Gen 1 Questions/problem

I am new here as I just purchased a 2001 Prius. The car comes with problems that I hope to sort out with help from the forum. First, I have these indicators:
Triangle with !
Red car with ! over the "outside temp" area on the display
Check engine light.

The car runs and drives. I have tried turning on/off four times but nothing clears. On the first screen PS and main battery are lowlighted and only red car ! is on. If I press audio and back I can see the consumption pages, etc and the little graphics show charge, discharge, engine off, etc. The car engine does stop at stoplights and such as I expect. I have a gen II Prius as well so I understand how the car works.

I don't know how to make the display show codes so that may be the first tip I need other than going to a dealer or shop with the scanning....

I have checked the aux batt voltage and it is 12.48 so seems fine.

I have cleaned the throttle plate area and it seems clear/free.

The previous owner said the car was checked and the tech said it needs either the front or rear computer--not very specific. The main pack was fairly new according to them.

THe car has 180K. The air filter looks dirty and I will replace but running without it did not clear anything temporarily anyway.

Yesterday after a run of about 8 freeway miles to about 60mph and accumulating to 40mpg on the screen, when I arrived home I heard the battery fan and felt air at the vent outside.

Please let me know any other things to reset or try so I can get to the next step. I would like to avoid the dealer as I do my own work if I can.

Finally, the car came with only one keyfob and a valet key so I wonder if there is a cheap way to obtain another compatible keyfob and master key other than dealer ridiculous price? Thanks, Jeff

 

Okay, so I will figure on getting the codes next. Thanks for this info.

I tried charging the aux battery independant of the car. Then I disconnected it and reconnected. For a short while, the car had no errors but they soon came back. The check engine light went away for a long time but returned. One good news was that my mileage went from like 22mpg to around 35mpg for a in-town driving of about 9 miles. So I am making some progress. Jeff

 

Re: Gen 1 Questions/problem UPDATE

I solved the key problem. My key IS a master, but due to door damage/replacement in accident (?) the door and trunk cylinders do not match the ignition. I did not really want to spend much like over a hundred to solve getting an extra key for my wife's use as well as I wanted to open the doors and trunk with same key.

What I did was this: (Abomineering alert: If you like to see things done properly, avert your eyes)

The door and trunk cylinders were removed and because you don't need all of the little tumblers, I removed the few that would not "unlock". So basically, this is a way to cheat and get the door and trunk to open with the key I had.

Wife's key. Transponder keys are a pain. By the time you pay for them and programming, you can be in it fr $80-over$100! I am too cheap. So here's what I did. Down at Home Depot, they had matching "non-transponder keys" you can get made for a whopping $2. So I made two. The idea goes like this. The old key gets "mounted" near the ignition out of sight (you can even cut off the metal key part once you know the other keys are cut correctly). Then, the generic, $2 key can be used to enter the car and start it, etc. So far I like the $4 solution as I did not have to pay $80+...

Hope this helps others.

Door lock actuator: The driver's door actuator was DOA in my car. I performed an auto-topsy and found the little hobby-like motor that drives a worm gear was burnt right up. I looked hard to find a used one but decided that would be bad down-the-road since it will probably cook like the other one. So I opted for a new one. You can't get anything aftermarket so the best I could do is pay $105 for the part from Toyota through my favorite parts place.

Putting it in the door is a tedious process and not for the faint of heart. But when I was done, I was rewarded with factory performance. A note for those going to attempt this repair: Please disconnect the aux (12v) battery before doing anything inside the doors. There is a sensor that you can bump in there that lowers the window without warning and very quick. Be safe...

If you need help on how to get into the door, just ask...

Jeff K.

 

Re: Gen 1 Questions/problem UPDATE

Hi Bob, Here is the quick front door inner panel removal procedure for Gen 1:
1. Disconnect neg 12v battery terminal in trunk
2. Open door. On inner door, upper edge, you will see a little "keeper" device. This has a trick. inside the circular device you will see what looks to be a button. You will press this in. What it does is release the inner pressure such that the spread fingers will collapse and you can then pull this thing out. Its kind of like those drywall mounting plastic things...
3. In door upper tray by window switches, etc. by the armrest, at the bottom remove philips screw.
4. In the door handle well, open little door by prying open. Beneath, remove phillips screw.
5. The door panel will now come away but there are plug/pins along the bottom and front edge. Be careful not to destroy said keepers. The door handle well can get stuck as you pull the panel off. Just go slow and it will tell you what to do.

6. Remove panel out and angle towards rear
7. Remove electrical connector at door switch pod.
8. Inside the door there is plastic sheet held by black goo. Open that best you can. Life is easier if you remove the bottom access panel. It is held in by three bolts with phillips screw heads as well. This lets you find junk along the bottom of the door that fell in or lets you reach up to fix/extract window parts, door latch, etc.