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Anyone else had problems in the past with the ICE not shutting down?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by kalome, Jul 6, 2012.

  1. kalome

    kalome Member

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    I went in for my 5k Maint. @ Riverview Toyota in Mesa. I told them that my car sometimes when I accelerate a knocking or rattling sound comes from underneath the hood. I asked them to check it.
    I told him it sounded exactly like an older car I had many years ago which was the result of bad gas or too low octane.
    With my older car I added higher octane gas (89) and the sound went away.
    I had a 2011 Prius before and never had this problem and I get gas at the same gas station for years.

    So the mechanic test drove my car and said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. So i'm stuck with the annoying rattling/knocking noise when I accelerate (which happens about half the time), but now I'm experiencing another problem.
    A couple days later I drove to get dinner. One way it is about 7 miles. Almost the whole way the ICE would not turn off.
    I would be at stop light, wouldn't turn off. I pulse and glided, when I glided the ICE remained on. Take my foot off the gas at slow speeds, ICE still on.
    Finally towards the last 1 or 2 miles it started going into EV when i let the foot off the gas.
    On the way back it ran normal.
    It's been close to a week now since I brought it in for service and I only had trouble one other time.

    Any other people out there ever had problems with the ICE turning off? Today it was running normal with no problems but I'm afraid that I might have more problems in future.

    Btw side note - kind of annoying - The mechanic must of been sitting in the car for a while with the air on, when I dropped off my car the battery was near full and with 100 miles, so far i was getting 57.4 mpg. I picked it up, battery was depleted all the way to 2 bars and I had 53.9 mpg.
     
    #1 kalome, Jul 6, 2012
  2. Lordkifar

    Lordkifar Junior Member

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    Never had that issue. Once the ICE warms up, it shuts off, however or the first mile or so, it will kick in I am assuming so all fluids warm up to temp and then the EV/ICE function as normal with the ICE coming on when accelerating beyond the centerline on display or at low EV.
     
    #2 Lordkifar, Jul 6, 2012
  3. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Did you by chance have it in B mode? That will cause the engine to run at a stop.
     
    #3 spiderman, Jul 6, 2012
  4. kalome

    kalome Member

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    No. I have never used the B mode and was in "drive" both times this happened.
     
    #4 kalome, Jul 6, 2012
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    where were the battery levels on the drive when the ice would not shut down.
     
    #5 bisco, Jul 6, 2012
  6. kalome

    kalome Member

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    Over half. Maybe one or two over half. It has been working fine since it happened the second time.
    It has only happened those two times and it just happened to be after I took it to Toyota for my 5k maint (maybe coincidence).
    I'm hoping I will not run into any more problems. If I do i'll take it down to Toyota.
     
    #6 kalome, Jul 6, 2012
  7. Azfalconfixer

    Azfalconfixer Junior Member

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    My ICE won't shut off if the outside temps are over about 105 and the car has been setting outside for awhile. It takes about 10 miles or so with the AC cranked to cool the battery then EV starts working again. I asked my service guy about it and he said he's heard a few people say the same thing here in the Phoenix area.
     
    #7 Azfalconfixer, Jul 6, 2012
  8. kalome

    kalome Member

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    "It takes 10 miles".

    That doesn't sound right, at least in my experience with 2 Prii driving in two Phoenix, AZ summers.
    Thanks for your input though.
    It hasn't really happened except those 2 times. I guess I won't worry about.

    I see you are in Peoria. I was in North Peoria for 4th of July, around Happy Valley Road. It is almost an hour drive from where I live. Have friends that was staying there a few nights.
     
    #8 kalome, Jul 6, 2012
  9. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Kalome,
    I noticed lately that my 2012 prius won't go into EV mode as easy as it used to. If the batteries were charged up and I was on a flat surface, all I had to do was back off the gas and it would go into EV mode. Now sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It hasn't effected my gas mileage though. It has been hot lately around here so maybe that has something to do with it ? I thought it may have to do with the AC on, but I drove without the AC on and it still does
    it (sometimes).
     
    #9 our1vue, Jul 7, 2012
  10. cagboulder

    cagboulder Junior Member

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    gosh I must be dumb/newbie, but what is "ICE"? I might be having the same problem, so I'm interested
     
    #10 cagboulder, Jul 13, 2012
  11. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    (internal combustion) engine
     
    #11 SageBrush, Jul 13, 2012
  12. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    My guess would be that your HV battery was hot and the car decided NOT to use it at all. So it will not stop ICE to keep it safe. I am guessing again, but a combination of SOC and temp reading the car computer MAY decide that the HV battery is NOT usable.

    I have noticed that I am unable to turn on EV (some message comes up) and then still go totally EV in the other mode and ICE will not come up for the short distance I intended EV in the first place .... so the car cpu is very very conservative and most likely biased to preserve HV battery at all cost (makes sense on the long term)

    The above just pure specualtion on my part.
     
    #12 szgabor, Jul 15, 2012
  13. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

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    I think the folks who have identified high HV battery temps as the culprit here
    are on the right track. In the Gen II this is true, and I would expect this HV
    battery protection feature to carry over to the Gen III.

    The only way to cool the HV battery is to get air, the cooler the better, moving
    through the passenger cabin and the the HV battery. This suggests using the Air
    Conditioning. But the AC runs off HV power, ususlly the HV battery... but the
    battery is not available. So, IIRC, the power comes directly from one of the
    Motor/Generators, MG, by way of the Power Split Device, PSD. (This would be
    verifiable by high RPMs -- by ear or ScanGuage -- lets say 2500 or so, when
    stopped.) Of course power from the ICE diverted to a MG is power not available
    to move the car. To have AC under these conditions the ICE has to run when
    the car is stopped.

    FWIW, there is another way to "force" air into the HV battery; cross flow
    ventilation. Typically this involves leaving the drivers window and rear seat
    passenger side windows open 2-3 inches. To cool the HV battery you wouldn't
    opent the rear seat window. For this method to be effective you do have to be
    moving in excess of 20 MPH I'd guess.

    Noboby has spoken to it, but when drawing on the HV battery is prohibited,
    in my Gen II experience, acceleration from a stop/low speed is very limited.
    There are two reasons; normally the HSD mixes ICE and electrical power for
    slow speed acceleration. And then, if AC is being used to cool the HV battery,
    ICE power is being diverted to run it. This can cause real problems for folks
    that drive quickly from a parking place to a high speed interstate.
     
    #13 Rokeby, Jul 15, 2012
    szgabor likes this.
  14. szgabor

    szgabor Active Member

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    In simple terms, I think your description is the MOST likely scenario .. I am thinking on very similar path but no way to actually give hard facts ... I can monitor all those you mentioned but still just a deduction on my part that something like this is what is happening ...

    That is why I suggested something very similar ... it would be of course better if toyota or someone with inside knowledge would confirm ... but still a very reasonable explanation none on the less.
     
    #14 szgabor, Jul 15, 2012
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