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Urgent help!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Andres_Garcia, Feb 19, 2019.

  1. Andres_Garcia

    Andres_Garcia Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 20, 2015
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    Location:
    Guatemala
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hello everyone, I just had a situation with my prius 2008, last week I was driving it and after like 2 hours there was a beep sound that didn't stop and suddenly the car changed from D to N and the car turned off and on automatically, it immediately stopped and I had to turn it off again cause I was in the middle of the traffic, waited about 2 minutes and turned it on again, and then the red big triangle warning showed up on mi dashboard and another warning showed up on the screen, it was the red car with the exclamation sign warning, I had to park the car for over an hour so it can "rest" and try to make it work again until the battery died and I had to tow it to my house, the next day I turned on the car and it was like nothing happened the day before! My mechanic is trying to figure out what it was but so far we have no idea.

    Please let me know if this happened to some of you
     
    #1 Andres_Garcia, Feb 19, 2019
  2. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
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    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Could be a number of things.

    Having the diagnostic code would be helpful.
    For the future, you may want to consider having your own diagnostic tools handy to read and clear codes. You can also see live data about the car with these tools and it will cost under $75

    Android tablet/phone that can access wifi ($40)
    Elm 327 Bluetooth OBDII adaptor ($20)
    Torque Pro app, paid version ($6)

    Possible problems
    Bad 12v battery
    Loose connections at 12v battery
    Wiring issue at 12v battery
    Is there water in the wheelwell by your 12v? If so look for corrosion.
    Low oil
    Inverter water pump failure
    Combination meter failing
    Key fob problem
    Hybrid battery module failing
    Corrosion on hybrid battery voltage sensors
    Etc
    Etc

    Would be happy to guess more, but if you can consistently recreate the problem it'd help.

    But the best would be to read the codes using diagnostic equipment.
     
    #2 ericbecky, Feb 20, 2019
    Andres_Garcia, jerrymildred and SFO like this.
  3. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    May 14, 2012
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    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Check the level of the inverter coolant reservoir. If it is full, then check the reservoir to see if there is turbulence when the car is in READY (or in IG-ON). If there is no turbulence, then your inverter cooling pump has failed and needs to be replaced.

    This just a guess based on the symptoms you described. To be sure, you need to check the codes your car set, as per Eric's post above.
     
    #3 dolj, Feb 21, 2019
    Andres_Garcia likes this.
  4. SB100

    SB100 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2018
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    Location:
    Hanover PA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Sounds like a failed water pump to me. Had similar issues this past summer. Water pump shuts off and it just shuts everything down trying to cool it off. If that’s the case it’s not a bad DIY repair
     
    #4 SB100, Feb 26, 2019
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