Cutting the wire that tells the red triangle to come on

Why bother? Just drive with the Red Triangle of Death on all the time. I do

 

electrical tape over the display

 

Do you mean P0AA6? the code will still trigger in the ecu even if you were to disable the master warning light, so how would that help you?
If you don't clear the P0AA6 code, once you turn the car off, you won't be able to restart and put the car in READY.

BUT, if you really want to.... I suppose you could just cut the big red cable connected to the 12v battery. That would make sure the RTOD never comes back on.

 

It does not work that way.

The trouble code that you have, P0AA6, is being triggered for your safety. You need to get the problem fixed and not just clear the code. If you do not think the car is worth fixing, then sell it and buy a standard (non-hybrid) car.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

How many miles, and what are you asking?

 

Every time I park I disconnect my 12v bat by removing the white plug. I have things in the back removed so I can access this plug thru the passenger side back door.
I shut off the car, unplug the white plug, then lock the doors manually.

I open the door with the manual key, open the back rear door, plug in the white plug and the car starts fine again.

yeah it’s cheaper than fixing the real problem albeit a little cumbersome.

 

some have added a switch

 

The day the second leakage path forms, there may be a change to this routine.

 

There is a leakage path? Pray tell, I’m all ears

 

If you have trouble code P0AA6, you have leakage from the hybrid battery system to the frame of the car.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Thanks for that very helpful clarification.

 

The vast majority of the time, like probably 95%+, this voltage leakage is due to electrolyte weepage from a module making contact with the HV battery metal case. Often, this occurs at one of the small threaded inserts on the bottom of a module where its mounting bolt attaches. All it takes is to identify the specific module and replace it or insulate it so it can't make contact with the case.

 

Thank you. I wasn’t meaning to imply that I have the identical problem including P0AA6 as OP. Just giving him my simplistic workaround for keeping a car with a recurring Triangle of Death requiring a constant code reset running.

Of course fixing the underlying problem is the right way to deal with this. Some of us lack the resources to do this effectively and in a timely manner.

Insight provided generously by those of you with vast expertise is extremely valuable and much appreciated. And noted.

Thank you.

 

Yes, you start getting P0AA6 as soon as the battery ECU first detects that there is electrical leakage (conductivity) between the high-voltage system and the rest of the car (meant to be completely isolated for safety).

That electrical leakage can be caused by physical leakage of the electrolyte goo from a battery module, but can be caused in other ways too (like damage to insulation of one of the orange wires in the car). Although the same word 'leakage' is used for both, it's important to remember that the P0AA6 code is about electrical leakage. Goo leakage could be the reason, but that's not what the code is about.

When P0AA6 first appears, it isn't much more than a warning. The car has just gone from perfect health (no high-voltage leakage anywhere) to having one point of high-voltage leakage somewhere. That by itself isn't going to hurt the car any, and it won't hurt you as long as you remember to be extra careful in any work you might do on the battery. (The normal safeties that are there to protect you, like the orange plug you pull out, are not sure protection anymore when there is a known high-voltage leak.)

On the other hand, after the car has gone from having no high-voltage leaks to having one high-voltage leak, it might not be very long before the same sort of degradation (module leaking goo, say) occurs again in another place, creating a second path for high-voltage leakage.

At that point, you have a completed circuit.

 

Thanks. Yes, my 2 old Priusses on Kauai are poster children for the problems of corrosion - kept unavoidably outside, rains every day, very high humidity, leaks into the vehicles from the usual places and more, frequently driven in the rain with windows open... Thanks for the caution. Well noted.
Aloha