Gen II dead -- please help me diagnose the issue

UPDATE: I now have 3 codes from the mechanic. all feedback on these greatly appreciated. they are:
P2103
P2112
P3000 (no sub-code provided, I'm going to ask tomorrow)

ok, please read on...

Hello,
My 2004 with 139,000 mi died today in the middle of the road. Hoping it's not the hybrid battery, obviously. Any and all suggestions appreciated.

Here's the short version:
approaching a light, hit the gas, no response. car coasted to the light.
check engine light came on.
after stopped at the red light, car "locked up" - ignition light turned amber, car would not go into drive. then the "!" light came on, and several other lights (sorry I don't know which ones, this is being relayed to me by my wife. I asked whether the whole dashboard lit up and she said it was more like 4 or 5 lights, not the whole dash. really wish I knew which ones but I don't).
hoping that the car had somehow simply gone into IG-ON, she attempted to get it out of IG-ON, turning the car off and then on again - this appeared to get it out of IG-ON but it refused to go into drive. had it towed to a shop that works on Toyotas. was reluctant to bring to a dealer as I don't trust them and don't want to be sold a new hybrid battery unless that's what it really needs. but want to be sure these guys don't charge me for something extraneous if it really is the hybrid batt.

2 other things:
-a couple weeks ago the display started acting weird. message appeared: "check air conditioner connection"; when in radio mode it simply says the radio is off, even when it isn't (can still be controlled manually); power consumption mode shows full bars or no bars i.e. doesn't show true consumption/production.
-last week the car failed to start and I pulled out the 12v battery, turns out it was from '07 (I bought car used last yr) so I assumed the 12v had died and this was responsible for the display malfunctions. I replaced 12v battery with new Optima yellow top. car started instantly and has started fine since then - but display issues have remained.

I am not well versed in Prius tech so when responding please use layman's terminology when possible.

thank you in advance for any thoughts.
-Jordan

 

thanks. can you tell me how I would check whether the portion of the inverter that charges the 12V battery is bad?
yes the car had gas. no I did not check the 12V voltage using diagnostic mode, wish I had.

will post whatever codes the shop gives me, they said they may not get to it til late today or early tomorrow.

 

OK heard back from the shop.
here are the three codes:
P2103: Throttle Actuator Control Motor Circuit High.
P2112: Throttle actuator Control System Stuck Closed.
P3000: Battery ECU reporting error.

For P2103: from another thread I see that this means "the throttle control motor is drawing excessive current". googling I found that a possible cause could be: "Throttle Control Motor Relay poor electrical connection." so it sounds like either there's a bad connection or it's getting too much current?

For P2112: can't find anything on priuschat. carobdcode.com says possible causes include:
- Throttle Body Plate Binding
- Faulty Throttle Actuator
- Throttle Actuator harness is open or shorted
- Throttle Actuator circuit poor electrical connection

For P3000: Mechanic described this as essentially a "battery control system malfunction". seems that there are sub-codes for this, which he didn't give me. Seems like it could be any number of things. Hopefully not a serious issue with the HV battery?

So I've got 2 issues with the throttle actuator. This is beyond my auto expertise (changing the 12V battery was pushing it for me)... The mechanic didn't get to take a close look today other than getting the codes. But he's talking about ordering and installing a replacement throttle body assembly. He says he'll look further into the issue and contact me before he does this. I'm wondering if this is absolutely necessary. I suggested we deal with the battery control system malfunction first to see if whatever's causing that is what caused the car to die (?). Then it seems that cleaning the throttle plate and airway would be next step before replacing anything... does this sound right?

Any thoughts / suggestions appreciated! thank you.

 

thanks - I just put in a new Optima yellow top less than 2 weeks ago when the 12V died. So if there's an issue with the battery control system, it's not the 12V battery itself.

 

thanks for both responses. this was a southern car (TX / FL / NC) til we moved north last month and it was very cold here last night and the wife is bad at warming up the car before she drives it... not sure if this may have played into what happened.

I will indeed ask them to check that the new Optima is fully charged, to service the throttle body, and go from there.

Thank you for the layman's explanation of the functioning of the throttle body, that actually helped quite a bit in terms of visualizing what should be happening. If someone can further explain what "remove 12 volt power and reboot the car as its in fail safe shut down" would entail, that would be very helpful.

thanks again to all.

​

 

gotcha, thanks. well I accidentally did that just last week when I replaced the 12V battery -- lost all the codes etc. but I don't see how that would address the issue I'm having at the moment?

 

OK, understood. thanks again, this is all very helpful and greatly appreciated. I will be back tomorrow with an update...

 

so the mechanic cleaned the throttle body, and then got the car started today - they tell me it'll idle but won't accelerate, and therefore it needs a new throttle body. so, does that sound right - that if the throttle body were cleaned it might allow it to idle but not accelerate?

he tells me it's still giving the same codes, including the P3000, which concerns me - but if the car is running, should that alleviate my concern regarding the HV battery? It was unclear to me if they did a re-boot or not, and if not I assume that would also explain the same codes. he said they don't have the sub-code, maybe they wouldn't be able to access b/c they're not a toyota dealer? or should they be able to read the sub-code regardless?

so now I'm looking at buying a used OEM throttle body online, with a 1 yr warranty, and have him drop it in. all advice appreciated.
thanks

 

thanks for the advice. they told me that the throttle body is shot and I decided to have them put in a new (used) one. it'll cost $350 for the part plus the labor. I could have had it towed to my house and attempted to clean it myself just to see if they're wrong, but I don't have the time or the energy to deal with that. Hopefully when they put in the new throttle body the codes clear (fingers crossed).

one thing that was interesting is we asked them repeatedly to disconnect power to the 12V to attempt to re-boot, to see if this changed the codes we were getting, and they strongly advised against it, talking about erasing the memory or some such. I personally changed out the 12V battery 2 weeks ago and failed to do any sort of memory back-up so I don't see what type of memory could be further erased at this point, beyond what I already did?

one question: can anyone advise me what I should expect -- what would be fair -- in terms of hours for the labor to replace the throttle body? I'd like to have at least some idea if they're trying to rip me off on labor.

thanks again to all