WooHoo, a PriusChat success story

Got my car fixed! This is the one that had a triangle but I couldn't pull a code. Paid a shop to pull it and got a P3009. I thought that meant the HV battery had issues, so I took it out to checked the cells and they were all good. So came back here to research, and found an old thread with a YouTube explaining how the 3009 could be the battery or the inverter or transmission and showing how to tell which.

Putting the battery back together, I was cleaning the buss bar and did have one of the sensor wires break off, and was hoping that was the issue. I had the old buss bar off another battery so fixed all that and hoped that solved my issue. Nope, still have the triangle.

But, it did act a little different - I cleared the codes and was following the YouTube's instructions, and the triangle didn't come back with the key on (not Ready, which means only the battery has high voltage). Not positive, but I think it used to. Since it didn't, that confirmed, according to the vid, what the dash was saying - (the battery light was not lit), that the battery was good.

Next, the vid said to start it and immediately shift to Neutral. That would send voltage to the inverter, but not the transmission. As soon as I did, the triangle fires off. Shift back to Park, and it turned off. Repeated that a couple of times, shifting back and forth, and the triangle turned on and off.

It had never done that before, so I think the sensor wire was an issue, but there was another issue, and it wasn't the transmission. So, I checked the inverter.

This car had been in an accident - got hit on the drivers front fender, right by the inverter. So, I'm poking around, and checked the four wiring connecters on that side of the inverter. They all looked fine, but I squeezed them again anyway. Bingo! One of them clicked, it hadn't been closed all the way. Either me or the body shop didn't push it together. Triangle is off and it runs great again.

Just gotta clean it up and replace the wipers, and show it to a buyer this weekend. We've already agreed on a price.

Ok, so not the best PC success story, but still, I found the YouTube here, provided by one of y'all. It counts. I can't even imagine how long I'd have looked for the problem if I hadn't checked those connectors, and missed out on my buyer. Every dog has his day!

 

Well, drats, my buyer cancelled. It was for his daughter, but turns out she has two kids and the car is too small. Still, I'm tickled that 3 of my cars are all running great, look great.

 

I agree, I love driving mine. Yeah, I don't think there is a physical problem with two kids and an adult, but I can understand when you consider all the crap she could be carrying too - strollers, car seats, soccer mom, groceries, etc. Or, if you a skeptic like me, it sounds like this dad is a pushover. His daughter's car broke and he's buying her another. And she's demanding he get her one she likes. Where's the baby daddy? Why isn't she grateful he's buying her a car at all?