Common 2G Problems, and What to Do About Them...

Help, dead Prius!

Hello, new to the forums, so my apologies if this sort of question has already been asked or answered.

I have a 2006 Prius with around 47k miles on it. We've had it for almost 4 years now with no problems. I was looking forward to having it paid off next year.

Yesterday, the car started acting funny. My wife ran some errands, but the car did not seem to fully shut down. It sounded like the engine was still running, and the car would not lock, even though she hit the power button. She finished her errands in about 15 minutes and came home - a pretty short trip. Once she got home, she found that the car would not fully turn off, nor would it fully turn on. The car would not go to "Ready" status, but the cabin lights (the speedometer indicators, the touch screen, and warning lights) all had power and worked as usual. When we tried to power off the car, the gear indicator light next to the speedometer continued flashing, the car continued beeping, and the touchscreen would stay on. If we got out of the car with the key inside, it would beep as usual when you leave the key in the car.

I read through the manual, did some web searches, and from what I could figure out, and I'm no car-guy, it sounded like the 12v battery needed to be charged. We tried to charge it, but there was no change, same semi-dead Prius. I called a tow truck to take us to the dealer which, luckily, is pretty close by our house. The tow got here, but now our problem was how to get the car in neutral. The driver tried charging it, no luck, and he even called the manufacturer to see what to do, and they said "the car might be too dead". The only option at that point was to drag the car onto the tow truck (dish soap was helpful to provide some lubricant for the tires). We got it loaded, took it to the dealer, and because it was late in the day, they said they'd have to take a look at it this morning to see if they could figure out what's going on.

And here we are, the dealer just called, and they are stumped. They said they've never seen anything like this. Great. They can't figure out how to even get it in their garage since it can't shift to neutral. They also say the battery is okay and that it has a charge, so now I'm totally confused and they say it'll be Monday before they can start to diagnose the problem.

Has anyone else experienced this issue or something similar? Any help or directions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Trav

 

The service dept called this morning, and it looks like a combination of a couple of things. The 12v battery needs to be replaced and a couple of fuses were blown (possibly when we tried to jump start the car), all of which caused the car's computer to go to failsafe mode. All in all, a few hundred bucks for the tow, battery, and labor. Should have it back this afternoon, and very happy I don't have a rather expensive paperweight to put in the driveway.

 

Problem: Car refuses to go into Cruise Control
Symptom(s): Drives normally, but engine seems to race when slowing down, the cruise control lever does not function.
Frequency: Sporadic, usually just long enough to forget last time it happened.
Solution: Put shifter in D, not B. There is no Cruise in B. I always forget this, as I never intentionally use B. (B is useful for descending slopes with over a 600 ft drop)

 

I am also curious about what this is.
Waiting to hear?
I have a feeling it's the ECU...

 

Dear Trobleshooting and Maintanance,I am having a problem with a noise coming from the engine compartment that sounds like a fan blade hitting the radiator or a timing chain rattling when my gas engine starts charging my aux 12v battery when my graph is only one bar purple(the graph on the screen inside my vehicle goes to three bars blue the to all blue then to all green when fully charged after a long ride).It does not do this at any other time.It has never done this before,I am wondering what it might be.With maintanance costs so high I must contact you for your opinion before I service my car at the repair facility.Can you help me?Also when the cold weather comes the noise gets worse,right now it is so annoying that its embarrassing.Also the car does not leak anything,although it may burn some oil but it does that.I have 100K on my odometer and it is a 2007 Prius.Can you help me diagnose this problem.Also my mecanic at the dealer which is going to charge me 85 and hour says it might be the transmition linking together with the engine when the generator fits in place to run the gas engine for charging.He states that it might be loose fittings or bolts or nuts that might be loose.Or the whole fitting will have to be replaced at about 1600.00 to 1800.00 a wap.Can you help me?Steve.

 

The molding in the roof gutters of my 2007 Prius bowed up in the heat. I shoved them back in their slots but I'm wondering whether there's some kind of glue I should use to make sure this doesn't happen again.

