Hang on to your pants! We've got a "p" Lock triangle of death mystery.

First glance looks to me with that techstream it has a shorted ac phase if so the engine would not start,

That shorted phase to me infers a shorted motor winding if so the trans is shot and with a bad trans the motor won’t start. Mg 2 spools up the engine like a starter motor does.

Try this. Go on YouTube and search Prius inspection. It will show you the steps to put the engine in inspection mode where it idles continuous non stop until you shut the car off.

I suspect the engine will not run. If it does the trans is ok and beyond my scope of help.

 

Do you need workups for the above DTCs (codes)?

If the HV battery is low and won't turn start the vehicle, you could pick up a used EC-570 "Electrophoresis Power Supply" for top end balancing/charging, you can usually find one for under $100. There could be an even less expensive HV power supply option if you spent time reviewing the various specs of the used electrophoresis power supplies that are currently available, as some sell for half that price.

If you do find a less expensive option, please share the make, model, and specs here as well.

 

So if you can start it after a 12 volt reboot it most likely has hybrid battery ground fault code. It will launch soon again and you can continue to reboot but reports of the battery modules popping in there box. Loud pop and smoke and then your done.

Open the hatch so you can look at that battery case and see if any electrolyte leaking out of the bottom of the metal case.

 

I have nothing useful to share. Except that I bought a junk 05 prius with 275k+ miles on it. Plans to change brake actuator, after letting it sit about 3 months the plock came on when trying to start it. Got a new battery, changed checked fuses and tried the wire trick. Is there a connection with the brake actuator and why?

 

I wonder why so many people think there is a "wire trick". There must be some very popular source of bad information on the internet that is coming up in everybody's searches. If we could find it, it would be like finding the main termite colony.

There is a legitimate "wire" procedure for getting the brake system trouble codes, which most people trying to follow some internet "wire trick" have actually come within seconds of doing, and that would show what the brake system is trying to tell you. Regrettably, the transmission control ECU does not have a similar procedure that I know of; it will only talk to a scan tool.

The brake system can code around one or two hundred different reasons, and the trans ECU at least a dozen or so, making it usually not very fruitful to try to guess what they are telling you, instead of asking them.

Both of them can set codes about inadequate voltage arriving at them, and in a case where the car sat a long time and then there was some excitement with the battery, I wouldn't be surprised if you found you had those codes, if you asked. So if guessing is the way you'd like to proceed, that wouldn't be an unreasonable starting guess. Have you taken a recent voltage measurement, say at the jump terminal at the front of the car?

 

Our 2008 frankenstein of a Prius (probably worse than OP's "mutt", lol) recently gave us a red triangle of death warning, but we were able to limp home and get it parked in the driveway where I have kept it sitting the past two weeks.

I finally got around to re-installing Techstream V12 again on my new laptop but in the process of going out and sitting in the car to get it connected and pull codes, realized our 12V battery finally bit the dust for real this time (even an all day trickle charge with the battery fully disconnected didn't help). I can't complain though, the 12V has done well the 6 years we have owned the car from California to Florida (brutal summers), and I don't think it was newly replaced when we bought the car either.

Anyways, I am going to wait to get a new 12V battery installed, clear all codes, and attempt a few laps around the block or do some local driving around town (within 10 minutes of home) and see if anything new pops up before I jump to any conclusions... After plugging the bum 12V back in and doing a quick health check, this is what showed up: C2124, C2179, B1421, B1433, B1442, C2318 (w/snowflake), and B1271.

A few of those codes are lifelong codes (at least since we have owned the car) and not a concern of mine.

 

I'd go with this plan.

There are no serious codes on that list. The C2318 could possibly be attributed to the unreliable 12 V supply (looking at the freeze frame will give you some idea) so you want to make sure that is rock solid before you get sucked down the rabbit hole chasing gremlins.

 

What ended up being your fix?

 

No idea. If you click on his name, you can see that the OP was last logged in almost 3 years ago.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Purely editorial: I think "hang onto your hats" is more traditional.