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2004 Prius STRANGE problems

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Priusart, Aug 16, 2009.

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  1. Priusart

    Priusart New Member

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    I replaced my 12v battery last Thursday; so far no change in problem status. I am giving myself this Saturday to locate the problem myself if I can't I will be taking it to Toyota next week.
     
    #21 Priusart, Aug 26, 2009
  2. Sandy

    Sandy Hippi Chick

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    I will wait a week and see if itwill happen again next week:(
     
    #22 Sandy, Aug 26, 2009
  3. grand total

    grand total Member

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    I'm surprised that nobody has commented on this, but that seems very high to me. I'd expect a resistance of perhaps a thousandth of that. In any case if you have replaced the fuse it is probably not that.
     
    #23 grand total, Aug 27, 2009
  4. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    That seems quite high to me. In normal use, it would slowly start heating up
     
    #24 jayman, Aug 28, 2009
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Well, the OP will have to tell us what is the resistance reading when the two multimeter leads are shorted together. The difference between 3.1 ohms and the new reading would be the resistance of the fuse...

    I would also expect that the resistance of the fuse itself should be 0.1 ohms.
     
    #25 Patrick Wong, Aug 28, 2009
  6. Priusart

    Priusart New Member

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    The ohm meter resets the 0 with the leads installed. I checked again and the reading is 3.1 ohms.
     
    #26 Priusart, Sep 1, 2009
  7. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Well, now: the problem may be a large voltage drop across this partly-blown fuse. Replace it and see what happens.
     
    #27 richard schumacher, Sep 1, 2009
  8. Priusart

    Priusart New Member

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    Both the spare and the DOME fuse had the same reading so I left it alone.

    I took the car to Toyota today!

    Problem solved; Toyota located s bad power wire in the harness from the fuse panel to the body ECU (2 hours of diagnosis fee @ $98/ hr). Rather than replace the entire harness they recommended running just the bad wire (3.5 hours $98/ hr). Everything is working again.

    Can't say I am totally happy, but it could have been much worse.

    Thanks for all your input.
     
    #28 Priusart, Sep 2, 2009
  9. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Thanks for the followup. Any ideas why that wire would have failed? Was the car ever in a collision?

    Long ago a rabbit ate $500 worth of harness in my 323.
     
    #29 richard schumacher, Sep 3, 2009
  10. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I can believe that it would take two hours to determine the wire was bad. However its hard to believe that the tech needs an additional 3.5 hours to run a replacement wire...
     
    #30 Patrick Wong, Sep 3, 2009
  11. Genoz World

    Genoz World ZEN-style living

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    richard - BAD RABBIT

    patrick - priusart should have brought the car to you.
     
    #31 Genoz World, Sep 3, 2009
  12. Sandy

    Sandy Hippi Chick

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    Since i replaced my battery, I have no longer had the problems come back
     
    #32 Sandy, Sep 4, 2009
  13. kkayser

    kkayser Junior Member

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    Sounds like a bad wire in the harness. Defect is probably intermittent.:mad:
     
    #33 kkayser, Sep 5, 2009
  14. Priusart

    Priusart New Member

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    [FONT=&quot]Problem solved; Toyota located s bad power wire in the harness from the fuse panel to the body ECU (2 hours of diagnosis fee @ $98/ hr). Rather than replace the entire harness they recommended running just the bad wire (3.5 hours $98/ hr). Everything is working again.[/FONT]

    A followup: the actual cost for the repair was $478 after i used 15% off local dealer coupon. Prior to the repair being completed I contacted Toyota on their customer service website. Toyota was great about getting back to me via email and then by phone (800-331-4331).After the repair the national service rep called to ask if I was satisfied with the repair. I told her I was disappointed that a wire should fail in the harness. With all the wires running around the car I would think the harnesses would be built to last the life of the car. I asked her if Toyota could help pay the cost of the repair (can't hurt to ask even though the warranty on the wiring harness is 2 years). After reviewing the repair with the local dealer and Toyota they agreed to send me a check for $240. I'm satisfied.

    PS: Thanks to the great advice from you folks, If I spent a little more time with my meter and was better at reading the wiring diagrams; I may have located and replaced the open wire. Hopefully there won't be a next time. I did buy my replacement 12v from http://www.elearnaid.com/12vo1topraub.html The installation went without a hitch [​IMG]
     
    #34 Priusart, Sep 12, 2009
  15. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    This is going to be IMHO the problem with not just the Prius, but all modern vehicles with CANBus, as the fleet ages.

    I've been in Industrial control long enough to have had suffered through dealing with old wiring, iffy control inputs, intermittent problems, etc
     
    #35 jayman, Sep 13, 2009
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