Problem car

On the 2001 that is exactly the cause IMMOBILIZER. Had i had this info. long time ago i would have fixed this 01 already. I got so frustrated after bought another ECM on Ebay and still same thing not able to start i went to dealer and spoke to the same tech. that scanned the car last year. He gave me the info. to get the hv ecm communicates with the car. This is the fix
Now that i think about it those bolts lying inside the inverter when i bought the car did many damages to this car: inverter, transaxle, hv ecm, battery pack. I also had bad luck with LKQ sold to me two bad transaxle so i ended up with doing the work 6 times in and out for the transaxle

All along the car was fixed just need to reset the HV ECM so it would disable the immobilizer. :mod: A little info. went a long way. Thank you Patrick for confirming the ECM info. I did use the XXX60 after resetting it and it did work. The car did start and i was able to see MG1 MG2 reading and no more code on scanner.:cheer2: I am going to return the XXX40 i bought on Ebay. Seller listed return is allowable. I still have XXXX63 i am going to sell. The original XXXXX40 was indeed bad. Thank you Bob for the info. on the MG1,2 temperature reading. To those who doubted my ability to fix the car when i was so close i proved them wrong. My tenacity and determination did pay off As a matter of fact yesterday was a quick nice person day for me. I fixed both 01 and 03 in the same day. I had the 01 for 14 months already sitting in my garage monkeyed working, sweating, cussing with all those issues. I had the 03 for a few months with the intention to sell for a friend. The 03 ponked out on me just the day i listed the car for sale on Craiglist.

What fixed the 03 was putting some gas in tank (fuel indicator flashing), clean throttle body, putting another good battery in parallel with the small battery (i have a weak battery), bypass temporarily the brake fluid sensor (code on scanner).

I drove both cars for miles and no more dead triangle and engine light:cheer2::rockon: Now i can sell these suckers and start packing for the move to Florida. I bought a house paying cash in full last week. By the end of the year i should be out of California and stay out of Ca indefinitely. I am no longer a used car dealer and anyone thinks it is an easy and profitable business go ahead and be one. I know better after 4 years

I have few pictures for your enjoyment of my sweat and blood in the 01. Also trying to fix the Prius without info. and scanner is like walking in the dark forest with your eyes blindfold. However it is not difficult and scary at all if you have mechanic skill, a scanner and info. manual. I do not have any info. manual. I only subscribed to that useless All Data from A.Zone for the PRius and it already expired. What helped to fix was the scanner, this Prius forum, dealer tech and most importantly my belief and determination. I doubted that anyone did this many repairs than i did for the 01 for not being a full time professional mechanic.

I have not figured out closely yet but roughly by the time i sell the 01 i would have lost over $3000 I paid $5500 at dealer auction 8/08. Stupid me All those labors, times, stresses and losing money at the same time

 

You make it too complicate Bob, no need to chase CAN bus. Here is the info. that will benefit anyone that is fixing the 01-03 Prius. I don't know about the later model since i don't have one yet. I worry about it if i ever buy Prius again.

There are 4 major components for the hybrid portion:

1. transaxle which consists of motor, generator, starter and CVT (continuous variable transmission)

2. inverter

3. battery pack

4. hv ecm

A good scanner will pinpoint with surprisingly accuracy of the problem as Toyota engineers did a very good job of having problems detect and store on board computer for later retrieval diagnostic and repair. I use Autoenginuity scanner which i paid another additional $150 last year to have the Prius hybrid option add on. It was and is a worthwhile investment. It can read battery pack voltages and multitudes of other functions for the hybrid portion. In the 01 case it was the MG1 and MG2 temperature reading i was having problem. It turned out the MG2 value was not there coming out of the ECM. Bob pointed out from previous posting and i confirmed with the scanner.

If another replacement HV ECM is put in it has to be reset so that the immobilizer would not prevent the car from starting.

To do it jump pin 4 and 13 at the OBD2 connector, turn key to on and leave it on for 30 min. Pull the jumper out then restart the car and it should start.

You have no idea how happy i was yesterday fixing two dead Prius at the same time in particular the 01 sitting in my garage for 14 months sucking over $3000 for parts and a lot of my time and stress:rockon:

There you go i am done with the 01-03 Prius. Too bad just when i am getting very good fixing these cars i am not interested in them anymore

 

Yep i was and am crazy enough to do what i did by becoming a used car dealer and taking on saving the world by buying, promoting and selling hybrid, biodiese cars, trucks. I tried to do my part to help with the global warming. I also found out the world, perception and people habits barely moved. Eventually it will when gas price gets over $5. As of now i am still doing and driving biodiesel car but no hybrid. Eventually i will buy G2 Prius since i know that they are very similar to G1 so repair is no issue for me. I am going to invest in the G2 manual before i tacke the next job. In actuality i know how to fix gas, diesel and hybrid cars, trucks so that about covers all out there for now.

