I scanned my Prius to death /!\

I was pulling out of my work parking lot today when all of a sudden my car just stopped working. I coasted into a parking spot and didn't touch anything. All the gear indicator displays were blinking, but it was like being in neutral with the engine off. I have an OBD scanner connected and Torque on a Nexus 7, but I wasn't using them at the moment or so I thought. I pulled out the tablet and scanned for error codes. There was one, U0293 - Lost Communication With Hybrid Powertrain Control Module. I pulled the code scanner out and turned the car off and back on. Now I have red triangle, but the gear indicator is not blinking. I drove the car around awhile and it seemed fine. I plugged the scanner back in and checked for error codes again. Now I two more, U0100 - Lost Communication With ECM/PCM "A" and P0A1D - Hybrid Powertrain Control Module. I cleared all of the error codes and drove around some more. All seems fine.

I recently purchased a highly recommended OBDlink mx from Scantools. This one is supposed to be well designed and high quality. They claim you can leave it plugged in all the time. I have had it plugged into the car for several weeks now without issue, although I usually don't have the tablet with me. Torque has a settings option for just this scanner to allow high speed scanning. I had my tablet closed which turns off the display, but I had been running Torque on the way to work. I was specifically scanning codes related to the battery (thanks usbseawolf2000).

So what happened? Did I over scan my can, is the scan tool suspect, or is this just a 1 in 10,000 fluke that I should just ignore? I read on another thread that if the ECU doesn't hear from the battery controller within 0.68 seconds it will throw this error code.

Thoughts, opinions, or even expert advise welcome. Thanks.

2005 Prius with nav
122,000 miles
original 12v battery

Scan tool: OBDlink mx

Codes:
U0293 - Lost Communication With Hybrid Powertrain Control Module
U0100 - Lost Communication With ECM/PCM "A"
P0A1D - Hybrid Powertrain Control Module

 

dorunron, here are my auxiliary battery values you asked me to take. Headlights, air, and radio were off for all readings.

ACC mode 12.1v
Ignition on 11.9v
Ready mode 14.1v

I drove around a little while in service mode. The voltage dropped to 13.4v all of sudden, but returned to 14.0v after I parked.

I'm still driving around with my scanner and Torque with no further issues.

 

I did it again. Same codes, red triangle, was able to limp off road after restart. Clearing the codes fixed everything. This is the third time now.

I hadn't used the code reader for months, but decided to see how my battery's delta v was doing. I scanned all the way to work (40 minuts) with no problems. Later with the reader plugged in to the port, tablet off, but in the car, it coded on me. I saw VSC and minutes later ABS lights come on and then triangle while I was sitting at a stop.

I can drive around for months with the reader plugged in so long as I don't have the tablet in the car. Actively scanning with Torque seams OK to. The problem only happens when the tablet if off, but in the car.

Based on comments in this thread I replaced my 12v last fall with the Optima. Checked it this morning after sitting all night.

ACC mode 12.4v
Ignition on 12.1v
Ready mode 14.1v

I now have 130k on the car. my tablet is a nexus 7. Other installed apps include Elm and Diag my Toyota. Obviously I know how to avoid the problem, but not why it occurs. Could the OBDlink mx be defective? If I had bought a $15 doller China clone reader I would blame this. Could my car's can bus be marginal? Does the nexus 7 do weird things in it's sleep?

Ideas or similar experiences appreciated.

 

Prius_cub, thank you. I've set the protocol to ISO 15765-4 CAN 11bit 500k baud per your suggestion.

Other Torque settings I have are faster communication and power savings which are both specific to the OBDlink mx. I'll play with these if the protocol doesn't fix it.

I searched the gen 3 forums, which I never do. Sure enough same problems, CANtamination. There's a generic forum for OBD2 apps. Maybe there should be a forum for OBD2 hardware or common problems.

This seems to be wide spread problem, not just Toyota.

• MOTORMagazine | OBD II |OBD II Ghosts & Gremlins — Aftermarket Devices Can Create Service and Repair Nightmares
• Multiple Conditions Caused by Aftermarket Devices Plugged into the Data Link Connector
• OBDII port, OnStar, Insurance discounts, Drive Wise - Imagine bricking your Volt, hahah. Humm... Maybe that's not so funny.

I'm bummed wondering if this tech is really ready for use while driving. If an after market device can upset braking and engine function someone could get killed. Auto makers should isolate the consumer OBD2 bus from anything critical. Said isolation would limit bus traffic giving priority to things like the brakes. It would be ironic if one of those insurance dongles causes a crash.

I'll report back after some careful driving.

 

Knock on wood, no further problems since disabling automatic protocol scan in Torque.

I've been trying to make my car code for a week, over 5 hours of driving. I did the following tests multiple times while driving (carefully traffic permitting).

• Scanner attached to OBD, but no tablet.
• Actively using Torque to monitor nimh battery.
• Power up sequence: car then Torque, Torque then car.
• Torque running, but screen off (cover closed).
• Hot plugging adapter, allow Torque to connect to car, repeat.
• Shutting down and restarting Torque.

There's allot out there on this issue, not just Prius related. Some search terms to try are:

obd auto protocol u0100.​

Thanks everyone especially Prius_cub.