I bought an 01 1st Gen about 2 1/2 years ago. I had a few faults pop up from time to time, but they always seemed to clear up by pulling over, shutting off the key, and rebooting 4 times, which made the triangle go away, and then the car ran fine. I took the car off the road last May to run my summer car, my Saab convertible on the same plates. I left the car at a dealership to be checked out, to see what the codes meant. They said they got a bunch of codes but couldn't tell what the real problems were unless they could drive the car after resetting the computer, which they couldn't do because I took the plates off. I re-registered the car and drove it home, and it ran fine. I let it sit about 3 months, not knowing that both batteries would deteriorate if not recharged regularly. About a month ago, I had it dollied to another dealer. This one said that the transaxle shows locked up, and the replacement is over $5000, parts and labor. They replaced the dead (orig. equip.) aux. battery, said the car started and the main (traction) battery "appears" to be fine, but the codes came back and shut it down. I went to pay for the work and check out the car, and it wouldn't start. I don't understand how the transaxle could be locked when I drove the car home from the first dealer, and it was towed on a dolly to the second. I asked if they could just tear down the transaxle and fix whatever was wrong with it but was informed that they don't do that, they just replace 'em. They said the codes involved were C240, C1215, C1241, and C1259. Has anyone encountered a similar problem, and can you tell me what to do? I would really love to get in touch with a rogue or self-taught Prius expert, somewhere in the Albany, New York area. I'm through with the parts-changers at the dealerships They obviously have no interest in repairing a vehicle they didn't sell, or can't make a huge profit on. They are not real mechanics. If it ain't in the shop manual, they have no imagination, no idea how to troubleshoot it. I would like to get this thing running before the main battery flatlines. If I have to replace the transaxle with a used one, I will, but I'll be damned if I"ll pay some dealer half what I paid for the car to put in a new one. Help, please!?
C240 - ? C1215 - Anti-lock brake, linear solenoid positive voltage malfunction C1241 - Anti-lock brake, IG power source circuit C1259 - Anti-lock brake, malfunction in HV ECU The 12 V battery is now good? Call these folks: Auto-Careers.org: Hybrid Training Resources Since 2000 Bob Wilson
Good deal. A lot of strange errors are fixed by having a good 12 V battery. Now all of the codes I could find point to the brake system. The only time I get codes there are when I used my Auto Enginuity or ScanGauge in "discovery mode" and they attempt to use a CANbus protocol. One of the CANbus lines in our NHW11 is also used for a 'jumper' Tc/Ts method to flash error codes. When a scanner uses the CANbus line, it 'spikes' the controller and usually induces a lot of false, brake codes. Happily, these brake codes go away once the car is restarted. Where is the car now? Do you have a scanner that is ISO-9141, KWP2000 compatible? You might want to read both the Auto Enginuity sticky and ScanGauge threads to see what the group has done to prevent these false codes. Once you have access to accurate diagnostic codes, the car will lead you to problem. Bob Wilson
IIRC, this is a code that will inevitably be set in the brake ECU whenever anything the slightest bit funky has been signaled by the HV ECU (even, say, a tranistory slow engine start) and then remains set until somebody clears it. So it's not a terribly uncommon code, nor terribly informative. -Chap
Thanks, Bob! Your info put me onto a local hybrid guy, who I'm going to try. The car is still at the last dealer, but as soon as I can get somebody to take it to the independant, that is where it's going. From browsing through the posts, it looks like Toyota dealerships are not very helpful to anyone but their owners. All of that stuff about scanners and codes is Greek to me. I think I'll just give this guy a shot at it and see what happens, Thank you so much.
What happens if you drive the car? (Assuming it can still drive). Do you get any warning light? How about the error codes. Any P3XXX codes at all?
If you haven't read my article over on EV-Talk about expensive hybrid repairs, might be worth a read as to what goes on in these dealerhips: Ridiculously Expensive Hybrid Repairs! | evtalk
I could tell you the car's entire history since I bought it, but to save time, what sort of specifics were you thinking of?
In order to help you we'd need to know exactly what happens after you have reset all codes, have the 12V battery fully charged, and turn on the car. Does it start at all? Is everything fine until you put it in gear and it codes almost immediately (i.e. transaxle)? What new codes come up? Even though it is brand new, unless the 12V has been on a battery charger, it could be dead already, and there will be no end to your problems.
No, I'm not a dealer. I don't work for one, either. Frankly, it doesn't take inside knowledge to recognize that the article is BS. It just takes logic.
Unfortunately, you weren't clearing anything up. You were just working around the issue to turn off the warning lights. They are there to alert you to problems with your vehicle. Ignore them at your peril. There is no C240; you are missing a digit. My guess is that you got the codes from the brake ECU alone, and that there are codes in the HV ECU, as well. The first step would be to scan all modules for trouble codes and information codes, and to record the freeze frames associated with such codes. If you clear codes before doing this, you will lose valuable data. Once you have the codes and data, you can find factory service information at http://techinfo.toyota.com Why is the vehicle "undrivable", as you say, at this point?
I posted because someone came to this forum looking for help, and was supplied with misinformation. The post was short so as not to drag the thread off topic. You might want to keep that in mind. Since you have done so, even though the article had already been linked, I will hazard a guess that you are defending the article, and wish to promote it. If so, why don't you start a new thread on the subject? That way, you will have room to give your views on the article, at length. If you're willing to invest the time to do that, I'll be happy to do the same.
