05 Prius - No Electrical Power To Dash, Doors, etc.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by myflightdeck, Jul 24, 2019.

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  1. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    So I was able to free up some more time to work on the Prius. I went through the hybrid battery cells and located 3 bad cells and replaced them. I did load tests and recharged and they all held great. I put the battery back in the vehicle. The hybrid battery now showed fully charged but I still had the red triangle. I read online where I could press the start button three times to reset. I did this and the READY appeared. The red triangle was still showing with all the warning lights. I took a chance and decided to drive it. I made it about 15 feet when it stopped. I was able to reset by disconnecting the batter and pressing start 3 more times and was able to drive it back into the garage. I never once heard the motor kick in. It was 100% battery moving the car. The red triangle never went away.

    So my question is...
    1. could this mean it is a bad inverter?
    2. Is there a way to reset the Red Triangle Lights? I try with my ODB2 and mobile app (torque) but it just stays on.

    I am excited because the car moved for the first time since I have owned it so I feel like progress has been made but still stumped as to why it would not go any further or kick on the motor.

    Open to any other ideas..Help me solve this and pizza is on me!
     
    #41 myflightdeck, Sep 1, 2019
  2. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    We could help you SOOOOO much more with good DTC info. And trust me, that info is in there, just begging to be read by the right equipment. The best advice right now would be to invest 30 bucks in getting techstream and a few bucks on an old laptop. It doesn't even need wifi. Actually, it's probably even better if it doesn't have wifi.

    It sounds to me like you're probably getting engine failed to start codes, but we don't know for certain. As a prius gets miles on it, some components wear, get gunked up, etc, just like a normal car. The ECU learns this and adjusts its expected values for those components. When the 12v dies, and is then restored, the ECUs all go back to "new" default values and forget all the learned values. Sometimes this causes problems, especially with the throttle body blade positioning. Sometimes, it will prevent the engine from starting. A good cleaning of the throttle body usually cures this issue.
     
    #42 TMR-JWAP, Sep 2, 2019
  3. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    I have a mac and not a pc. I did find this post where a guy was able to get it to run on a his macbook. I will try the same. do you have to order the cable or does a local car parts store sell them?
     
    #43 myflightdeck, Sep 2, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2019
  4. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    You only need a single core laptop with windows XP or 7. Something that old can’t cost much.
     
    #44 Skibob, Sep 3, 2019
  5. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Get a copy of VirtualBox, and it should work just fine.

    Yes, you will need to order the cable.
     
    #45 SFO, Sep 5, 2019
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  6. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    Thanks everyone for the great advice. I picked up a copy of Techstream. These are the following codes: P0A78 Drive Motor "A" Inverter Performance & P0A94 DC/DC Converter Performance. Also two other codes appeared: C1259 HV System Regenerative Malfunction & C1310 HV System Malfunction.

    The P0A94 & P0A78 were the same codes I hade before. So as a long shot, I picked up a new.used inverter and replaced mine. Ran the scan and still got the same codes. Tried to clear them but no luck. What are the odds of two bad inverters let alone one? I have a feeling this is something causing the Inverter codes. Any ideas?

    I am not even sure I used the software correctly. I clicked each ECU and did a search for TDC and then tried clearing them. Nothing I did got rid of the red triangle.

    If you have any suggestions on what to do next please share..and thank you again.
     
    #46 myflightdeck, Sep 8, 2019
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The next step is to obtain the three digit info codes associated with P0A78 and P0A94. When you are on the screen that shows the DTC, look for a little blue icon next to them. Click on the icon to go to a detailed screen which will show the info codes.
     
    #47 Patrick Wong, Sep 8, 2019
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  8. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    The little blue icon looks like a snowflake ❄️ and indicates freeze frame data;).

    There can be multiple reasons for the main code, so the INF code helps point you to the cause and avoid the throwing if parts at the problem:).

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
    #48 Raytheeagle, Sep 8, 2019
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  9. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    ok, so I did the scan again and clicked the snowflake icon. Attached is an image of the output.





    Please share any thoughts. Thank you again for all the help.
     
    #49 myflightdeck, Sep 8, 2019
  10. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    P0A78-280: Open or ground short in motor inverter overvoltage signal circuit. The problem is in the wiring harness or the inverter.
    P0A94-545: Open or ground short in boost converter overvoltage signal circuit. The problem is in the wiring harness or the inverter.

    If you get the factory repair manual at techinfo.toyota.com, you will get info on the specific wires to test for continuity. If those wires are good then the inverter is the component to replace.

    Since you already tried replacing the inverter, it seems likely that the wiring harness was damaged, and it will be necessary to test the wiring as indicated above to prove or disprove that.
     
    #50 Patrick Wong, Sep 8, 2019
  11. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    On a side note, you may want to throw a low-amperage charger on your 12v battery. It's only showing 11.7v right now. I think these AGMs are recommended ~3-4 amps for charging. Don't want to chase your tail as it could cause false flags if it gets much lower.
     
    #51 TMR-JWAP, Sep 8, 2019
  12. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    Thanks for all the advice and help. I feel blessed to have experts like yourself helping me along this journey. So I decided to look into the wiring harness and took the cover off the passenger side panels. COme to find out someone was into those wires. The harness has been opened up and some wires stripped and reconnected. Not sure if someone installed a stereo or something and left the wires a mess but from the looks of this, I would not doubt some wire is messing things up. I will take apart the dash area tomorrow and dig into it. I will also put a charge on the battey. Not surprsied its a little low I have been running it a few days now testing etc...
     
    #52 myflightdeck, Sep 8, 2019
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  13. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    Here is a picture of the wires. This is on the passenger side about where your right foot would hit the outer wall. Would these wires cause an issue? From the looks in there...something was being done very sloppy.
     
    #53 myflightdeck, Sep 8, 2019
  14. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Looks uneven, like rodents have been around:cool:.

    Any signs of rodents in the mix:whistle:?

    They like the taste of the electric wiring and go to town if they are allowed into the cabin;).

    Might explain some electrical issues(y).
     
    #54 Raytheeagle, Sep 8, 2019
  15. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    Looks like it was done intentionally. If you zoom in your see cut marks on the wires like a razor or something was in there.
     
    #55 myflightdeck, Sep 8, 2019
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  16. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    It looks like the insulation has been chewed on, or has been unevenly stripped :cool:.

    But modifications can also cause electrical issues:(.

    Looks like you’re on the right trail though(y).
     
    #56 Raytheeagle, Sep 9, 2019
  17. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    I don’t see any pictures.
     
    #57 Skibob, Sep 9, 2019
  18. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    Should be showing in the post above, you might need to be logged in.
     
    #58 myflightdeck, Sep 9, 2019
  19. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Nope plus if I weren’t logged in I couldn’t post. So that’s not it.

    Wait, now I see it.

    Didn’t you see you got the car from a guy that gives out title loans? That looks like tweeker work to me.
     
    #59 Skibob, Sep 9, 2019
  20. myflightdeck

    myflightdeck Junior Member

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    LOL-so....funny but true!
     
    #60 myflightdeck, Sep 9, 2019
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