First time Prius owner!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by TiffHaddock, Dec 9, 2020.

  1. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    Hello everyone! first time Prius owner here! I just purchased an 05 Prius with 108,000 on it. When I looked at the car, there was nothing alarming about it, no dash lights on, drives like a dream. We went ahead and bought it and low and behold, when we went to smog it the next day, I was told it wouldn’t pass smog, there are supposed to be lights on on the dash that aren’t illuminated, but it’s showing they are, and it pulled up 2 codes, p0037 and p0a11. The car is still running fine and we decided to take it out of town for a 3 hour car trip to Tahoe, we stopped to smoke (I don’t smoke in my vehicles) and then when we left, all of the sudden there are now the warning lights lit up on the dash. The red triangle is lit, a yellow (!) and vcs light was on, the display touch screen also turns off when we hit a good bump. Still no issues with driving, no battery loss, nothing like that. We drove a while longer and stopped again to smoke, and upon starting the car this time, the (!) light went away and the vcs light went away but the red triangle was still lit. I googled some things and checked and it seems like maybe my coolant pump is out? Or the dc/dc inverter is bad. Does anyone have any experience with this type of problem, and if so, *fingers crossed* was it an affordable fix? And also, is it worth it to fix it at all? I bought the car for 3000
     

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  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Welcome to PriusChat... We can help you fix most anything if your or a friend or family member have DIY car repair skills. First step is getting an easy to use OBD tool so you can monitor hybrid battery health and read and clear error codes using Dr. Prius App. Here's Buyer's guide: Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus

    Hopefully you can get all those error codes addressed and cleared and bring it back in and get your smog certificate...
     
  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I would be very concerned that it has an after market catalytic converter. There is a huge theft issue with G2 cats being stolen they are worth alot of money. I just sold mine for $1350.

    It would not surprise me if previous owner sold the cat off your car and installed a $125 after market cat that will fail a Ca Carb Emissions test. pretty nefarious. They actually check the model number on the 2 cats in your state after market cat is a fail.

    Go on youtube and search

    Prius stolen

    lots of Ca cat theft tubes.

    OEM cat is $1551 plus install.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats and welcome!
    sounds like you got a keeper! (y)
     
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    thats cold dude..lol...
     
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  6. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    Little more information I got from dmv and Toyota. The car was serviced and maintained every year since 2007 to 2018. The hybrid battery was replaced in 2018 and that was the last service on record for the car. I’ve jacked it up already and it’s got the original cat on it. I’ve been reading about the inverter pump going out and decided to check and see if it’s one of the issues and idk what to think. I know it’s supposed to have a good amount of turbulence in the reservoir, and I see some, just not like a lot. Does that mean it’s going out?
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    It means the inverter fluid was never changed. Replace that pump with a factory pump and new fluid and check that important and very common failure off your list.

    Then start watching the 12 volt battery. 12 volt battery issues are the #1 post on this site. Never ever mess with the 12 volt battery in the trunk do all your voltage testing and jumping if need be and charging at the front jump point under the hood in the black fuse box.
    Check the 12 volt battery voltage at the front jump point first thing in the am before starting the car. By testing that the front jump point you are checking the voltage through 8 connections and the big long cable before it even hits the front jump box.
    A healthy Prius g2 battery lives at 12.6 volts with car off. Anything lower than that the battery is suspect. Should be maintained and watched especially if just bought car it could have sat for a while not driven they need to jump it to sell it and now its on its last legs.
    Read the owners manual.

    Many Prius start to eat engine oil as they get older especially if dealer oil change maintained. This car takes 3.9 quarts of oil with dry filter.
    use 5-30 synthetic oil like Mobil 1 buy at Walmart 5 quart jug $24.95.
    Keep the oil at the full line always. Check the oil first thing in the am before starting car. Do not pull into gas station and check the oil it will show much lower than it really is.

