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warning lights on Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by DKG1011, Aug 31, 2024.

  1. DKG1011

    DKG1011 Junior Member

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    There's a 2009 Prius for sale. Owner states that is has had Hybrid battery replaced and catalatyc converter replaced. 288K miles. It has engine noise, and various warning lights. $1000. We have an 05 Prius, good engine, biggest drawback is no AC. Ours has 388K miles. Could potentially swap engines if the 09 is better. But with all the lights it seems 09 may have multiple issues. in particular can anyone tell me what the far right light means? Screenshot hopefully attached. Any other thoughts welcome. We need to decide if it is worth looking at. Thank you.
     

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    #1 DKG1011, Aug 31, 2024
  2. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    Although blurry, the far-right warning light looks to be the Maintenance Required lamp, which means it's time for an oil change. At 4500 miles from the last time it was reset, the lamp will blink several times when you start the car. At 5000 miles, it will stay solid to let you know you're due for an oil change. After the oil change, reset it, and it starts counting again. That is ALL it is used for on a Gen 2.

    It's also pretty likely, with all those other warning lights, that the brake actuator is failing. It would be very very wise to connect a good code reader (that means capable of reading hybrid system codes) to this car to get an accurate assessment of what you're getting into.
     
    #2 TMR-JWAP, Sep 1, 2024
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  3. fragglestickcar

    fragglestickcar Member

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    The far right MAINT REQD is merely a timer set by the dealership for oil changes. If the dealership sets it to "never", it's never an issue.
    The parts alone are worth more than 1000 (but not much more). If the engine turns over and the brakes work, the car could probably be made error-free in a matter of days. The catch is you have to read priuschat, not the most exciting reading.
     
    #3 fragglestickcar, Sep 1, 2024
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  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    The engine noise is the only thing that interests me in the business so far so you're going to move an '04 '05 engine into this 09 maybe make a video or a soundbite of the engine sitting there running and go from there usually this engine does very well in the cars that it's installed in It's the people operating the vehicle and not doing things that makes the engine start making noise.
     
    #4 Tombukt2, Sep 1, 2024
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  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    With all those lights on the dash and the far left is the b r a k e read all the time?
     
    #5 Tombukt2, Sep 1, 2024
  6. DKG1011

    DKG1011 Junior Member

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    We have a seven second video of car at start up I believe and it looks like the far left light of the 4 may have gone off briefly but it's hard to say from the video.
     
    #6 DKG1011, Sep 1, 2024
  7. DKG1011

    DKG1011 Junior Member

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    Now I am wondering if the supposed engine noise owner reports is the sound of a failing brake actuator. And also wondering if car would be safe to drive home 40ish miles. Owner said she didn't take it in for a diagnosis and instead just bought a different car.

    Also when I look up brake actuators it shows 2006-2009 as the years for it so am wondering if 2005 actuator would work on an 09? Also looks like a big job with an expensive part to do in the driveway.

    We have a code reader so would see what it said.
     
    #7 DKG1011, Sep 1, 2024
  8. MAX2

    MAX2 Member

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    Disconnect the 12V battery for a minute. Then reconnect 12V battery.
    This will help reset some errors. If they appear again, you will have to read the error codes using a scanner and OBDII

    Your check engine light is on.
    Your brake lights are on.
    It is risky to continue driving.
    You can ruin the engine or crash into road users with faulty brakes.
     
    #8 MAX2, Sep 2, 2024
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