 

Help! I have a 2006 Prius. My FOB keys no longer unlock my doors when I walk up to my car. When I push the lock, unlock, and panic buttons on the remote, also nothing happens.When I press the start button, nothing happens, so I have to put my key into the slot to start my car. What could be wrong with my keys? I've already checked the button underneath the steering wheel and I'm all good there. Do I just need a new battery? The strange thing is is that I have two sets of keys, and both went down at the same time....please help me. It's 20 below with the wind chill here and I hate having to fumble with my keys! Thank you!!!! -katie

 

I would replace the battery in the key fob.

 

Problem: No speed/fuel/odometer display (more likely when cold). Adjoining symptoms: Car will not shut off without 3 second power button press, Rear hatch may not unlatch, Nav malfunction.

Solution: As Patrick stated, the Combination Meter board must be replaced or repaired. I can repair these now and have a 100% success rate, so this is a cheaper alternative if your car is out of warranty. See [this] post for more information. If your car is under warranty they will cover it, and there is a TSB, See [here].

 

My 12v is about nine weeks shy of six years. Have never trickle charged but I used to drive one hour each way to work for the first three years (and btw could get 60 mpg over a full tank of gas), and usually drive for 1 1/2 hours each way every other week or so. I hardly ever run the accessories without the engine on, and have noticed no dimming of lights, etc. I now keep a jump box in the car just in case, though.

 

Two problems that I have had with winter driving. I live in Albany NY, and we get snow and sometimes very cold weather. I have gotten stuck twice in 6-8 inches of snow (never have had that in past with a non-RWD vehicle) because the Prius has less room under the transaxle than most vehicles. However, that provides better aeurodynamics and better gas mileage; not a fatal defect, imho. The other is an annoyance: in very cold weather, single digits Farenheit, the shift lever will not stay in drive but shifts to neutral. I simply hold it down and wait for the passenger compartment to warm up a bit, about eight to ten minutes, then it will stay in drive.

 

"Car loses power. Master warning light (red triangle) appears. Brake and VSC lights may appear."

Similar issue yesterday with my 2006 w/ 119k miles, but car didn't lose power, thankfully as I was on the beltway around DC during rush hour and it was about 95 degrees...Master warning, Brake and VSC all came on, but the car drives normally with no other obvious symptoms. When I got it home and it had a chance to cool down, it starts normally and only the Master light is lit, comes on immediately on starting the car.
Still possibly the inverter cooling pump, even though there is no loss of power?

 

Dealer says the error code generated was some sort of hybrid battery failure, but they were able to reset it and it's working OK now. If it comes back, $3,300 for a new battery, YIKES! At least the last time the battery failed it was under warranty. First failure at 80k, now the 2nd is acting up at 120k. Time to trade this dog in before it takes back all of the savings I've racked up over the past 5 years.
TDI, here I come!!

 

Enjoy those $80 oil changes.

Take a close look at your paperwork. Did they list the trouble code, such as P3000, P0A80, P0A93? Did they perform the inverter cooling pump recall? Don't believe for a moment that the person at the counter knows a damned thing about the Prius or that they would be truthful with you even if they did. If it had been a hybrid battery problem, the car would NOT have had normal power.

 

They hadn't noted the specific code, so I took it back to have the code pulled, and to do the electric hybrid water pump replacement. Codes pulled from the previous visit were PA0F, P3000 and B2799.

 

I have been stuck once but that was in 12". I made it through 6-8" and more the same day before hitting the 12". Maybe your winter tires need upgrading.
Might want to have the shifter thing checked. Never had that problem and -10F to -20F is NOT uncommon here.

 

Are you kidding? People are SO oblivious, I get that when the gas engine IS running.

 

I hate to be picky, but PA0F is not a valid code. Was is P0A0F or P0A7F perhaps?

I do have to wonder as well if this was a consequence of an inverter cooling pump failure. Often times, the pump will fail and drain the 12V battery, which can both erase the overheating code (P0A93) and cause many spurious codes to appear. For example, B2799 is an immobilizer ECU failure, basically a loss of communication between the immobilizer and HV ECU (not HV battery ECU). That code should NEVER happen in the course of normal operation. I'm surprised the dealer didn't try to talk you into a new HV battery, a new HV battery ECU, and a new HV ECU!

If you have further problems, try replacing your 12V battery before throwing in the towel.