Hi Guys, I went to get groceries yesterday and got the dreaded check hybrid system message. I'm at 140,000KM (87000Mi). The day before I had my winter tires installed, MVI and wheel alignment completed. It drove home just fine. Any list of suggestions would be helpful before I get it towed to the dealer. Thanks for the help! David
start with an inspection of the battery cooling fan and intake grille, and test the 12v battery health
Thanks for the reply. I took out the 12v battery and charged it up in my house for a while. Brought it to 13v. Installed and restarted with the same issue. I had a look at the cooling fan. Removed the panels on the drivers side rear seat and everything looks okay. But I'm not sure if something on the fan itself needs to be removed and inspected.
what your reading is a surface charge, only brand new fully charged battery would read 13v. test the battery after putting a load on it, but before restarting the car. morning is a good time. if the grille is unobstructed and the fan looks clean and works, you'll probably have to read the codes
you can also google the issue and look for hints here, it has been reported many times, might be other diy solutions.
Alright, so here is where we are. I replaced the 12V battery. It was overdue, so that is one possibility out of the way. I received my ODB2 reader today and used Torque Pro to try and read fault codes. Problem is there are no fault codes found. I am able to see all other aspects of system information. I got a screenshot of the hybrid cells and they all look balanced and at a reasonable level. I took the car for a couple of spins around the block and the hybrid cells are not charging as I had thought. The whole system is isolated. We've checked and tested all fuses under the hood and they seem good. I still have the "Check Hybrid System" error. I'm stumped right now. I figured I would see some ECU error codes and was really surprised that it was apparently clear. Here are some various screen shots. Do you guys have any ideas? Thank you again for any suggestions! David
If you want to check HV battery health, install Hybrid Assistant to your phone and there is HV Check function on that app. It gives quite nice graph how HV voltages drop and how big is the difference if you install also Hybrid Reporter software what uses Hybrid Assistant logs. EDIT: Like this
I ran it quickly but the battery is at 40%. Below what Hybrid Assistant recommended. The hybrid battery is not charging at all so the info I got may not be enough... I don't want to run the hybrid battery too low so I may be out of luck diagnosing this. I've attached the report.
Oh, if it does not charge at all then be carefully and dont run it too low. Right codes should be read with Toyotas Techstream software to get them all. Torque just cant read them and shows empty list. Take it to the dealer for the diagnosis?
Alright! So I got a call back saying the ABS system is not communicating with the car. So they are going to have to do some exploratory work on the wiring. It will be Monday before that happens. When I know more I'll post an update So for now the battery and other hybrid systems are good.
So the good news is they found the problem. Bad news is the price. It's the ABS Control Module. They said they can get a new one and do all the labour for $3800CAD or get a used one and the cost will be $1000CAD. The part itself used is $300CAD. But between labour and diagnostics it's gone to levels of ridiculous. For a car with on 140,000KM this puts a bad taste in my mouth. I used to own a civic and never had anything major go wrong with it in all the years I have driven it. This is the second major repair I've had to do on the C and it is still being paid for. My wife is now recommending just selling once it's fixed.
this is why i take a beating here warning of potentially high prius repair costs. it sounds alarmist until it happens to you. all the best!
This repair will likely cost more than my gas savings. It just seems over the top for something I would think is so simple.
