Hello, I have an 07 Prius that's been going great for me. About two weeks ago I get this strange error message about my P Lock mechanism and how I need to be parked on a flat surface with the parking brake fully engaged. The car wouldn't start, just a bunch of warning lights. Finally I replaced the 12v battery at the dealership. Here's the crazy part. Although they said they put in a brand new battery it still has the same problems. The car will start but it takes about 5 minutes of messing around with the ignition. Has anyone else had this issue?
Check your 12V battery after it has been sitting for a couple of hours and before starting. If it is below 12V you will need to charge it above 12V. If this is not the problem you will probably need to take it back to the dealer.
No and, I've never heard of it. My first instinct says its a bad connection on the 12V. If that's not the problem, my next guess would be the motor that drives the parking pawl or, the sensor that tells the position of the parking pawl. Did it work for the dealer?
Yeah that's what's so weird. I've had it at the dealer three times already. Yesterday when I picked it up it started fine for the valet guy. I went to put gas in it, started fine. Two hours later I leave for band practice, BAM, doesn't start right away and when it does I have the red triangle. The dealer says they aren't seeing anything wrong with the system. Everything checks out for them.
It still sounds like a 12V battery issue, especially with it working fine then two hours later you start having issues again. Have you added any non-OEM equipment to the car that may be causing a drain on the battery?
No non OEM equipment. It's totally stock. The only thing that I can think of that would be remotely related is I was hit in the rear bumper (driver side) but the impact was relatively minor. When I got the body work done they had to unhook and then rehook the main hybrid battery. The day I took it home I made a stop and then when I started it back again just about every single warning light came on. The car still started but the system when nuts. Took it back to the body shop and they fixed it and never had a problem since with any warning lights until now.
Check the connections to the 12V battery in the right rear corner of the car in the storage area, especially the negative connection to the chassis. It sounds like originally the body shop did not tighten these connections good, tightened them when you took it back and possibly now these connections have come loose again.
