconnecting the 12 V battery, it is persistent and needs fixing. From the earlier codes, it points to the traction battery and the alternatives are:

1. Re-InVolt - sells refurbished traction batteries, ~$1,700, which you and/or a mechanic can swap.
2. Toyota traction battery - normally you pay them the labor and it runs about $3,000 although prices may vary.
3. Art's Automotive or Lucious Garage in the San Francisco area are well known, expert mechanics. Either one could hand the traction battery rebuild or swap but the car would have to be towed or transported there (I don't think they make 'house calls.')
4. Rebuild it yourself - not recommended unless you feel comfortable with pretty involved vehicle and high voltage electrical work, have a good bench and instrumentation. Risky because so many unfamiliar technologies are involved, not for lay folks.

But I would first recommend getting a better reading of the error codes. This can confirm the diagnosis and lead to a better result.

Bob Wilson