Having to start car with Emergency Start Function

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by talbritt2199, Dec 29, 2015.

  1. talbritt2199

    talbritt2199 Junior Member

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    I bought a 2012 Prius C this past summer used. I bought it from a used car dealership and recently i'm experiencing sporadic problems when trying to start the car. Once in awhile the car just won't start regularly and I have to use the Emergency Start Function to get the car to start. The car has a little over 38k miles on it and seems to be in good condition, the car was certified used. Any suggestions on what could be the problem, I would really rather try to repair the problem myself if it's something as simple as a blown fuse or a bad battery than take it to Toyota for them to tell me it's one of those items or something I could have fixed on my own. Some days the car will start right up, other days it'll take me multiple try's using the Emergency Start Function before it kicks on. I've also noticed a drop in my mpg lately but that could be just coincidence.
    Also on a side not my eco score has been acting up as well. It seems to reset to 0 when I come to a complete stop, the engine can be on but when I come to a complete stop at a light or stop sign it takes it to 0. It never did this before and I only recently started noticing it doing it.
    I appreciate any help or suggestions on what to look for on these issues. Other than these issues i'm extremely happy with my prius.
     
    #1 talbritt2199, Dec 29, 2015
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! perhaps you need to replace the fob battery? have you tried both fobs? by emergency start procedure, do you mean holding the fob up to the start button? if that isn't the problem, you may want to check your 12 volt. all the best!(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Dec 29, 2015
  3. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    I have a 2013 Prus C. What is emergency start?
     
    #3 Andyprius1, Dec 29, 2015
  4. Sean Nelson

    Sean Nelson Active Member

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    The higher end Prius C's use a "start" button instead of a key. It works from a "smart" fob that the car can sense whenever it's inside the vehicle, so the driver doesn't have to remove it from his pocket. But if the battery runs down then the car won't start - so you have to hold the fob up to the "start" button (it contains a passive security transponder like the standard Prius C key does to disable the immobilizer).

    People sometimes get confused a bit with this because the keyless start function requires a battery but the "emergency start" function doesn't. They think that if the "emergency start" works then the battery must be OK - but that's not necessarily the case.

    I agree with bisco that the obvious problem would be the fob battery dying, so the first thing to do is to replace the battery to see if that solves the problem.
     
    #4 Sean Nelson, Dec 29, 2015
    Mendel Leisk and Andyprius1 like this.
  5. talbritt2199

    talbritt2199 Junior Member

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    Five
    Thanks for your responses and good morning, i replaced the battery in the smart key thinking that could be the problem and it still has the intermittent problem. I haven't tried my extra key which i may because maybe some component in my primary key system isn't working properly. The "emergency start" is a starting procedure which bypasses the smart key system, you have to set the parking brake, put the car in accessory mode and then depress the brake and hold the power button for 15 seconds. I checked my fuses related to the hybrid system and the starter system and they were all good. I'm stumped on what could be the problem.
     
    #5 talbritt2199, Dec 30, 2015
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    never heard of that 'emergency start' before. maybe it is your 12 volt battery, as i mentioned in post #2.
    another random problem can be the brake light switch. press harder on the brake when pushing the power button. and have someone look to see if the brake lights are coming on.
     
    #6 bisco, Dec 30, 2015
  7. Sean Nelson

    Sean Nelson Active Member

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    A list of possible causes is listed in the manual a couple of pages before the emergency start procedure itself (at least this is true in the 2012 Prius C manual). For example, a steering lock mechanism failure is listed as a possible cause. I suspect that kind of thing might occur if you park on a grade with your wheels turned so that the wheels are trying to force the steering wheel to turn against the locking pawl. Any chance that this could be the cause?
     
    #7 Sean Nelson, Dec 30, 2015
  8. talbritt2199

    talbritt2199 Junior Member

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    Thank you for all the suggestions. I took out the 12v battery and took it to my local Toyota Dealer to see if they could do a test on it and the battery failed, it has about 10% left on it. Not sure if it will recharge or not, so just going to pick up a new one. The dealership wants $200 for the new battery, anyone know if this is standard cost for it or if I can find it somewhere cheaper possibly online.

    Thanks again for everyone's help.
     
    #8 talbritt2199, Jan 3, 2016
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thats the price for the oem. some dealers offer discount coupons if you can find them. other than that, there are non oem's available from auto parts places, or elearnaid.com
     
    #9 bisco, Jan 3, 2016
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