1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

3 Warning Icons

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Oxygene, Aug 5, 2006.

  1. Oxygene

    Oxygene New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    52
    0
    0
    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    The following indicators came on while driving weekend errrands:
    Master Warning Light
    Malfunction Indicator Lamp

    and on the MFD:
    Hybrid System Warning Light

    Drove the vehicle home (not far, thankfully, approx one mile.) Vehicle appeared to operate normally. The dealership service dept. is closed 'til Monday morning. Gas tank full.

    Anyone have any idea what I may be experiencing? This looks potentially very bad.
     
    #1 Oxygene, Aug 5, 2006
  2. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    9,157
    3,562
    0
    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Nah. Loosen and retighten well the gas cap. If the car seems to run very differently or poorly, do not drive it. Otherwise be completely calm until your service shop visit. They are going to blow you off, I say this with at least 90% confidence..In Prius MIL lights are much more frequent than disasters.
     
    #2 tochatihu, Aug 6, 2006
  3. Oxygene

    Oxygene New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    52
    0
    0
    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Aug 6 2006, 02:17 AM) [snapback]298556[/snapback]</div>
    Thanks for response. I tried the gas cap thing - saw that on some other threads. Still displays the warning lights.

    Will call service dept. Monday morn. if they say it's OK to, will drive it in, if not, will have it towed.

    Again, thanks.
     
    #3 Oxygene, Aug 6, 2006
  4. jeromep

    jeromep Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2004
    827
    2
    0
    Location:
    Eastern Washington State
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxygene @ Aug 6 2006, 06:21 AM) [snapback]298588[/snapback]</div>
    If it is a loose gas cap that casued the initial lights to fire up, it will take at least 3 or more restarts of the car to clear the codes associated with the gas cap after it is retightened and corrected. However, if the problem is an intermittant issue which caused the lights to fire up, restarting the car 3 or more times will cause those lights to go out and the associated codes will be gone from the computer. Then the dealer will have no clue what happened. It will take about 5 minutes for the dealer to pull the codes off the car and determine if it is a gas cap issue, or if it is something else. If the car drives normally go ahead and drive it in to the dealer.

    If the dealer insists on a tow, and your car is an 04 or 05, you should have roadside assistance. Call that number and let Toyota roadside assistance pick up the tab on towing.

    If the dealer insists on a tow and the vehicle is an 06, you do not have roadside assistance. You should make sure that the dealer is going to pay for the tow or that your warranty will cover the tow.
     
    #4 jeromep, Aug 6, 2006
  5. Oxygene

    Oxygene New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    52
    0
    0
    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jeromep @ Aug 6 2006, 04:11 PM) [snapback]298707[/snapback]</div>
    I've tried at least six restarts; the lamps are still on.

    I'm beyond the 36,000 mile roadside assistance period.

    Will post the outcome. Appreciate the advice.
     
    #5 Oxygene, Aug 6, 2006
  6. Oxygene

    Oxygene New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    52
    0
    0
    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    Inverter coolant pump bad.

    Called service dept. 1st thing this morn. After I explained the symptoms, the Service Advisor recommended towing the vehicle in. Good call - I don't know how long one can drive without the inverter coolant pump, but I'm glad I didn't learn that the hard way.

    Approx two hours later, the Service Adviser reported that the codes indicated the bad pump. I didn't have the presence of mind to ask for the codes - I'll try to get them as I imagine some of the folks here would be interested.

    The repair is $287.00 The SA tells me that this part is not covered by the 10year/100k hybrid system warranty. I'm 600 miles past the 3 year/36K warranty.

    After some negotiation, they agreed to cover the repair under a "goodwill" warranty extention. I agreed to pick up the tow. The part is supposed to arrive Wednesday.

    They said they had never seen this part go bad before, and that this was also the 1st hybrid system warning light they had seen. It's a relatively small dealership.
     
    #6 Oxygene, Aug 7, 2006
  7. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2005
    9,810
    466
    0
    Location:
    MD
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    interesting... thanks for the update.

    not a common part to go bad, that's for sure. since you were barely out of the 3/36, i'm glad you negotiated. they usually are pretty good about that. let us know how it works out.
     
    #7 galaxee, Aug 7, 2006
  8. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2004
    9,157
    3,562
    0
    Location:
    Kunming Yunnan China
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    My hasty diagnosis is thus blown away In the future if people get the hybrid system MIL, we shall advise them to look at the inverter coolant reservoir and confirm that it is 'gurgling' as it should be.
     
    #8 tochatihu, Aug 8, 2006
  9. Oxygene

    Oxygene New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2004
    52
    0
    0
    Location:
    Lakeland, FL
    Follow-up:

    Repair was completed on Wednesday as promised. Spoke with the tech; he said this was the second inverter coolant pump failure he'd seen (not sure if he meant he'd actually seen a bad one or just had heard about one failing.)

    The dealership picked up the tow charge without any further action on my part. Good service at Toyota of Winter Haven, Winter Haven, FL.
     
    #9 Oxygene, Aug 12, 2006
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)