Hi everyone! I was driving my car this evening, highway speeds for about half an hour, and I dropped down to 50 for 5 minutes and my car gave me the red triangle of death. I immediately pulled over and shut it off. I checked the oil and coolant and everything looked fine. I tried to connect my torque app, but it was being finicky and would only read a few things. Coolant was 185 and that was about it. It was 11 pm and I was 2 miles from home, so I drove it home and shut it off. I restarted the torque app and car and the triangle was gone. Coolant was still around 185 and voltage was 13.9. Is there any way to find what caused the red triangle other than to take it to the dealership? There's no check engine light. My left rear speed sensor sometimes has problems, so maybe that was it? I'm not sure what to do next and would appreciate some guidance. Thanks! Car info: 2007 prius with 214k, engine has about 70k.
i suppose it could be the first sign of a bad battery, hopefully a code is stored. swing by auto zone and see what their reader shows. also, have them test the 12v. if no luck you'll need the mini vci as sfo recommends above, to a dealer. all the best!
I don't think a wheel speed sensor would ever light up the RTD. That's usually a "fatal" problem with the hybrid system, or as bisco noted, a bad 12 V battery can cause all sorts of errors. Check the "resting" voltage, which should be about 12.4 V. Have you noted any signs of hybrid battery problems--fluctuating charge level, cooling fan (rear seat grille) noise? Another simple test is checking for flow in the inverter reservoir--push power button twice, foot off brake, open reservoir and look in with a flashlight, and listen for an aquarium pump hum.
The voltage on the battery is 12.1. It's an Optima Yellow top and I replaced it just a few months ago, January I think. I hadn't noticed any symptoms of a bad battery. I took it for a ride up a long pass and into the mountains a few days ago and it still had two bars, which is the same it had a year ago. The aquarium pump sound was there and I could see coolant moving when pressing start without my foot on the brakes. However, that reminded me that sometimes after I park and the pump system does it's thing, it makes a louder noise than my husband's prius. Not super loud and it's done that for the year and a half I've owned it. Thanks for the info and advice. Hopefully I'll be able to get this figured out soon. I did read on the internet that sometimes the torque app causes problems and will give the red triangle. However, it was just in an article and not on priuschat. I did a search here and never saw anyone post about it. Could that maybe be the problem? I had it running but it wasn't communicating very well, like it wouldn't display most of the information. As far as the techstream goes, it's seems it's illegal? Maybe? I read that people use a specific computer for it for fear of viruses. I'm not sure that's the best option for me. Thanks again everyone for the suggestions.
Since you are still interested in what caused the red triangle, go to any autoparts chain that offers the use of a scanner for free (as Bisco said above) or go to the dealer and have the vehicle checked/scanned.. either way be sure to have all the codes written down for sharing.
How are you measuring that 12.1 volts, with a digital voltmeter, with the car off? That's pretty low.
The noise after you turn the car off is the engine coolant heat recovery system, not the inverter pump. Some squeal a little louder than others, which could be cavitation. That might be solved with bleeding the system, but it's not applicable to your current problem at all. The copy of Techstream sounds like it's pirated, but you don't get a subscription which is probably the real value. There are no manuals, very little in the way of menus, obviously no support or updates. It's not very robust, either, running off an old laptop, but when you can figure it out and get it to work, it sure is a nice tool. I agree, get a voltage reading with some load on the 12V battery in ACC mode.
My bought new 07 launched a RTD on me today. First cel ever seen on my car. I thought oh no it's the hybrid battery but the RTD only came on for second. That's the sign of a dead 12 volt battery but my well cared for monthly maintenance charges optima is only 3 years old. Hooked up techstream and got a C2318 Low volt power supply That's the 12 alright. Next page diagnostics in ignition reports 7.3 volts on the aux battery. Lol. So looks like my not that old optima took a dump on me. On the charger now. Probably has a bad cell. Disappointed. Will let it sit on charger overnight and load test it in the am. But not looking good, So yeah s#it happens.
I found the charge by pressing start without my foot on the brakes, then doing the hold down the display button and turning the headlights off and on 3 times. I'll call and see if the local auto parts store carries a scanner that will read things. They're usually not good about even reading a check engine light. :-(
What happens to the voltage when you push the start button another time while in that test mode? That will add fan, headlights, power windows, etc. And you're right about free scans. They don't read the hundreds of Prius-specific codes, not to mention INF codes. And one time they even gave me the wrong number off the scanner. Definitely worth every cent I paid for it.
