Red triangle of death with vsc and tpi. No check engine.

Thank you!

I went to the dealership and they said the entire unit needs to be replaced. They opened the hood and pointed to the electric stuff next to the engine. The one with the silver cover that says hybrid synergy or something. Dealership said that whole thing needs to be replaced. Is that where the transmission is or is that just the electric motor itself? I’m still averaging over 50 mpg so I find it hard to believe that the electric motor needs to be replaced, unless transmission is a part of it because of the hybrid setup.

 

The inverter has the silver cover. The transaxle (which contains the two motor generator units and needs to be replaced) is under the inverter. DTC P0A2B points to a fault with a motor temperature sensor within the transaxle. The repair philosophy is to replace the transaxle as the sensor is not separately available.

I suggest you have a used transaxle installed if you intend to keep the car.

 

Yes, I do intend to keep the car. The Toyota dealership quoted me at $7500 for this job on top of the $350 inspection fee. My 04 is barely worth 4K considering how old it is so there’s no way I’m willing to spend over $1000-1500. Junk yard transaxles are going for $100 for high mileage and about 400-500 for low mileage. I’ll get one of those and have my mechanic do the installation.

Thanks a lot for the help. This is my first time in a car forum and it’s an amazing resource.

 

1. What's the condition of your transmission fluid? Has it bring changed before?
2. If you have replaced it before, this problem points you to the transmission.
3. Is your inverter water pump too OK?

 

I have never changed transmission fluid before. I got the car 11 months ago. I don’t know the condition of my inverter water pump, but the dealership did say that I have a recall on a water pump. I’m not sure if it’s the same thing you’re talking about.

 

how many miles on her?

 

Just 112,000

 

Update: after putting about 50 miles with the lights on. My car wouldn’t accelerate anymore while driving at about 45 mph. I pulled into a plaza as the car was slowing down and now I’m waiting for a tow truck.

 

Try disconnecting the 12V battery to clear the fault code, to see if the car can be driven again. This is a temporary measure only.

 

I haven’t disconnected the battery but I did start it and tried to move it. The car is moving at about 1-3 mph and it’s shaking violently so I stopped. Does this sound like a transmission issue?

 

Yes

 

If you got a scan tool, rescanned it again for codes.
Any transmission codes now, means you got to be prepared to get the transmission replaced.