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DASH Error Lights Exclamation w/Triangle, VSC, and small Exclamation - Car runs great?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SamM, Apr 4, 2014.

  1. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    Hello Everyone,
    I have an 04 Prius that recently had the HV battery rebuilt with replacement of a couple of cells.
    It now is showing dash lights of Red Triangle, Small Exclamation, and VSC.
    Error codes are coming up on techstream v9 as
    P3000 curr
    P0A84 hist
    C1310 curr
    C1311 curr
    (all 4 of the above have asterixes by them )
    B1421 curr (no asterix)

    The car is running perfectly and seems to be fine.
    Any suggestions or comments?
    There are no dealers anywhere nearby that I trust.
    Thanks!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    did they correctly balance the cells after replacing them?
     
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    DTC P0A84 means that the traction battery cooling fan voltage is lower than it should be.
    DTC P3000 is reported by the hybrid vehicle ECU and indicates the traction battery ECU has a problem
    DTC C1310 is reported by the skid control ECU and indicates a communication problem with the hybrid vehicle ECU
    DTC C1311 is reported by the skid control ECU and indicates a problem with ABS Relay #1

    1. Check your 12V battery voltage and replace the battery if it is marginal. Marginal means anything below 12.4V when the car is IG-OFF, after the car has rested overnight. If the battery is less than four years old, first try fully-charging it before replacement.
    2. If the battery is good, check ABS Relay #1 and replace as needed. The relay can be found in the main relay/fuse box next to the inverter, behind the driver's headlight. Remove the relay and apply 12VDC to the coil terminals. Measure resistance across the switched terminals, should be 0.5 ohm or less using a digital multimeter.
    3. Once you have correct battery voltage, hopefully the communications and other issues will go away.
     
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  4. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    Thank you ! I have a friend with a second prius that works fine. I have been cannibalizing parts off his to help diagnose this. In fact, I replaced the entire HV battery and the 12V battery with the batteries from the 'good' prius and this did not fix the problem so those components are not the culprits. The HV battery was carefully balanced (by me) before installation and it's now working fine in my friend's car.
    I will swap out that relay and post the results here!
     
  5. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    Thanks for the advice Patrick, and I'll test the relay with the multimeter and also swap it out.
     
  6. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    Well, I replaced all the ABS relays with the relays from another 'good' prius that has no error codes and it made no difference! :(
    So the HV battery was replaced, the 12V battery was replaced, and the ABS relays were replaced. Still no luck so far.
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Prior to the traction battery failing, were any warning lights on having to do with the brake system or VSC?

    What tool do you use to retrieve the DTC, and did you clear the DTC after swapping the ABS relay 1 and the 12V battery?

    What codes are logged after the parts were swapped?

    Does DTC C1311 still remain now? If yes, the next step would be to replace the skid control ECU but this is not minor since the dashboard (including passenger airbag) and the steering column (which includes the steering wheel and driver airbag) have to be removed for access. That DTC has only three fault possibilities: ABS relay 1, skid control ECU, or the associated wiring harness.

    You may want to access techinfo.toyota.com to see the troubleshooting tree associated with C1311 and do the suggested testing before going to the trouble of replacing the skid control ECU, since that will take a substantial effort.
     
  8. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    The HV Battery, 12V Battery, all ABS relays were swapped with confirmed working ones.
    The DTCs were all cleared using a Mini VCI scan tool. The dash error lights remained off for approx 10 miles then came back on (this is the same pattern as happens if the 12V battery is disconnected for a time - the dash lights go off but return after approx 10 miles).
    The error codes are now P3000, P0A84, C1310
    Car run fine and gets over 50mpg.
    I really hope to avoid replacing the skid control ECU. They are only $50 used but a major hassle to get to! Plus I'd hate to go through that hassle unless it's absolutely the ECU that is the problem.
    Thanks for your help with this!
     
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Let's ignore C1310 for the moment, and talk about P0A84. Since you swapped the traction battery, I assume this also included a swap of the traction battery ECU which resides within the traction battery case. The following are the suspect items:
    BATT FAN fuse
    Battery blower relay No. 1
    Battery blower assembly
    Quarter vent duct (battery blower motor controller)

    P3000 is logged by the hybrid vehicle ECU and means the traction battery ECU has a problem. If P0A84 is addressed, P3000 might go away.

    Which car has the original ABS relays from the Prius that logged C1311? Has that code disappeared now?
     
  10. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    UPDATE- I replaced:

    The battery cooling fan blower assembly
    The quarter vent duct with the sensor
    The blower relay
    The brake capacitor next to the 12v battery

    With parts from a good Prius. That seems to have fixed it. No errors for over 100 miles. The weird thing is that I put the 'bad' parts back into the other Prius and it is also working fine with no error codes. Perhaps a loose connection. I almost made the mistake of replacing the skid control ecu. I'm glad I posted here first.
    Thanks For the advice Patrick!
     
  11. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    The car that had the c1311 error had all 4 abs relays replaced from the donor car. Now neither car has any error codes.
     
  12. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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  13. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    But other parts were also replaced, as described above
     
  14. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    Yes definitely
     
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Well, you have a very trusting friend who will allow you to substitute all of those parts. I hope you have done something special for that individual.

    I am glad to hear that the multiple parts substitution resulted in two correctly running Prius, it does seem like there were some dirty electrical connections that were cleaned via the substitution.
     
  16. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    If you have a Techstream what does the Hybrid Battery Delta look like?
     
  17. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    I'm going to have to look up what the delta is and how to check it!
     
  18. SamM

    SamM Junior Member

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    Well Darn! I spoke too soon! After 102 miles of uneventful driving, the dash error lights lit up again and the car threw error codes P3000 and P0A84 again. How weird is that!?
    I am so lucky to have a buddy who lets me 'borrow' parts from his car to swap out, but this getting ridiculous!
     
  19. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Any damage or corrosion to the wiring harness associated with the battery cooling fan and the other related parts?
     
  20. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    P3000 & 84 is classic Hybrid Battery death. You have a soft module in there. Check the delta.