Recurrent Power Failure After HV Battery Replacement - help!

Thanks for the English lessons. Needed badly. Or is it badly needed?.

Tara, this is exactly why I took some time to learn fixing cars myself. Not only the "professionals" don't know squat about troubleshooting, they are not squeamish to just throw new parts at the car till it's fixed, damn the cost for the owner.

 

Thanks SageBrush.
Saved me from hopping on my well-worn Gloria Steinem stool.

What the )%$>@&}| is going on with Tarabow's car? And shouldn't Toyota Techs form better diagnoses than putting in "band-aids" parts and hoping these will solve the problem?

The Prius is well into its 2nd decade of existence (in US). I'm disappointed to hear of another instance of the "Master" training has not kept up with all of Toyota's stellar innovations.

 

Ordering a part should only take 1 day

 

Especially since the OP lives in southern CA and the regional distribution warehouse is in that area.

The relay in question is a module that contains four relays (including the circuit opening relay which is the official name for the fuel pump relay) so it is probably going to be pretty expensive, well into three-digits. I hope that helps the engine stalling issue.

Regarding the OP's video and inability to turn the car off with the combination meter inoperative, I suppose by now she has figured out that you may be able to turn the car off by holding the POWER button down at least three seconds.

If that doesn't work then a brute-force method would involve disconnecting the 12V battery and removing the orange traction battery interlock switch. That is guaranteed to stop the Prius dead.

 

The longer this saga draws out, the more Kafka-esque a tale you will have Tara.
Hope you or your LA friends will get some creative juice out of this.

 

so what was the out come, is there a way to turn the car off if the switch does not respond?
I assume you have to pull the battery safety plug to get it to shut down.
I ask because I have been getting the orange power button LED so I want to know what coming.

 

i would ask him to give you another car. you got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em. time to fold 'em.

 

you can put it in neutral if it won't shut off. just hold the shifter there for a few seconds until it shifts.

 

i can't blame you for thinking another brand. i certainly wouldn't drive a car that has done what yours has done, and they keep throwing darts at it with a blindfold on.

 

Have you filed a safety complaint w/ NHTSA? LINK

You can try to make a claim under the Lemon Law, b/c the hybrid components might still be under warranty (10years/150K miles), unless you have more than 150K miles. Unfortunately, her problem keeps jumping, as "darts" are being thrown at various parts. LINK

Unfortunately looks like she got a cursed Prius.

 

Let us know the final outcome: sue, sell car, etc.

Seeking reimbursement for:
- replacement of 12V (probably stuck w/ this since original battery never replaced)
- cleaning of engine intake manifold and throttle body (seek refund; clearly this had nothing to do with it since they determined its the gas tank)
- replacement of spark plugs (assuming you had that done at 120K miles, so it essentially was replaced a second time unnecessarily)
- replacement of fuel relay (seek refund)
- replacement of fuel tank (you might be stuck with this, since the Ultimate Tech, determined this to be the cause)

Good luck.

 

The car is not cursed and its not beyond hope. I am however, extremely disappointed in how these dealers/service reps have handled this problem. Unfortunately, I'm not surprised how they've handled it. What an absolutely disgusting sham. The fuel tank, really???? Who's paying for this repair because that can't be cheap. I've been on here for a while and I've never seen a fuel tank replacement fix a problem.

Here's my diagnosis,
The combination meter is causing some of your problems. There is a cold solder joint in the combination meter that intermittently loses contact causing the car to go haywire and possibly shut down. This is a common problem especially in 2004/5 models. Have they mentioned a thing about replacing the combination meter? If not, you need to insist they replace it under the appropriate service bulletin. I don't have that handy but a google search for prius combination meter service bulletin should yield you the bulletin (and with the track record of these dealerships, you will have to provide it to them). At a very minimum, this needs to be replaced
Here is a link to the the bulletin about the combination meter. Print this out and take it to the dealer and ask them to replace the combination meter. Idk if they will charge you or not but reading this leads me to believe your car may be past the coverage date.
http://ingineerix.com/cm-warranty.pdf

The p3190 is likely being caused by a sticky throttle body. I'm not doubting your ability to clean it but, you may need to revisit that and clean it again.

I will be very surprised if the gas tank replacement fixes the car. If it does, please let us know. If it does, I will gladly recant all I said about the fuel tank.

PS: This is meant to try to help you with your car. I make no guarantees about what I say but, I say it with the best intentions.

 

Combination meter just mentioned today

Gen2 Instrument Cluster "secret warranty" (Consumer Reports) | PriusChat

 

It really should be reported, especially since it's a safety issue and there was an injury to the child. However, I would not be surprised if lawyers were pushing for a lawsuit.