    Replace the fan belt on the front of the engine. Its way over due. That belts only job is to turn the engine water pump. belt fails falls off engine overheats you will never know till the check engine light comes on and engine way into overheats possible cylinder head damage.
    The car has no engine temp gauge. Change the belt now.

    Take the air filter box off the throttle body. See how dirty the bore is. the level of gunk in that bore is a direct reflection of what kind of oil was used in the cars life. Dealer?...it will be nasty. privately maintained with good oil= pretty clean.
    Either way good time to clean the bore.

    Any other questions use the search forums link up top.

    For throttle body search:

    throttle body

    for inverter pump search that hundreds of posts on how to do it. same with belt.
     
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  8. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    I don't know California smog regs but it sounds as if the "check engine" light is inoperative - isn't that something that the seller should take care if? (I have never seen this light (LED type) fail on a modern car- makes me wonder if it was deliberately disabled).

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  9. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Given what information the the OP has provided- what makes you assume the cat was replaced? They did take it for inspection and it failed for codes present and inoperative MIL- no mention of an incorrect cat.
    Ok- it has a code for the downstream O2 heater, doesn't automatically mean it has a replacement cat.
    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #9 mr_guy_mann, Dec 11, 2020
    Last edited: Dec 11, 2020
  10. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    I should also add, I called the service center the hybrid was replaced at and the 12v was replaced at the same time?
     
  11. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    I wonder the same thing. And thank you for all your help so far!
     
  12. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    Hey everyone it’s me again lol. My hubby hooked up obdII to the car to test batt voltage and all that. All the cells are at 15v idling, up to 17 while charging, 15.4 while discharged, is this a normal healthy battery?
     
  13. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yes those are normal numbers... But what you're looking for is the hybrid battery error codes and sub-codes that got stored when your dash lights came on. Once we know that info we can talk about next steps.

    Dr. Prius app has a section called "special features" that will read hybrid battery error codes.
     
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  14. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    It appears as though my husband got the codes, wrote them down and then cleared them, and also lost the paper he wrote them down on. As of right now it’s not throwing any codes I’m taking it to get smogged tomorrow and hopefully it passes. I also bought a new inverter pump and will install it
     
  15. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Please update us tomorrow with as much detail as possible about how the smog inspection goes and we'll be way better able to help.
     
  16. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    Didn’t pass smog again today. This is what the report says...
     

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  17. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Removing, cleaning and inspecting O2 sensor where your Catalytic Converter is your first step... Sometimes, though rarely, that can be the problem. The most expensive repair is the catalytic converter replacement... And sometimes if you put in new spark plugs, new air filter clean mass air flow sensor and throttle body you can get rid of this problem.

    But at this point you might want to contact person you bought vehicle from and see if they offer up any options?
     
  18. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    So the guy I bought the vehicle from basically just disappeared. His profile is gone and the number he gave me isn’t in service. I got screwed pretty bad in this deal. I’m just trying to figure out what I can do to make it pass smog so I can register it. I’m then going to change the inverter pump and try to sell it and just take the loss. My husband just noticed there’s a small bit of milky fluid on engine cap, but oil on dipstick is clean and not milky at all? Will post a pic in the morning
     
  19. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    The chances of passing a smog check immediately after resetting codes is about 0%. That's why those test cycles are showing as incomplete. The car has to go through a certain specific set of cycles, without throwing a code, before the car will show those tests as being complete.

    Don't give up on the car yet. Assuming there aren't any other hidden problems, nothing you have listed in insurmountable. There's a chance it may need a new O2 sensor and the P0A11 may need a bit of sleuthing, but nothing I would be afraid of. A 108k mile car for 3k isn't a bad deal at all, if it's in good shape. A few minor repairs are no big deal. If there are annual dealer records all the way through 2018, then its very likely the car was well maintained.

    When you first attempt to start the car, the check engine light should illuminate as a test to verify the light is working. Does this happen?
     
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  20. TiffHaddock

    TiffHaddock New Member

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    No light at all. All others work, but not check engine