Hey guys, 2009 Prius base, about 162,000 miles, driving about 35 mph and the triangle of death, VSC and yellow brake lights come on. Drove normally until I got to work, shut down normally, just a display of idiot lights until shut down. After work I tried to start it and not just those lights but the lost traction light, hybrid system, and check engine lights were on as well, and the ICE didn't kick in - pretty much like when all the lights come on when you first start it but they don't all go out and the ICE doesn't crank. The car won't go into ready status. I tried shifting into gear and it would slip into neutral even though I was going for drive and reverse. I thought maybe the 12 volt battery because of the weird ways these cars can get when the 12v goes low so I tried to jump it and it still won't go. The battery on both my tester and the MFD showed 12.4 no load, and when I hit the button like I was going to start it the voltage dropped to 11.9 volts. Turning on the headlights while in this mode it dropped to about 11.6 volts. The battery is almost 6 years old but the voltages don't seem too awful. I would think even if it were the 12v battery it would have jumped anyway so I just don't know. The fact that it won't jump makes me think something besides the 12v battery is wrong. MPG's haven't dropped (50 ish MPG average), HV battery charging and depleting seem normal. I have no codes since the car won't start to get it to anyone with a reader. Anyone have a clue? Thanks in advance!
Well, I borrowed an OBDII scanner, pulled no codes and any info it had said everything was ok. Maybe not a great scanner and it wasn't up to the challenge, IDK. What I did do was disconnected the 12v battery for a few minutes hoping for a reset so it would crank and I could get it home from the parking lot at work. Good news is it did just that that. Bad news is I don't know exactly what caused it and when it'll trip again. When I got it home I looked in the reservoir for the inverter coolant and the pump was running, saw the ripples in it and all looked good there. I suppose it may be an intermittent thing? Maybe a simple man's wish but I wish not ALL the idiot lights lit up for EVERY malfunction...lol.
the pump is good or bad, no intermittent. i fear you will need tech stream. maybe try charging the 12v, if you don't want to buy a new one.
Well guys, bought a new 12v and installed it. She started and went ready but not long after the lights came back on. Sitting in the same boat only with a new 12v battery. Old 12v was pushing 11.8v so I figured it was a little weak and might be the problem but apparently that’s not the main issue. Starting to think the big battery?
You know you could have just charged it up, you didn't need to buy a new battery. Yes, while the 12 V battery is a (minor) problem, it is not the problem. To find the problem, you need to get a code reader that can read Prius codes. Yes, Techstream will do it as will some of the more modern (not so cheap) handheld testers available.
We have a 2014 PriusV. Something similar happened to us, last night while on vacation. Car would't start the engine and would't go into any gear except neutral. Towed to dealership. Evidently, the HV battery's switch got turned off when loading things into the storage area. That's the oval orange switch under the right rear shelf in the rear storage area. The dealers turn it off when working on the car, but it's not mentioned in the owner's Manuel. Be careful. That's high voltage! All the dealer did was push it to the right and now the car works! It turned off the traction light and the "P" with an arrow light.
A bad battery can produce some pretty strange electrical problems. If you think that you might have a bad battery, get a new battery before troubleshooting other problems. On various cars and a motorcycle, several times I thought I had other problems and a new battery made all my electrical problems go away. FYI, a good lead acid battery produces 2.2 volts per cell, which is 13.2 volts for six cells.
the switch is not visible unless you have removed the protective panels. that would be a no-no when not working on the car.
