2012 PIP 15,000 miles when hybrid warning light came on

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by lbhbsherman, Jan 8, 2014.

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  1. lbhbsherman

    lbhbsherman Junior Member

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    Warning light came on and am wondering if there are others who have had this happen. Had the 15000 mile service just 300 miles ago, car has been in garage for 6 days without use, weather outside in single digits, but garage is 45 degrees. Waiting for tow to dealer.
     
    #1 lbhbsherman, Jan 8, 2014
  2. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    I want to hear about this unfortunately incident.
     
    #2 mrbigh, Jan 8, 2014
  3. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    That sounds like lack of use and cold weather has caused your 12V battery to discharge. Charge the 12V battery and try it again and I bet you will have no more problems.
     
    #3 usnavystgc, Jan 8, 2014
    HaroldW likes this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sorry to hear it, let us know what codes they pull. i think someone had an inverter early on.
     
    #4 bisco, Jan 8, 2014
  5. lbhbsherman

    lbhbsherman Junior Member

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    Still waiting to hear back from the Toyota service guy (mix-up in their service schedule kept car waiting for an extra day). He did hint that it could be the battery, but needed his specialized techie to look at it. Should I be surprised if they say it is the battery, with only 15,000 miles on it?

    One extra point, when we did start the car to get it out of the garage to put it on the tow truck the warning light still came on, the gas engine turned on, drove it outside, and it had huge smell of gasoline. Never had a gas odor before. I will definitely ask for the Error Code, but will that tell me anything?
     
    #5 lbhbsherman, Jan 10, 2014
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would be surprised, but anomolies do happen. any chance you overfilled the gas tank and flooded the carbon canister?
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 10, 2014
  7. lbhbsherman

    lbhbsherman Junior Member

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    Well, service guy just called back and said it is running fine and they have no clue what is going on. They plan to keep the car for a few days and keep looking.

    Answer to BISCO, no we didn't overfill gas tank, but coincidently the service guy asked if we might have gotten a bad gas fill. He didn't give me a direct answer to the Error Code question, but i'm guessing there is a relationship.
     
    #7 lbhbsherman, Jan 10, 2014
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    was the car all charged up when this happened? and did you drive it out of the garage? what warning lite was it?
     
    #8 bisco, Jan 10, 2014
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    To my knowledge we have no known failure of the Li batt in a PiP... I am thinking they may be better about not having the sudden death we see in the NiMH batteries...I am not sure though.
     
    #9 wjtracy, Jan 10, 2014
  10. lbhbsherman

    lbhbsherman Junior Member

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    Yes, car had been fully charged overnight. In the morning turned the car on and the lights came on - the hybrid warning alert was most obvious but there were a bunch of other lights on the right of console. First thought was to drive it out of the garage and see if things went off which they did not. Turned off car for a few minutes and then back on. Lights still there, back to garage, called ToyotaCare. So far they know nothing. Thankful there are many of you who are being helpful.
     
    #10 lbhbsherman, Jan 11, 2014
  11. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    when your talking to the service tech do you point out when your talking and he is talking abou the battery your both talking about the 12 volt and not the HV one? or plugin in your case.

    also when it starts the ICE with the warnig signals it can be running in a limp mode.
    where it will burn maybe more then your used to and thats the smell?

    the service guy now charged the 12 vbolt batter? or let the car run for a while and every day is driving it? so maybe does not yet see the 12 volt battery failing?
     
    #11 Flying White Dutchman, Jan 11, 2014
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if he started it, and drove out of the garage and the ice fired up, how can it be the 12v?
     
    #12 bisco, Jan 11, 2014
  13. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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    a low bad 12volt you can still start it
    the 12 volt is not used for starter battery

    "the gas engine turned on, drove it outside"
     
    #13 Flying White Dutchman, Jan 11, 2014
  14. Feri

    Feri Active Member

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    I was playing with adjusting headlights last night. This morning I had the gibberish panel and car woudln't go into ready mode. Then switched of tried again and car went into ready mode. Scangauge was telling me 9.9 volts. sometimes the car will start with low battery.

    Bench tested the battery with the multimeter and it read 12 volts. I.e. that's with nothing attached.
     
    #14 Feri, Jan 12, 2014
  15. OzPrius

    OzPrius Junior Member

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    Shouldnt a 12V battery be at 13+?
     
    #15 OzPrius, Jan 12, 2014
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    does anyone have an idea what warning lite the o/p might have seen?
     
    #16 bisco, Jan 12, 2014
  17. lbhbsherman

    lbhbsherman Junior Member

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    Update - Service called to say they still have no clue after 2 more days of testing, other than to suggest it might have been a bad tank of gas. Batteries all fine and not drained. Only thought was that we traveled over the holidays and got gas in a new location and then had the car sit in the garage for 6 days with no use. Picking up the car now and working to get the gas tank back to the "normal" gas.

    Thanks for all suggestions. Let's hope this is the end of it.
     
    #17 lbhbsherman, Jan 13, 2014
  18. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    I still think the most likely cause was a weak 12V battery. I'm glad to hear it was nothing (but not surprised). Good luck with the car. I'm so jealous of you. I wish I could have a PIP but they don't even sell them here.
     
    #18 usnavystgc, Jan 13, 2014
  19. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    all the best!(y)
     
    #19 bisco, Jan 13, 2014
  20. lbhbsherman

    lbhbsherman Junior Member

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    The battery tested just fine, according to the service manager. I thought I saw 14V on the diagnostic reporting sheet (which they didn't offer to give me).
     
    #20 lbhbsherman, Jan 14, 2014
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