Won't go over 22 MPH and acceleration problems

Today, we got a flat tire, so went to put spare on. The jack bent when we jacket it up..so had to borrow jack from neighbor. Once we got the spare on, it made a funny noise..on the way home, it wouldn't drive over 22 MPH, and once we replaced the original tire (got a new one/fixed), the car started to accelerate and brake itself!! It was definitely not normal. And there was no resistance to the pedal or floor mat interference. I believe it was a computer problem? Anyways, when you hit the brake (cause it was going so fast) you could hear the engine strain as it groaned to a stop. Got the car home and in the garage for the night..That was work in itself, not driving it through the wall! Arranged to get the Prius towed to Toyota in the morning..see what they can do. It's intermittent when it does this, and very weird. Any suggestions/comments?

ALSO, it only did it in gas mode, NOT electric/battery mode!!

Btw, the spare tire also went flat while driving, with no holes, nails etc..was VERY weird.

 

Hey guys - Thanks for the reply..I am new to this, as that was my first post. First off, when I chose my "smiley face", I thought it was for my "profile picture", and not as an emoticon to my post - sorry about the misconception..I made this account so I can find out whats wrong with my Prius..Like I said, I'm new here..Ease up please..

Our first flat tire (on the stock tire) was caused by a nail. So I jacked the car up, and as the car went up, the jack started to bend to the right. As soon as I took it down, the jack re-gained its shape..thought this was very odd. I was parked in a garage, too, so the floor was even.

As soon as I put the spare on and took off the jack (borrowed a neighbors jack), I checked the spare tire pressure (was 60PSI as it said it should be on the tire). So I drove to work, checked it then, and it was doing fine. On the way home, the car started not letting me go over certain speeds. On the highway, it was 42..then once I got off and stopped, checked pressure (still 60 and full), I continued on..but this time, the car only let me go 22 MPH..for the rest of the way home, so I had to take back roads opposed to the interstate! The "slippery condition" yellow light flashed a few times, but none others..it then went off, and the conditions were DRY and CLEAR. I am puzzled.

Then, when I went out about 2 hours later (pickup the kids) about 2 minutes away, it did the same thing (22MPH) and then I heard a loud noise and the car started to rumble. So I pulled over (neighborhood still) and saw I had a flat..so I took it off (still had neighbors jack) and inspected it thoroughly and saw NO holes, nails, creases, tears, etc!! So I used the car pump to pump it up and it held. When I got home, used soapy water for 10 minutes all over and NO leaks, al all. Was VERY puzzled again!! Has anyone else ever had this happen? Am I missing something?

So I got home, and got my old tire plugged. Put it on the car, and called Toyota to complain about it only going 22MPH and that my jack seemed very 'cheap'. They said to drive the car for 10 minutes and use the TPMS reset button under the steering column to reset the system, and see what the results are. So I did just that..Drove it out and it seemed to work fine..but the second the gas engine kicked in, the car accelerator was like a paperweight (it was useless) as the car stopped accelerating around 18MPH, and just stayed there. Every time I tapped the brakes, they seemed to be strained, as you could feel the engine was still trying to maintain a speed of 22MPH, but I was stopping it. It felt like a car when you try to back up with the parking brake on, but opposite. So I put on my flashers and slammed the brake to the floor. The car slowly came to a stop (not TOO slow, but slower than normal). I could still hear the engine going and could feel it trying to take off. So i put it in neutral, and the engine was still 'racing'..I turned the car off. The second I turned it on, the engine was racing, but a couple seconds later, all noises stopped, and it seemed to be on battery mode. I was in the middle of a street, so couldn't just stay there..I put it in drive and began to drive. It was doing fine, until it switched over to the gas engine, where the car took off. It went WELL past 22MPH. The speed limit on the road I was on is 45, which it reached very shortly after passing the 22 mark. It felt like someone had the pedal to the floor - BUT, as me and my passengers saw, I had NO feet on either gas or brakes. I tapped (pumped) the brakes lightly, shifted to neutral, put on flashers, and came to a stop. When I shifted to neutral, I could still hear the engine racing loudly, as if someone was flooring the car, but the brakes worked fine in stopping me the rest of the way.

