Yesterday morning I started my 2004 prius like normal except that when I went to accelerate away from the curb i noticed a slight bump and suddenly saw different warning indicators: red triangle with exclamation point in the middle, the check engine symbol and light, and the ((!)) light came on and stayed on throughout driving which was normal except that acceleration seemed sluggish and seemed to plateau regardless of how much i engaged the accelerator. I have not noticed this since then however the warning indicators still illuminate. My cruise control no longer functions and strangest of all air flows out of the rear seat A/C vent on the right hand side of the passenger seat even when the climate unit is switched off. Also, it seems as if the electric engine doesn't engage at all, that is it seems to be being recharged ok but doesn't contribute any to the driving. any idea what's going on??
Are you saying that you had this episode, but upon a restart you have normal behavior except that the warning lights are still there? Please have someone read the diagnostic codes and report back. Many parts shops will do this for you, like Autozone, O'Reilly etc. They may not be able to tell you the specific meaning of each one but we can. The vent that you are referring to is the battery fan intake I believe. That's actually NOT a good sign. It sounds like there was a battery fault and the battery computer opened the system main relays and turned the fan to high, leaving you with engine power only.
Yes, and I would say that it's sucking air through that vent rather than blowing. Often when you place your hand near a vent you detect air movement but it can be surprising difficult the tell whether it's blowing or sucking from a casual observation. It is of course normal for that vent to suck air, but given that the OP is just now noticing it then I'd say that it's suddenly started to run a lot faster than before. Unfortunately this may indicate that the traction battery is faulty, something that also fits the pattern of driveability symptoms reported. Hi Cyberdharma, did you notice any unusual activity in the SOC (state of charge) display during the time you had driveabilty issues. BTW, I'm referring to the 8 bar red-blue-green graph that shows the charge level in the traction battery.
Good point! Use a multimeter to check, or self diagnostic voltage check. Also disassemble around battery vent area ( that is for HV cooling ) That area may be clogged with debris or your fan failed! DO NOT drive anymore, you can ruin your HV Battery. Consider replacement of 12V. :cheer2:
Do you own a dog and importantly do you carry it in the car often? If you do then in addition to checking the above comments you might also want to have the HV battery fan checked. Apparantly they can become clogged with dog hair/fur which reduces the airflow to the HV battery causing it to overheat leading to eventual failure.
(!!!) really? I've got two very hairy / shed-a-licious doggies that I haul around everywhere. Hadn't thought of this. Should I fit a filter on the intake? Haven't had the dogs in the car more than 300 miles in the three weeks we've had it. sorry for the thread hijack. Hope it's not your traction battery.
Here is a thread on the dog fur problem: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-fur-dirt-causing-major-battery-problems.html I was too lazy to fit a filter inside the vent grill as the OP did and just taped one outside.
Yeah the battery fan is pretty prone to getting clogged. Fortunately it's not too difficult to clean so I think I'll just make a clean up part of my annual maintenance.
The link above only shows how to fit a dust/fur trap. How does one check and clean the battery fan? Do you have to open up the battery compartment? If so, how safe is it to do that? Or am I better to just fit the dust trap to stop future clogging?
No GC, you don't need to open up the battery compartment or go near anything HV. You just remove the panels from the right rear of the hatch and it exposes the fan and the ducts. The ducts just clip off and then you can remove the fan very easily for cleaning. It's a bit of fiddling around the first time you do it but next time I think it will take only about 40 minutes. I took a bunch of photos when I did mine. I might do a "how to" thread when I get the time. But for now here's a picture of where the fan is and what it looks like with the panels removed.
I posted some related pictures here: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ng/71909-diary-wimpy-diyer-2.html#post1141954 and here: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ng/71909-diary-wimpy-diyer-2.html#post1141598 Mostly panel removal and the ducts. Hobbit may have something on his site too.
