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I am in need of some advice.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by trimel, Sep 3, 2014.

  1. trimel

    trimel New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
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    When trying to drive my car out of the garage this weekend, it started backing up and then it stopped. It would also not do anything when I put it in drive. Next, the engine cut out. It would only stay on for a few seconds when starting it up again. It continued to do this. I had the car brought to my local mechanic who specializes in foreign cars. He called me today and said my car will not talk to the computer. He stated it must be the hybred battery. He told me I need to take it to a Toyota dealer. My question is how do you tell if this battery is truly out and there is not another problem? I do not want to invest money and find out that wasn't the problem.
     
    #1 trimel, Sep 3, 2014
  2. wa-chiss

    wa-chiss Member

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    His system might not be able to communicate with the hybrid system because it might not have that functionality. Not necessarily anything wrong with the car just his scan tool. Did any lights come on or any messages pop up on the MFD?
     
    #2 wa-chiss, Sep 3, 2014
  3. trimel

    trimel New Member

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    After this all happened, A big exclamation mark came up.
     
    #3 trimel, Sep 3, 2014
  4. wa-chiss

    wa-chiss Member

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    Ok. That's bad but also good. Bad that it's there but good because at least there's probably a code. Dumb question, but does it have fuel?
     
    #4 wa-chiss, Sep 3, 2014
  5. trimel

    trimel New Member

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    Yes it does a full tank. Why is it bad? I am an older nonmechanic type person. I have to get off the computer because we have a big storm going on out here. I will check your reply tomorrow. Thank you so much....any help...advise is appreciated!
     
    #5 trimel, Sep 3, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2014
  6. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    Red Triangle is the Master Warning Light. Comes on when there is a problem with the vehicle. Most of the time a code will be set. If you can't drive the car, have it towed to a Toyota dealer and request them to pull the codes for you. Then report back what the codes are. Also, do not disconnect the 12 volt battery as that will clear any stored codes. I would not be surprised if the codes you post indicate a bad traction battery. 2001 Prius is definitely past the lifetime of the car as per Toyota specifications.

    Also, I suspect your mechanic does not have a Prius aware scanner. I might be wrong, but I have that feeling. The Prius is kind of picky about which code scanners will work and which won't.

    Best of luck to you,
    Ron (dorunron)
     
    #6 dorunron, Sep 3, 2014
  7. wa-chiss

    wa-chiss Member

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    ^ what ron said. Most scanners read engine, abs, and srs mostly. There could be corresponding dtc's in both the ECM and hybrid system, but unless the scanner is designed to work with and talk to the hybrid system, you'd never know. Being a Toyota tech I get this all the time. I have the Techstream for most CEL's but I also have a plain jane code reader for simple things like gas caps and possible dtc's I could have set during diag. All it looks for is ECM, ABS, and SRS.

    Anywho, master warning light. It's bad because something is wrong. Just sympathizing with you. It's good because there's hard evidence of what is wrong.
     
    #7 wa-chiss, Sep 4, 2014
    dorunron likes this.
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