I picked up a first Gen 2003 Prius. I am in the process of trying to get it running and back on the road. It had the gas engine replaced with a used one about 15,000 miles ago. The used engine had 60,000 miles on it. The person I got the car from drove it the additional 15,000 miles before it was parked due to "issues" and lack of funds to have them fixed at the dealer. When she tried to drive it the last time, a cloud of smoke entered the drivers compartment. She wisely turned it off and I got it from her in that state. My thought was an idler had frozen up and smoked the serpentine belt. She had also complained that the "starting" battery was not holding a charge. So, I took the car home and determined that the a/c condenser was seized up which is what smoked the belt. I replaced the condenser and recharged it, put on a new belt, and replaced the 12v battery. It "started" right up and seemed to be doing fine. After about 15 miles driving it, I got the triangle of death and check engine light, the red brake indicator came on and the car refused to do much of anything. The hybrid warning light does not go off and I am unable to pull any codes to tell me what the problem might be. I can turn the car off and restart it and it will run just fine. I did drive it a bit more to try to narrow down the trouble. The hybrid and check engine indicators have remained on. What it does is simply this. It is kicking in the engine braking system which causes the red brake indicator and causes the gas engine to rev way up to try to compensate for the loss of rpms on the electric side. I can pull over, put the car in park, turn it off, and start up and go just fine. It will clear the braking and the indicator goes off. Can anyone steer me in a direction as to what would cause the sudden braking?
You've named the problem right there. You need to become able to pull the codes, and then do so. The way most people become able to pull the codes is by picking up a Mini VCI ...It doesn't cost much (assuming you have a laptop to hook it to). Cheers, -Chap
Tried my reader again. It would not give me codes the last couple of times I tried it. This time it gave me P3125, P3006 X2, P3014, and C1259. Interesting combination of codes that point to different things. Can anyone tell me what the common denominator is? My guess would be the block or the invertor. Also, I was looking for a Gen 1 forum, but did not see it listed. What am I missing?
You're on the right track. Most of those are codes reported by the HV ECU or the battery ECU (I don't have the manual in front of me). I do remember that C1259 is a code reported by the brake ECU, and all it means is that the brake ECU knows there are codes in the HV ECU, so clearly you can ignore that and just proceed with diagnosing the other codes. Just look 'em up in the service manual, turn to the indicated pages, and start methodically following the steps to drill down to what the problem is. Some of those codes may have subcodes you can read for more information, you'll find all that in the "book". -Chap
You're in it now, I moved your post here a while ago. The Gen 1 forum is a sub forum within the Gen 2 forum. It may not make sense, I agree, but it is what it is.
Toyota has a Technical Information Service (TIS) that you can 'rent' access to get copies of the shop manuals. Alternatively, you might look on Ebay for a used, paper set: Volume 1 has the diagnostic codes and fault isolation Volume 2 has the repair steps Wiring diagram helps address cable/connector issues There is an accident repair manual for the sheet metal Our NHW11, 2001-03, is a good Prius to learn on even though the technology is approaching 15 years old. BTW, the search function for code look-up works well here or in Google. GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson
