I'd like your assistance, red triangle of death after installing A/C compressor

Good afternoon. I've tracked down my A/C problem to a non functioning A/C compressor, so I went and got one from a parts yard that specializes in Prius'. I installed the compressor, which was relatively easy, and then inserted the orange power cut off switch into the HV battery pack. I also put the cable back on the 12 volt battery. The instant I put the lead onto the 12v battery lug the red triangle of death appeared on my dash. Also every warning light came on, and stayed on. So after scratching my head I tried to power off the Prius, by depressing the start button, it did not want to shut down. So I pulled the orange plug and nothing happened. Then I pulled the 12v cable off the battery and the car shut down.

I think something simple was overlooked by myself, thus the red triangle of death. The ICE engine did not turn over. On the MFD in the upper left corner is a two headed red car symbol. I don't know what that means, can someone help me on that? I tried to pull codes with a hand held scan tool, yet it showed no DTCs were stored.

I hope someone can guide me in a direction that will get the ICE to begin to come to life and the red triangle of death to disappear. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

No, I had not pushed down on it to lock it. I just went out to my Prius after your comment and LOCKED it but that had not effect on the problems. (shrugs shoulders)

 

Minutes before I did my repair I drove the Prius for about 75 miles with no problems. I believe the 12v battery is fully charged and the HV battery is doing very well. I will take your suggestion of unplugging the compressor lead to see if that does anything. Thanks for the input, Tombukt2.

 

R134a, but I only got two ounces of freon into the system and one ounce of ND 11 oil in the compressor. Since the ICE wasn't working I decided to interrupt the filling of the A/C system in order to clear the RTOD.

 

Yea, I finally got the RTOD removed from the dash board! Yeah. But the warning lights on the dash are still there. Interesting that I had depressed the Ebrake and the brake light was on. Then I released the Ebrake and the brake light stayed on. Also the inverter coolant pump was chugging away. I don't know why that particular motor was spinning, but at least there is some life them old bones. Now if I can just get the dash warning lights to go out. Hmmm, I'll take your advise and pull the lead off the 12v battery overnight and see if that helps or not. In the morning if the lights are still on I'm gonna disconnect the A/C compressor and see if the lights are still lit. Thanks again for the help. I appreciate the small steps I'm taking based on everyones response.

 

I unplugged the 12v battery overnight. It did not help. I am currently charging the battery, yet as of right this moment I don't think the battery is dead. A quick look at my charger said it had 12.1 volts. I have a Zurich ZR11. Will this work for clearing codes? It has a screen that askes if I want to clear DTCs and I press the yes button yet the codes do not clear. There still are no codes to be found.

 

Dolj, thanks so much for this reply. You've cleared up a muddy area in my mind. I'll go and get a scan reader recommended by a fellow member on this board. These cars are finicky for certain. Just moments prior to me replacing the A/C compressor the Prius ran perfectly. Put it up on ramps, pull out the old compressor, put in a replacement compressor and BAM...warning lights when I start up the vehicle. Yes, these cars are great on gas mileage, but the electronic problems that can arise is just head scratching. In the old days the diagnotics were not as involved as is today. Too many computers compared to a Ford Model A.

 

I left my Prius alone and cold in my garage overnight. The 12v battery was unplugged and I decided to let it set for a few hours to see if that might clear the codes. This afternoon my wife jumped into the drivers seat and pushed the start button. Low and BEHOLD, the trouble codes had vanished and the Prius started right up. I added a few ounces of R134a and soon it was blowing cold air. The wife was happy at the progress she was able to add to my head scratching. I guess sometimes it takes a woman's touch.

The only problem that I seem to have now is the "door ajar" light is constantly on, even when the car is powered off. Plus, I drove it to the grocery store, a big four miles, and I noticed the mileage had reset to zero. Yet when I looked at the average MPG it only made it up to 17MPG. Now this was traveling at 25 to 30 mph. Maybe it wasn't enough distance to pop up the fuel mileage numbers, but I thought it a little odd.

Everybody who contributed to this thread, I sincerly appreciate your input. I'm not the sharpest tack in the box, yet God gave me the ability to ask questions and be open to the responses. Thank you, wholeheartedly from the bottom of my heart.

 

Thanks fellows. I'll do that. You've all been so helpful in teaching me how to run down gremlins.