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Problems After Boosting Someone

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Joel Serre, Jan 3, 2018.

  1. Joel Serre

    Joel Serre New Member

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    Hey guys, Prius 2005 in need of your help. First a little bit of context. Since it's the time of year where cars won't start (Canadian winters, -35 Celsius, -31 fahrenheit for my American friends), someone stopped me and asked for a boost and I said yes. I knew about the boosting place under the hood and so I tried from there, nothing. so I proceeded to turn my car around and try directly from the battery. We plugged both batteries together waited a bit and then she ended up starting. Unplug everything ASAP and I get into my car. Uh-Oh I notice 4 new lights that are on but the car works fine. The VSC amber and the, I assume, amber brake light on my dash. On my navigation screen I have a red battery and a red car with an exclamation point in it. See pictures. But the car works fine, I contacted Toyota and they said the battery is a charger malfunction but I read approx.. 13.5-14V on the battery while the was on. That was about what I can check on my own. So after doing all that, I drove around to se if there was anything weird, nothing. I also unplugged the battery for around 10min just to see, but nothing there as well. Before I bring it in to get it checked by Toyota, is there anything I can do, maybe a master reset or something.


    Ps: The "caution, park mechanism is malfunctioning" has been there for at least a year. It showed up when the car was parked for around a month with the parking brake on. They the seized on, I assume it's because of that. But if you know anything else don't be shy. IMG_1537.jpg IMG_1538.jpg
     
    #1 Joel Serre, Jan 3, 2018
  2. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    I'm surprised you got the other person's car started! I tried that once with my Gen 2, and ran both cars' batteries flat. Seriously, it's possible you could have caused damage to your Prius's electrical system, please have it checked ASAP.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #2 pilotgrrl, Jan 3, 2018
  3. Joel Serre

    Joel Serre New Member

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    I don't know how you boosted, but I left the car running while boosting, if that's relevant.
     
    #3 Joel Serre, Jan 3, 2018
  4. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    What is relevant, is that Toyota warns against boosting another car with a Prius.
    The 12 v battery and inverter are not designed for those loads. You need to get the trouble codes read by a dealer. If you are fortunate, the 1ooA link to the battery blew and saved the inverter. Many times the inverter gets fried too.
     
    #4 Prodigyplace, Jan 3, 2018
    epoch_time and pilotgrrl like this.
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    start by checking the 12v, you might simply have drained it.
    put a volt meter on it after it has been off four 4 or 5 hours.
     
    #5 bisco, Jan 3, 2018
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  6. Kevin_Denver

    Kevin_Denver Active Member

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    2009 Prius
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    I would do two things: First, go to your local auto parts store and have the OBD codes read. Most places will do this for free. If you google the codes that come up with the word "Prius", you'll probably find solutions to your problem. Otherwise post them back here. You can also try disconnecting (for at least a minute) and reconnecting the negative terminal on your battery and see if the warning lights reappear. The Prius should not be used to jump other cars, so if you're lucky, you just blew a fuse or two. Might try checking the two main fuse boxes and see if anything is blown. I pray it's not the inverter, which is a few thousand dollar repair.
     
    #6 Kevin_Denver, Jan 3, 2018
  7. LEVE

    LEVE Member

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    Kevin, may I suggest that you invest in a Prius Aware Scanner that will give you the subcodes. There several to choose from such as:
    • ScanGuage II
    • Mini VCI
    • Denso Hand Held Toyota Tester II
    • ELM327 Bluetooth OBDII Scanner
    I have all four and like the HHTT II the best, but it's pricey at about $300 off eBay. The ScanGuage II was about $150; I bought mine at Autozone. The Mini VCI can be bought off eBay, but you need a laptop (running XP) to run it or good computer skills to get it to run on Win10 in a virtual box. The ELM327's are upwards of $3 to $20 on eBay, they work with Android Phones. I like these, but the ones I bought (the little blue ones..$3) worked on all the other cars, but not my Prius. Everything I read says to buy a more expensive one.

    Read up on these within the forum searching on Code Reader. In any case, you free yourself from the auto parts Stores and from the Dealers when you have one of these in your car or garage. It's nice to be able to better diagnose a vehicle and shut off codes when applicable.
     
    #7 LEVE, Jan 4, 2018
  8. Kevin_Denver

    Kevin_Denver Active Member

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    I have a Mini VCI and like it very much. I've used it to fix two different issues on my car. However for the OP that doesn't have a fancy code reader, getting the generic OBD codes is a start.
     
    #8 Kevin_Denver, Jan 4, 2018
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