Where to get error codes read? Red Triangle, (!), check engine

welcome!
how many miles on her?
test the 12v even though it is new.

might be a bad combo meter

if you don't want to buy tech stream and an old compatible lap top, dealer is your only option.
there are some phone apps that work pretty well, you can find threads here .

 

Disconnect the 12V battery for a few minutes, then reconnect. The point of that is to allow all ECUs to reset. Maybe the car can be started.

If you have a multimeter, read the voltage on the 12V battery. If you don’t, turn on the headlights and see how bright they are. Maybe the battery needs to be charged although it is relatively new.

 

I noticed your gas gauge is showing one dot. Is it a blinking one dot? If so, but you're confident you have more fuel than that, it's a very good indication you have an intermittent connection at the 12v battery, or a battery state of charge issue.

The fuel level always defaults to,one blinking dot after loss of 12v power. It will calibrate itself and return to normal.Sometimes 15 minutes, sometimes significantly longer.

 

This is what happened to me last month with the lights, message, and everything. The remedy was EXTREMELY SIMPLE and only took ONE STEP.

Did you follow the instructions on the screen????

What I did was depress the parking brake all the way down into the floor mat per the message (yes, it really is that simple), the cars computer resets, and the DTCs go away. Drive as normal.

 

is the parking brake the regular brake or the emergency brake?

 

IIRC it is referring to the emergency brake (the one with the small lever in the leftmost area of the footwell). It only makes sense because if the computer detects and issue with the parking pawl, it cannot be sure that the car will not roll away. Thus, the emergency brake would need to be applied.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

It's the one with the pedal that ratchets down and locks, so it can hold the car in one place when it's parked and you're not in it to hold the pedal down.

It doesn't make a great emergency brake really; too easy to lose control trying to brake a moving car with a ratcheting-pedal parking brake, unless you have the presence-of-mind-under-pressure to double-press it right at first so the ratchet's off. If it was the only way to not fall in the river, yeah, I guess I'd use it....

While it's fun that toymo's issue seemed to go away, in connection with applying the parking brake, that's really just how it worked out in that case. It doesn't mean applying the parking brake 'resets' something, or fixes the P lock problem.

The reason the MFD message tells you to apply the parking brake, when the transmission P lock isn't working, is to keep your car from rolling away, since without the P lock working, nothing else is going to do that.

A very common reason for a P lock error to be logged is aux battery voltage too low to work the P lock motor. "4.8-8.3 volts" definitely qualifies as too low. Take care of that problem and any P lock issues will probably be solved.

-Chap

 

but its a brand new 12v

 

Aaaack! I spoke carelessly and violated my own rule!

... when the transmission control ECU complains about low voltage, it's complaining about low voltage at the transmission control ECU ... which could be very much about wiring, connectors, or other sources of voltage drop, and not an automatic guilty verdict for the battery. Has to be tracked down.

But didn't Syl say 4.8 to 8.3 volts were measured at the battery? Again, even that doesn't necessarily mean the battery's the ultimate culprit. Maybe it's not getting charged. But that's easy to test. Is it 13.8 or so back there when the car is READY?

Either way, the battery will be happier with some charge pumped back in....

-Chap

 

I completely forgot to mention the fact that prior to experiencing the OPs symptoms, the drivers-side door was open for over 3 days which left a few lights on and inevitably drained my 12v aux battery. When discovered on the 3rd day, I had to crawl into the trunk and access the 12v battery (an 5+ year old OPTIMA yellow top) and connect it to a Schumacher Electric 1200 Amp Car Battery Jump Starter Charger where I was able to revive the Prius and get it to the Transmission P lock mechanism MFD message to re-engage the Transmission Control ECU back to normal driving.

If Syl had tightened all loose electrical connections to the 12v aux battery, turned-off all accessories, properly engaged and locked all electro-mechanical doors, and established there aren't any other sinks nor leakages, there would not be only 4.8-8.3 volts remaining on a brand new 12v battery.

 

Replacement of the fuel gauge sensor requires replacement of the entire fuel tank. You potentially could buy a used tank and have that installed.

However, how low do you allow the fuel level to get when this problem happens? You should not allow the fuel level to get under two bars (out of 10) even it all is well.

 

Part $681.90 MSRP, $480-ish from Toyota dealers who discount, $50 to $125-ish from salvage yards.

-Chap