Well it's that time of the year again when I attempt once again to get the this 2003 running. This is now the fourth year! What a great investment in money and time it has been. And going in and out of the shop by Fred Flinstone power has kept me fit. You may remember from previous years that a minor collision was repaired, a broken wire fixed which cleared all DTC but one. C1259 Now after well over 60 plus hours of reading including the DTC manual (all 800 plus pages) it seems that this is not possible. An error in the HV system should also be present. There isn't. Both the Auto Enginuity software, and jumping the OBD port to flash the ABS light result in nothing but the C1259. Triangle and car with ! both on What I am curious about to begin with is that for the heck of it, I pulled the right wheel and put a socked and bar on the crank pullu not and I can only swing the engine back and forth about 20 degrees before it locks. Doesn't matter what gear the transaxle is in. Is this normal?
I think the ABS ECU will log and retain a C1259 code if the HV ECU ever has indicated a trouble condition, even if it doesn't now, until you clear the ABS codes. Have you tried that and does the C1259 come back? It does sound very suspicious that the crank pulley seems to lock up. Absent a mechanical problem, there isn't any way the transaxle could block engine rotation when the car is off, whatever the gear selector position. It's just a freewheel for the engine if electrons aren't flowing. Is it as hard to turn if the spark plugs are removed? -Chap
And there in lies the odd part. There are NO other codes from ANY of the systems including ABS. Clearing the 1259 DTC results in an IMMEDIATE return of it and the dash lights. As for the tansaxle, I was afraid of that. As it stops when I rotate the pulley left and right I can hear a bit of rattling which given the general sound of where it's coming from, sounds like the springs in that damper plate in the bell housing. Given what you say, I'm not sure whether to suspect the engine or transaxle.... But now that I think of it, I have on several occasions managed to move it in and out of the shop for the few seconds that it would stay READY. I wonder if there's some rust in the cylinders?
Well aint this some poo. Pulled the plugs and number three had water in it (damp, not much) enough to surface rust the cylinder. You would think that with all that computer stuff a check to indicate the engine didn't revolve even once would be possible. Or an indication that the MG couldn't rotate things. Some WD-40 and some stroking back and forth has it turning again. Next issue is the inverter pump. Everything I've read here indicates that it's a beosh. And I'm finding that true. I've just pulled the inverter to check it out because it hums just fine, but no water movement. Getting it into a pail of fluid also resulted in nothing.....until I got both ends in the fluid. Then I was able to get the fluid off of the wall. Was this setup designed by the same guy that did those water pumps you see in old western movies? you know, where you have to pour water into it while you're jacking the handle up and down?
Update: Inverter pump is now pushing. What worked was to take the hose from the reservoir and hold it up in the air with a funnel in it, pour slowly until the system has fluid coming into the reservoir (from the back) which is the highest point. I received an email response from Arts Automotive (damn fine people to help out non customers like that in my opinion), which basically said "we have never seen a Prius with Triangle of doom, and MIL light that did not have any HV ECU DTCs" I've made an inquiry to Autoenginuity.
