Prius C hybrid system failure

^^^
Well, millions of cars have been recalled for "stalling" or unexpectedly "losing power" before and will continue to be. If the gas gauge is faulty/calibration is to cause the same thing when the driver is led to believe the still have sufficient gas, I'd consider it a report-worthy safety defect.

 

The C will always place a descriptive message on the multi-function display to accompany any use of the Master Warning Light. In this case it was likely the message which says:

CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM
STOP THE VEHICLE IN A
SAFE PLACE IMMEADIATELY

We don't have a system of filing safety complaints and we really don't have a NHTSA. We have the ATSB (equivalent to the US NTSB), but otherwise road safety just comes under our federal Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development and state-based organisations. Various organisations will collect statistics of incidents from law inforcement agencies, but not random reports from the public.

I don't think this would really be seen as a safety issue here, only a consumer one (if it was systemic and not resolved by Toyota, but it doesn't appear to be either of these things - sounds like they identified a faulty part and replaced it, which would make it a non-issue here).

Yep, easily a warranty issue. Toyota Australia's explicit warranty is 3 years/100,000km and 8 years/160,000km on the HV battery, however Australian Consumer Law may (or may not) provide for a longer statuatory warranty... the law changed three years ago and we won't find out until people start coming out of their written warranty periods and start trying to make ACL claims, but I would expect vehicles will be expected to last significantly longer than 3 years if the vehicle has a reasonable service history.

Ultimately as others have said, I'd rather run out of fuel in a Prius and have a chance to pull over under my own direction than have it happen in a regular car and just stall then and there.

 

Well a way to be safe Is if you get 50mpg and the tank hold 10 gallons you know something is wrong with the fuel guage if it doesn't show near empty at around 400 miles. Sorry I don't know how big the fuel tank is, but I think you guys get the idea.

 

I am having the same problem. But I don't lose power. Mine started after I had my car in the body shop. My back wiper wouldn't work and I couldn't open the hatch. The body shop evidentally cut a wire. Toyota replaced the complete wiring harness. Now the hybrid system failure, stop immediately safely message appears " My tank is full. Toyota ran a computer check and says everything is fine with the hybrid system. That if it continues to come on, they will have to charge me $100.00 an hour to investigate the problem. Excuse me, this is a 2013 with 15,000 miles on it! This is not MY problem. It's on like DONKEY KONG! Any suggestions?

 

Can somebody with a little more technical knowledge back me up on this? There is a cable that runs to the Hybrid battery that has an orange connector on it. The symptoms sound like the connector isn't latched. It might be clipped together, but not fully latched. If you don't find anyone to give you more information I'll hunt after lunch when I have more time.

 

Thanks, will check that out.

 

My last fill the DTE (Cruise= 1 mile) when I filled at that point I still had a gallon and a half left in the tank. That surprised me when it said one mile. I put in 8.1 gal on a 9.5 gal tank. I was already sitting at the gas station ready to fill and I looked up my stats on the display before fueling up. I will check again when I am down to one bar and see if it says one mile again. Should be 50+ miles to go.

 

The car gave you a minute warning before it broke down? I don't find that scary. At least you had time to stop safely
Alex

 

I just had this EXACT thing happen tonight! Mine is a 2013 Prius C. It just got an oil change yesterday and everything was listed as fine.

Today, I was driving about 65mph. I had 2 bars on the gas gauge. I had to pay $90 for a tow, and because it's saturday night, no one will be able to look at it until monday.

So... if you happen to catch this post, what did it end up costing to "fix"?

 

So... I had the same problem as the original poster. It was a bad fuel gauge sensor or something... basically, even though it was reading 2 bars (which is about 3 gallons, or 150 miles)... my car ran out of gas! Anyone else experience this?

 

check your 12v health.

 

aoa

i'm usman from Pakistan. i need your littlehelp, i have a 2014 PRIUS C (commonly called as AQUA) with 70K kms on ODO. problem is the car is showing check engine light along with the sign of a car with a ! mark on it. car is running on engine only. traction batteries are charging when brakes are applied but aren't coming into play. car does start on batteries but immediately shifts to engine. mileage is dropping as well.

i would be more than happy for any help in this regard. thanks!

 

Check the vent under the drivers side rear seat. Make sure it isn't blocked or clogged.