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Master Warning Light Random Flash/Beep

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by mrchowmein, Aug 9, 2021.

  1. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    I was driving around yesterday and I heard at least once 2 beeps and the flashing of the Master Warning Light (orange triangle with an exclamation mark) without a message. I was in hybrid mode. My odometer is at about 19k miles. From the manual, a message should also flash on the MID to accompany the master warning light but there was no message. What are the possible causes? There hasn't been many posts regarding this with the Prime, but from what I've found, most likely a low oil? I plan to take the car in to the dealer for my 20k miles maintenance in a few months so I plan to ask them to check that, but what other possible root causes should I look for?
     
  2. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    You mention that you think it may be low oil. Perhaps it would be wise to check it right now, before you have the engine fail?
     
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  3. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    Yea, I'm going to check the oil when i have time today.
     
  4. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    You should have checked the oil immediately. It would be surprising that a 2020 Prime would be low on oil due to burning oil, but you might have a leak. If the Master Warning came on due to no oil pressure, that's an emergency almost as urgent as brake failure.

    If the oil level is OK, then you should be able to pursue other possibilities by reading the codes to see what's in the history.
     
  5. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    Thanks for the info. I will check the oil in an hour or two. I haven't had a car burn or leak oil with list low mileage. The last car I had oil issues was a 2002 Honda Civic but that thing had 245k miles on it.
     
  6. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    I just checked the motor oil. The oil level is fine. It was near full according to the dipstick. I guess I'll have the dealer pull codes when I go in for servicing.
     
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  7. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Good to know. Just didn't want a loose drain plug or something like that to wreck your engine.
     
  8. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    Thanks for the heads up. On a side note, the oil was also pretty clean. I rarely use HV mode. I drove about 1500 miles between fillup. Hopefully, it was a bug and nothing major.
     
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  9. PtPri

    PtPri Junior Member

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    With the low price of OBD connectors, I really think you should buy one and get ahead of the train before there is a wreck...
     
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  10. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    It's under warranty. Shouldn't cost anything but time.
     
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  11. PtPri

    PtPri Junior Member

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    I just said that, because the op said the service would be in a 'few months'...

    I know it could have just been a bug, but I'd perform a check with a simple OBD - if nothing else, for peace of mind...
     
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  12. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    I can take it in sooner if needed, im at 19k miles so im pretty close. I havnt heard the beep or the warning light for the last few days. From my forum/web searches, there are people who experienced this warning light but I don't think anything terrible resulted from it or the issue remained unsolved. I wouldnt be surprised if its a software bug.
     
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  13. PtPri

    PtPri Junior Member

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    Fingers crossed - and seeing the overall reliability, I think you're probably safe!
    :D:D
     
  14. mrchowmein

    mrchowmein Member

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    Its been 1.5 weeks and I have not seen the random beep with the master warning light reappear. Hopefully it was just a random bug. I plan to bring the car in for service next week and Ill ask the dealer to do a check.
     
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