Red triangle of death and dealership couldn’t figure it out

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by PearceFlyEaglesFly, Jul 16, 2021.

  1. PearceFlyEaglesFly

    PearceFlyEaglesFly New Member

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    Hey everybody! I have a 2006 Prius. The 12v battery died on it a year ago and the tires were bad and we couldn’t afford to fix it a year ago so it sat for a year. Recently I got new tires put on it, installed a new 12v battery and got it going.

    But, a red triangle light with a red exclamation point keeps popping up. But not every time we drive it. But most of the time. Also, on the A/C digital display, an Orange light with arrows is displaying when that happens.

    But, if the red light isn’t on, the orange light won’t come on. And vice versa.

    Took it to the dealership and they don’t know what’s going on. Any help? We are lost.
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 PearceFlyEaglesFly, Jul 16, 2021
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Just curious if you checked the oil level on your car? The dealership should know what's going on, as it should log a code. Unless of course, you are out of oil
     
    #2 JC91006, Jul 16, 2021
  3. PearceFlyEaglesFly

    PearceFlyEaglesFly New Member

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    I just had an oil change 3 weeks ago. So I’d like to think it’s not that. Somebody on Reddit mentioned maybe it could be the headlight leveling sensor maybe?
     
    #3 PearceFlyEaglesFly, Jul 16, 2021
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The orange icon is for the headlight leveling system.

    One common part of that system that can be troublesome is the little height sensor connected to the rear axle. Sometimes its arm/joint seizes up and breaks. Or sometimes this happens.
     
    #4 ChapmanF, Jul 16, 2021
  5. Samuel Williams Jr

    Samuel Williams Jr Member

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    Well in Arkansas your probably screwed? The car most likely has set codes and they did not tell you what they were? They are hoping, you'll decide the car is old and POS, and the will happily sell you a new one. :)

    Is there any chance there is an independent Hybrid shop anywhere near you? And short of that get a OBD ll adaptor and the Dr. Prius App and see what codes show up and report back. :)
     
    #5 Samuel Williams Jr, Jul 16, 2021
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    There's an attachment to the first post. It shows the problem-with-headlight-leveling icon.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Jul 16, 2021
    strawbrad likes this.
  7. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    #7 PriusCamper, Jul 16, 2021
  8. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Not sure how that logic works, given the image displayed.
    That dealer sounds useless, hope they didn't charge you for that diagnostic.

    If you don't have the owners manuals : Toyota Warranty & Toyota Manuals | Toyota Owners

    If you need help decoding the dashboard lights : Toyota Dashboard Lights & Symbols Guide

    FYI : your posts are being moderated until you've posted five times.
     
    #8 SFO, Jul 17, 2021
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