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2017 Prius Prime Hybrid Malfunction System warning light on

Discussion in 'Prime Technical Discussion' started by A guy, Jul 1, 2022.

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  1. A guy

    A guy New Member

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    Our check engine light came on: Hybrid System Malfunction/Pre-collision System Malfunction both on. Car would not drive but did go into neutral. We had the car towed to the local dealer. They looked it over and determined that yes there is a problem with the hybrid system but the local dealership did not have a qualified mechanic to continue working on it due to the danger of the high voltage system. The service manager said they would have to wait to have a special field tech come to continue to diagnose and fix the hybrid system.

    All fine, but the problem is the service manager said they had no way of knowing when this special field tech would come to their dealership to look at our car. And that the local service manager had no way to contact this special hybrid field tech to schedule. It's now been 2 & 1/2 weeks no car, no date no response from the local dealer. I've called the brand engagement center at Toyota 3 times this week and the latest is that they have assigned our car to a special case manager at the BEC.

    My question is has anyone else had this problem with hybrid system malfunction and getting scheduled with a "special hybrid field tech"? And any suggestions to help move this process along? If it's a hybrid warranty issue, shouldn't Toyota give me a loaner car or comp us for a rental?
     
    #1 A guy, Jul 1, 2022
  2. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Welcome. Sorry your Prime is ailing. That's VERY rare for this car.

    Well, it's under warranty based on age, but since you didn't mention how many miles are on it, there's no way we can tell you if it's still under warranty. Warranty for the hybrid system on a '17 in a non-CARB state is 8 years or 100k miles.

    As for the problem, anyone with a competent OBD II code reader can read the codes and look them up. Are there no Toyota dealers in your area who are trained to work on your Toyota vehicle? The high voltage in a Prime is a little higher than a regular Prius, but requires no more precautions that any other hybrid.

    Meanwhile, it's likely to be something simple like dirty hybrid battery filters or fans. Did you check that? Or possibly a failed inverter pump? Like I said, reading the codes will tell most of the story.
     
    #2 jerrymildred, Jul 1, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2022
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    call toyota corporate customer service (in your manual) i thought all dealers were trained in hybrid tech and required by toyota. there's just too many hybrids in their line up now not to be.

    check other dealers as well.

    have your 12 volt battery load tested at an auto parts store for free.
    do you carry shedding pets? sometimes it's just a clogged cooling fan/intake grille
     
    #3 bisco, Jul 1, 2022
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2022
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  4. A guy

    A guy New Member

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    Thanks for your suggestion to call Toyota Customer Service. Unfortunately, the manual is in the car at the dealer which is 20 miles away from me. I did find a number for the Toyota Brand Engagement Center (800-331-4331) and have had several calls with them but no help from them. I checked the fan, filter, and intake grill which were all clear. Also, replaced the 12 volt but the warning light is still on. I live 60 miles away from other dealers so n to get it towed to some other dealer. The local dealer insists their is some special Hybrid Field Tech that needs to come to look at my car in order to get an accurate diagnosis of the problem.

    Has anyone heard about a special Hybrid Field Tech???
     
    #4 A guy, Jul 6, 2022
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  5. A guy

    A guy New Member

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    Our 2017 Prius Prime has 80K miles so should be under the hybrid warranty. As I said in my initial post, we had it towed to the Toyota dealer who read the codes. Checked the hybrid fan, grille no blockage, and also replaced the 12 volt battery. Did not check inverter pump.
    The dealer is saying they are having to wait to get scheduled with a "special Hybrid field tech" who the dealer says that cannot/will not call to schedule. That I'll have wait until this special field tech contacts them. It's no been 3 weeks, no special field tech.

    Has anyone heard of a " special hybrid field tech" for Toyota? Seems like my local dealer doesn't have a hybrid tech.
     
    #5 A guy, Jul 6, 2022
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, auto mfgs do have field techs to help out when a dealer is stumped. but the high voltage system would not be cause to bring in a tech.
    something is fishy to me, i don't think they are being honest for whatever reason
     
    #6 bisco, Jul 6, 2022
  7. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    It's also at toyota.com/owners.

    I agree with @bisco. Toyota sells a ton of hybrids. Any hybrid tech should be able to at least start the investigation if not do the whole repair. The field techs are for special rare cases, not for routine repairs. And, as I said, it's most likely something simple. Too bad you're over on the left coast where everything got shut down. We have several mechanics where I work who could probably help. :(
     
    #7 jerrymildred, Jul 7, 2022
  8. fusion

    fusion Junior Member

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    I am going to revive this as I have the same issue but my car still drives. I assume that your car was finally repaired. Can you let me know what they found as the issue? Thanks in advance.
     
    #8 fusion, Sep 29, 2022
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Because nowhere in this thread were the trouble codes ever given for the original car, there is no way at all to know whether you have the same issue or not. The light can come on for a couple hundred different reasons.

    The best way forward is simply to find the trouble codes your car is reporting. Then, if you want, you can look around for threads where other people's cars had the same trouble codes. (Even that isn't the same as having the same issue, but it's closer. If you start your own thread with your symptoms and trouble codes, we can help with pinning down what those codes mean in your case.)
     
    #9 ChapmanF, Sep 29, 2022
  10. fusion

    fusion Junior Member

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    Definitely. Mine pulled no codes on torque pro and Dr. Prius said HV Battery ECU error code:bad OBD2, error reading. So I'm just curious on what happened here more than it being the same issue. I'm taking mine in tomorrow to Toyota service and will do a new thread when mine is resolved.
     
    #10 fusion, Sep 29, 2022
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