Garage in Fl to fix hybrid, heck no way i am done playing with the used car business. What a pain in the rear with no financial compensation. I will be doing short sale investing specialize in luxury home and there are ton of them in Fl. It isn't over yet with the housing crisis and i want to get my share.\

Check out my ride with biodiesel that i make that puts out 80% less dirty than diesel fuel. 100% used processed cooking oil for the Benz, yes sir and mame! I have been driving and making biodiesel for almost 2 years now. Who says it doesn't work

 

Thank you. I read your post and it sounds you are going to need to replace the transaxle. Heck i could do it with my eyes close as i recollected i did 6 jobs that means 12 times in and out. I had other Prius beside this 01 when i was a used car dealer that i had to fix the transaxle issue. I have 3 transaxles but not sure they are any good but i am sure some parts are still good and i doubt you are going to fix it with part. I tried to remove the mg2 and man it is heavy that motor

If you need help with removing the transaxle and trick to get the air out of the coolant quickly let me know. Thanks to this forum, Bob and Patrick they gave me idea and info. to get my 01 fixed. I was done basically at the time i cried for help just that no body at this forum and myself knowing about resetting the replacement ecm to finalize the repair. Live and learn and die

 

I couldn't disagree with you on that. I already figured it out that the G2 is similar to the G1 but i do know they are better and more reliable and the battery is half the size and weight and is LI ION. NO Prius for me for awhile. Eventually i will buy a used G2 and who knows i might pick one up dirt cheap with seller doesn't know squat about the hybrid and gets scared of with the repair bill. Heck if there is a battery issue i will take it apart and just replace the bad subpack only instead of the the whole thing. I am trying to buy an RC battery charger on Ebay so i can revive the weak cell individually in particular the one i just took apart. Too late now that i bought the whole battery pack but at least for my own knowledge.

I will start selling the good subpack on Ebay to recoup my expense in the 01. It is a loss already financially on that car.

 

Say Bob i hope i did not get you upset since you did not write anything back after i succeed fixing the 01, 03 Prius. Really your info. was valuable for me to fix the car and i can't thank you enough. You mentioned measure mg1,2 temp. with the scanner and that gave me an idea to do it on my scanner. I have many good capabilities of that scanner i did not fully exploited. It did turned out i did not have mg2 value coming out of the ecm.

The only thing was no body at this forum knows about resetting the replacement hv ecm so i chased my own tail for awhile until i went to the dealer few days ago.

Once again thank you for your valuable info. and no hard feeling between us. I will be off for awhile as i have no more Prius to fix and start packing for my move to Florida. That says i will try to help others on this forum as you and Patrick tried to help me.

 

Hmmm i couldn't have heard wrong that the G2 has Li Ion battery in it. Oh well i worry about it when the time comes. Fixing so many issues of G1 Prius i am no longer scared of these beasts:rockon:

By the way i listed this morning the 01 on Craiglist for $6427 and i had a doctor buyer this evening. It has not finalized yet but i do have $1000 deposit from him picking up the car next week providing he checks out the car with clean title, non salvage. I know title is good!

Turned out the car runs excellent very peppy and quiet even surprised myself. For that price i am selling i still lost money on this car paying way too much last year and thousand of dollars and labor time into it.

 

I thought wrong you were not upset at me, cool

Say if you want more pictures of the transaxle i have more to send.

I am not sure about "hanging a shingle" in Florida and NHW11, 20?? What are you talking about here?
I am out of the car business fixing or dealer. My brain will fully devote to real estate investing again and i want to make it big then retire this time and build my dream green eco friendly home.

I enjoy cars and very good at fixing, selling them but the business gave me so much grieves and not well financially compensated. I will do it for fun only not making a living. I have every intention to pick up G1 Prius dirt cheap with non mechanic owner getting scared with the repair bill and selling it cheap. I have many spare battery subpack to fix battery issue and other major issue is a piece of cake for me now.

Say the 01 ran excellent very peppy and quiet. I listed this morning and i had a doctor buyer in the evening same day. I had a deposit of $1k while waiting for him to check out the car with his buddy dmv. Even with a selling price of $6247 I still had a loss of thousand of dollars. Considering it is a tuition for me to Hybrid University Now i have the 03 I have to sell. I get to clean up my inventory for the move to Fl next month Dec. 09.