I got the car home by driving slowly the first half of the ride (main road I was on was about 2 minutes from my house), making sure to stay on electricity as long as I could..but as soon as it went into gas mode, I put it into neutral and let it coast as far possible as it could (on my street by this point) because people park on the side of the roads and didn't want to risk hitting anyone else's car..So once I got a couple houses down, I turned like I was pulling into a neighbors driveway, (it only made it up the bottom part about a foot in neutral), and I backed up and drove backwards (I figured out awhile back that when in reverse, 9 times out of 10, the car is in Electric/battery mode)( only a house away) to my driveway, where I backed it up the driveway and into the garage slowly..So called toyota back and they arranged to come tow it this morning..will let ya'll know how it goes in the shop and what the final results are.


Oh, and 'Seilerts', I was jacking where the Toyota Prius Owners Manual says to (not the big manual, but the little one I got on tire changing, oil changing, and light changing, and "Preventative Maintenance").

Let me know if anyone has any more questions/help/fixes to my problem that I can tell the dealer to look at while in there. Not trying to 'troll' anyone, just trying to make sure that my car is safe to drive and that my problem is known, in the case that someone else has this problem.

Thanks for the +'positive'+ feedback!

 

I know..the second I called the dealer and told them the problems, they were puzzled. They said the computer could be messed up..and when it fell off the jack, the tire was still on, and I checked everything out and it seemed to work fine. It wasn't till after work when it acted up. They said to pick it up tonight that its fixed, so I will let you know the results. Will also see if I can get them to give me some codes, because ya'll REALLY DO seem to know your Prius's, or 'prii', as they say Haha. Hopefully it is fixed, but knowing by their past, they wait till you get there to tell you the big ticket items that have to be replaced. Will update ya'll soon! Thanks for the feedbacks!

 

Yes..and once we got the stock tire back up and on the car, the light went away right away and didn't come on again.

 

Just got back from Toyota. Picked up the Prius.. Went ahead and got oil/filter change, tire rotation, cabin air filter replacement (dirtyyyyy), inspection, brake pad checkout (checked out fine), rotor checkout (checked out fine), alignment, and tire balances replaced.

They gave me the sheet with everything they did (cause the receptionist doesn't know what they did), so just read it. They replaced my accelerator pedal, and all components going to the engine..they said something in the works was getting kinked, and wasn't letting (something) it open and close (maybe throttle?)..so a whole new pedal assembly, along with a new stopper on the back, to reduce sticking (friction), and a reset of codes to normal codes (everything seemed to check out on their end, but did it just in case, because of all the weird problems we had with it braking and accelerating and not bing able to go over 22MPH.

It was all under warranty (the pedal and code part). Here is what the sheet says: PRIORITY TOYOTA GREENBRIER, New pedal and added pedal mod for Tundra, Matrix, Prius, Tacoma, Camry, and Highlander, 1262 W93
Claim Type: SC
53349 Complete C: Recall 901 c: gas pedal interference r: reshaped new gas pedal and added stopper, complete health check.

Underneath it says : recommended work upon next visit:
MISC MOTOR/GENERATOR SERVICE < - - - - - What is this?
PRIORITY FEUL INJECTION SERVICE < - - - - - ?
FEA FRONT END ALIGNMENT < - - - - - - - - - - Just had this done today..but I guess they do it every time??

They also attached they neat little colorful sheet with boxes and checkmarks called : VEHICLE COURTESY INSPECTION CHECKLIST
And everything got a green check mark. As of now car drives fine!! Will let you know along the way if it STAYS fine! Didn't have any 'near death experiences' again yet, which is very good.

Thanks for the replies!

 

When you really think about it, they DID only have the car for a day and a half. Don't you think something serious should be more cautious and take more time? Maybe call up headquarters and get an opinion and see what the source of the problem is? You would think they would show more effort. I bet if it was out of warranty and I was PAYING, they would hve done a better job, don't you think?

 

All of your points are very valid and true! I agree %100. They COULD have worked longer to find the source of the problem, and maybe document it for future reference, if other people start having the same problems..but they seem to have taken the 'easy' way out.

 

OH MY GOSH! I never ever in ever would I have thought of that! Is that why it only took me to 22mph? Because it was on the front and not the back? The only thing is I didn't has much time to change it..but I guess I ALWAYS have time to do something right, so I don't get these results again. Thank you SO MUCH for telling me this!