Yesterday when leaving for work, my girlfriend said her check engine light was on. When I arrived last night, I went to go check it out at the parts store, but no lights were on and the car drove normally. Today, she called me and said that there was a black fluid behind the wheel and a clear fluid under the car. She did not touch either or smell either due to time constraints. I know that's not going off of much, but anyone have ideas to spur until I can get over there to check it out? I'm guessing the clear is just water, as it snowed yesterday and it could be that it just drained on the garage floor from somewhere.
"Already an issue" yet it's an 05? Man, talk about high expectations! Gonna' need a lot more info and background or we'll just be giving you WAG's. For instance in the recent past, we've seen folks report low tire pressure and cruise controls lights as "engine warnings".
Ummm..I didn't mean the age, I simply meant that we have had it for a week and something went wrong. I'm used to driving cars that are 15 years old or so, so a 2005 is a new car to us. Also, I was asking if anyone had helpful ideas, not negative criticism. I haven't seen the issues yet, so that's why I understood I wasn't going off of much. Hell, it may just be nasty water from the weather that leaked off the car over night.
Not being critical viz, but if someone hasn't read you other post then they're not going to know that she's only had it a week. It would have been worthwhile including that info in the post. About the problem. Any time the engine light comes the most important things to watch out for is lack of oil or lack of cooling (engine or inverter) as either of these condition could case serious damage even if you just drive it "a bit". So the very first thing would be to check the dip stick. The "black stuff" may be engine oil. Also check the fan belt is operational and that the coolant is full for both the inverter and engine. Do a search here and you'll also find a simple procedure for checking if the inverter coolant pump (electrical) is operating by looking for turbulence in the coolant reservoir. BTW. Be very careful when looking under the hood because if the car is in ready mode the engine could start up any time without warning! Of course you normally shouldn't be doing anything under the hood with the car in ready mode but to check if the inverter coolant pump is running you need it in ready - so be careful.
Hmm, black stuff behind the wheel? Dirty water from melting snow/salt? Clear fluid? Melted snow? Note that in warmer times clear water will drain from the A/C condenser. There are different "check engine lights" in a Prius. You may see the triangle with the "!" in it when you start the car (light check). If that is on you do have a problem, though sometimes it can be esoteric. For example, if you are stopped and in "D" and open a door you will get it. So I would have to conclude that if it goes out there is really no problem. But more info. please!
My first thought on the "Check Engine" light was that it's time for an oil change. And yeah, without a touch and taste test, the "black liquid" could be dirty water. Unfortunately, right now there's not much for us to go one.
VJC........Hi and welcome.:welcome: I have owned my first 2004 prius for only 3 months and it had 121000 miles on it. I like you have more experience with older cars and certanly not any hybrids. It does not act or operate like normal cars and that made me a bit nervous about noises and lights and such. I only think about the negative rumors when I think there's a problem. I would definetly have the car checked by a toyota hybrid tech. if you bought the car privately or call the dealer it was purchased since its only been a week. If you work on your own cars don't be intimidated, I'm sure you will soon understand everything about the hybrid to care for it on your own. This is a great site with a wealth of info on these cars. So educate yourself and like myself I'm sure you'll enjoy it. These cars are technological marvels.:rockon:
I recently purchased a 2005 Prius with 30K miles. Within 5000 miles of use the check engine light would appear and then go out. I tried checking with a scangauge but it would not reads the codes. If your check engine light has come on there will be a code stored even if the light has gone out. I took mine to Autozone and got the correct code. Took the car to a Toyota dealer and they replaced the Inverter Coolant pump. My extended warranty covered the repairs.
What was the code? Were you confusing the service engine light that comes one when you "need" and oil change?
Why did they replace that pump? From reading up here, that code is generally for the valve on the thermos coolant storage tank, not the coolant pump. There's a TSB for it... which is great if you're under warranty, which those of us being used 04/05's no longer are.
