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ICE ran all the way to work. No codes found

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Kyosha, Aug 9, 2022.

  1. Kyosha

    Kyosha New Member

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    I realized on the way to work this morning my MPG seemed a bit lower than normal, 44mpg instead of 50+. I did not have AC or Defrost running. Battery was showing as charged, and going through normal depletion/charge cycle as far as I could tell. I noticed that when I was stopped at red light the ICE was running, with a full battery. This is odd, and I pressed the EV button and received a message that EV mode was currently unavailable. Systems should have been at operating temp after a 20 minutes drive.

    I have a scanner and connected when I got to work. No codes showed up. I do not have a Bluetooth adapter at the moment to run Dr. Prius app, and the scanner I have works for hybrid systems. 12v batter replaced about 2 weeks ago, no other work has been done recently. Any ideas as to what it could be if I do not have a code to point me towards an issue?

    Thanks in advance!
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    See what happens on your way home if you got no codes and there's nothing wrong there may be in fact nothing wrong because you're gas mileage is down on the display is no indication of anything wrong per se My display swings wildly between 44 and 47.1 the advertised gas mileage of my car in '09 and my Gen 3 generally doesn't seem to get the mileage of my '09 even though sometimes it'll say it's getting 51 mi to the gallon I go by the empty tank fumes the amount of gallons I put in the last time etc and what I'm putting in this time is never 50 anything to the gallon it's more like what the Gen 2 runs 47 48 somewhere right in there . The display is for certain types of folkses entertainment pretty much
     
  3. Kyosha

    Kyosha New Member

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    The lower MPG just caught my attention, but the ICE running at a stop light, with the battery at 80% charge or better, and not able to put it in EV mode is what I am more concerned with. I have not seen this happen before. This car is still new to me, and Prius in general is a whole new thing I am slowly learning. I wasn't sure if this could point towards an issue with the traction battery, or the 12v system.
     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Usually when those systems start messing up which I've been through with an '09 and a 13 and a 10 you will be quickly warned with a lot of lights and a lot of hoopla and then a bunch of codes they will show up The lights especially triangle of death ABS traction control etc etc That's what you want to be really watching for of course watch your gas mileage somewhat and like you say not being able to put it in EV mode and all this business I don't ever move that in my we pretty much keep it in the Eco mode drive around as we need air conditioning is generally on in the southeast etc and everything seems to stay pretty stable right around 47 48 mi to the gallon. No matter what we're doing
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    I've noticed engine will continue to run, sometimes, with good charge, if it's an exceptionally hot day, and the car's been doing a lot of stop-and-go. Maybe due to battery getting too warm?
     
  6. Kyosha

    Kyosha New Member

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    Thank you for the insight @Tombukt2 and @Mendel Leisk. I am not sure if the battery was hot or not, it was a warm morning, and I encountered more traffic than normal, and everything is fine. I'll keep an eye on it though and update if I get codes or anything.

    I have been tracking my MPG actual vs what is displayed on the dash. Using the same station, and same pump, even fueling around the same time out of the day. My first two fill ups were within 1.5%. I replaced the 12v and the only fill I have done since then is 5.2%.
     
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  7. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    Are you certain you hadn't made that trip with the shifter position accidently in "B", which would have those effects?
    Did the same thing occur on your way home?
     
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  8. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    I’ve drive mor than 20 mins around town 35 mph and under with lower grill fully blocked during summers and most of the time engine temp never gets over 180F.
     
  9. Kyosha

    Kyosha New Member

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    Vehicle was in D with Eco Mode on, except when I tried to put it in EV at the light. Had a similar experience on the way home, but this morning the vehicle acted very Prius like. Not sure what it happened, or if it was just my brain over analyzing it.

    80% of my commute to and from work is on the interstate, with cruise set at 65mph. My other ICE cars have always been to operating temp within 15 minutes or so. I was making an assumption that the Prius would take a bit longer considering the difference. Any idea how long the ICE and Battery takes to get up to temp?
     
  10. ToyXW

    ToyXW Active Member

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    From memory EV mode is not available when:

    Battery charge too low (below ~50%)
    Battery charge too high (above ~80%)
    Battery temp too high (above ~100F)
    Speed too high (10mph when coolant is < ~155F, 25mph when coolant is over ~155F)

    The dash state of charge meter isn't very accurate - the range of 2-6 bars represents roughly 50-60% charge. 8 out of 8 bars is like 80% charged.
     
  11. Kyosha

    Kyosha New Member

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    Update:

    Master Warning Light came on this morning a couple miles from home as I was heading to work. Headed home and checked the codes.
    • P0A80 Stored
    • P0A80 Pending
    • P0A80 Permanent
    Looks like I am going to be in the market for a new battery. Not surprised with the age, but was hoping to get a bit more life out of this before having to go that route. I've had this for a little over one month.
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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  13. tungm

    tungm Junior Member

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    I had the same issue in my 2014 Prius C Aqua a couple of days back. About 20mins into my morning drive, temperatures displayed by Hybrid assistant app were pretty normal, MG, Engine, battery, inverter all seemed normal. As I slowed down in traffic my battery charge was around 50% but when it went down and ICE kicked in, the ICE continued running until I had all normal battery bars. Normally it charges up to the bare minimum of 2 bars and cycles there until I drive under ICE power continuously then it will then charge to full battery.

    So it charged to full and I got worried and kept monitoring for about 3km of stop and go traffic ICE kept running, battery at full bars. I then pulled to the side of the road and cycled the key Off and On and it started behaving normally from then on. The issue has not come back for 3 days now. No Codes or dash warnings so far. I guess I should schedule a battery 'service'.

    The attached image is from the moment this issue was happening. If anyone is seeing anything amiss or has an explanation kindly advise.
     

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  14. Paladain55

    Paladain55 Active Member

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    In case you are an electronics nerd, just know it isn't "a battery" its a bunch of them together. This is a good thing as if you are a pro tink you can take the battery and test the individual cells and just replace the cells that gave up completely and go a little further on the other cells that haven't quite raised their white flags yet.
     
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  15. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    You can if you've the time and spare vehicle