I purchased a Bluetooth ODB II scanner off of Amazon which had all positive reviews, plugged it into my 2013 Prius this AM and the car immediately started beeping with the "Check Hybrid System Stop The Vehicle In A Safe Place" error. The car is functioning just fine but I'm concerned.. Is this normal? Should I have not plugged it in while the engine was on? I want to see if I can clear the error but I'm afraid to plug the module in again... -Keith
that is odd, I keep mine plugged in all the time and never had any issues. If I was you I would get it checked just to make sure everything is alright
What is the scanner that you purchased? The engine needs to be on in order for the scanner to communicate with the vehicle ECU. I would try it again and see if you can clear the error. Since the alarm has already been set I do not see where it will hurt anything to try again. It may have been a total fluke. If you cannot clear the error code with the scanner there are a couple of ways to clear the error. One is to disconnect the negative terminal of the 12V battery in the rear. Another way of course is to take it to the dealer and have them clear it for a cost. I have plugged my ScanGaugeII in many times with the engine on and never had any errors. I leave mine plugged in all of the time with no errors.
It's more of an investment, but I would save up for a ScanGuage. At least in the short term, I'd cease and desist from using your $20 wonder, reset the code even if it meant disconnecting the the 12 volt battery in the rear. If you reset the code, do NOT use the new product and the code does NOT reappear, then at least you know that the codes appearance IS tied to the use of the OBD product you bought and NOT any other reason. You also learn something if the code returns. And then personally myself, I'm NOT plugging anything into my vehicle that is causing erroneous codes to pop up.
Very odd for this to happen. I would have tendency to blame it on the device. It doesn't seem like it's very sofistcated (kind words for "cheap". I would try to clear the codes by disconnecting the battery negative and see what happens. I would not plug that device back in under any circumstances.
I haven't seen where the battery is in the rear yet but ill try that tomorrow once I figure it out thanks!
It is in the rear cargo area. Look right behind the right rear tail light and you will see a small cover in the corner. The 12V battery is right below this cover. You will need to remove the deck cover and the plastic tray cover underneath to remove the battery cover.
I wouldn't have plugged it in while the car was in Ready Mode. I avoid hot swapping any electrical or data cable on any piece of computer equipment, the Prius, and pretty much any late model car, is highly dependent on computers and ECUs. Perhaps you can clear the error condition and then connect the scanner while the car is in a non powered state.
The error cleared itself after driving the car for a while; I did try plugging the ODB II scanner in when the car was turned off and when I turned the car on it would complain (beep) and refused to enter readymode. I'll try it on my other car just to see what happens..
Amazon has an excellent return policy. However, you purchased from a third party seller, so YMMV as far as returns goes. Edit: Also, if it turns out that the problem was caused by a defective unit and not by the overall design of the device itself, please edit or post an update to your comment on Amazon. As it stands now, your comment makes it sound like the device totally trashed your car's ECU/Hybrid System, which is not the case.
I have no way of knowing whether this is a defective unit or not, they don't offer exchanges on this product only refunds.. I'm not sure if I want to try another unit.. I might just go for a wifi-version if I can find an ipad/iphone app which will work with it.. Based on the other Amazon reviews of the product that I read, it seems there are two different versions of the product being sent.. one works perfectly, one causes the problem that I had. Unless I try another unit I won't know.. I'll give this one a shot on my Pathfinder and see how it behaves and report back here and update my Amazon review. -Keith
Another cheap ELM clone. I have a different one, but it caused problems with MIL and brake malfunction. Posted about it here on PC if you bother to search.
If I bother to search? I did plenty of searching and had tons of hits and read quite a few... So I did "bother" to search.
I don't have a Bluetooth OBDII unit but I have struck this problem once. I have two different units, Scanguage and Ultraguage connected through an OBDII splitter. One morning I accidentally bumped the splitter where irt was connected under the dash. A little while later I got the same message. At that stage I hadn't realised the OBDII might be invloved. I had the car towed to Toyota and the message disappeared when they disconnected my OBDII units to check the error codes. For a while I found the problem returned when I had both units connected. If I only connected one everything was OK. Long and short is that the OBDII units can occasionally cause this sort of false alarm.
Why do you think anyone would post a question on a message board after searching for an answer? Probably because they couldn't find one which applied to their question, don't you think?
My scan tool only need to be on acc mode to read, and taking the neg off the battery removes the check engine light, but does not remove the code from the system, it is still there until you clear it with the tool.
I know this is an old post but I just had the exact thing happen to me with a Bluetooth scanner from amazon. After your warning cleared itself, did it ever come back on or have any other issues.
