I was on my way home (a 50 mile trip on very rural roads) when my hybrid warning light came on. The car seemed to be operating fine, so I continued on. About 20 miles from home, the computer display lights flashed on and off and the car died. After coasting to a stop, I let it sit for a couple of minutes and turned it back on, and continued on. Warning light was still on. Probably ran about 7 miles or so and died again. This same scenario happened a couple more times, but I did manage to get home. My Prius is a 2002 with a little under 150000 miles on it, and it has never given me any problems since I bought it at 70,000 miles four years ago. I will be calling the Toyota dealer tomorrow, but I wanted to ask whether or not this sounds like a possible battery pack failure.
Hi Linda, I am having the same problem at the moment with my 2002 Prius. Was wondering if you had your car fixed and what was the diagnosis? thanks.
Inverter water pump and battery failures will sometimes allow you to re-start the car and drive a short difference. It is very easy to determine if the inverter water pump is working. You can find some info on it here: Luscious Garage | Blog | Gen 1 Prius code P3130: Inverter System Cooling Malfunction Usually the MFD will show a red square with a battery in it when the battery is the problem. Keep in mind, these are only the most common problems and you may have something else a fault.
Sorry for the happening. But a 150000 miles car can still let you drive home was a bless from God. We are waiting for the finding of your dealer.
It was diagnosed with inverter coolant pump failure. I also had the inverter fluid changed at the same time. The car has run great since then, and now has 152K on the odometer.