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hybrid malfunction light and car won't get out of neutral

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by 37hopeful, Jan 7, 2024.

  1. 37hopeful

    37hopeful Junior Member

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    A friends 2021 Prius has about 70k miles, and recently when he tried to start it and put it into drive, it just would not go into drive. I do not have all of the details but I know one of the messages is a hybrid malfunction warning. He had it towed to the dealership and they said it was the 12v batter that needed replace so they did that, it drove ok for a couple of days and then the same problem happened again. He got it towed again to the dealership and is waiting on their new guess for what it could be.

    Any ideas for what that might be? I was reading it could be a fuse, loose wire, inverter, fan issue. If it is an inverter that looks expensive.

    And shouldn't the dealer give him a credit for the first repair that was obviously not the correct repair? Maybe I'm off here though this was my first feeling.
     
    #1 37hopeful, Jan 7, 2024
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Shouldn't the car be under warranty?

    The dealership does not refund you for wrong guesses. As long as they make a genuine effort in guessing, that's all they can do. Since this is a 2021, this battery is probably going on 3 years. So you probably already used 1/2 the service life up. So you didn't lose too much on this wrong guess. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask for a refund (but good luck getting your old battery back)
     
    #2 JC91006, Jan 7, 2024
  3. 37hopeful

    37hopeful Junior Member

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    Thank you, and good point about the life of battery. They charged him over $500 for the first “repair” which included the tow to the dealer.

    Car is over 60k miles so as far as I know it is out of warranty.

    Hopefully it is a simple thing like a loose wire or bad fuse.
     
    #3 37hopeful, Jan 7, 2024
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    when there are messages and/or trouble lights, there are trouble codes.

    other than a bad 12v, without the codes, everyone is in the dark except the dealership.

    if your friend wants help here, tell them to ask for the trouble codes and post them here.
     
    #4 bisco, Jan 8, 2024
  5. 37hopeful

    37hopeful Junior Member

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    2011 Prius
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    Here is the code:

    p0aa000 hybrid / ev battery positive contractor circuit stuck closed

    They suggested repairing the high voltage junction box. What do you all think, have you heard of anyone with that issue?

    On a different note, when they clear the code, the car drives fine. Is there some at home way to clear the code in case it pops up again before the next repair is tried?
     
    #5 37hopeful, Jan 11, 2024
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That's where that contactor is located, so yes, the troubleshooting steps will be aimed that direction.

    Clearing the code with any scan tool, or interrupting the power for a bit, will let the car go READY again. He shouldn't make a habit of that; the safety isolation of the high voltage battery from the car is compromised as long as that stuck-closed contactor is there. Should get that fixed.
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Jan 11, 2024
    Doug McC likes this.
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