Hi all! Let me introduce myself and my new sort of Prius, I just picked up a 2013 Lexus CT from the auction today. The batteries are deeply discharged. I'm going to need help, and this seems like a fine place to start. I'm about to go pull codes and see what they tell me. This isn't my first DOA hybrid, a couple years ago I got a stone dead first gen Volt, and got it going again. I don't see a sub forum for these on here, but I think the 3rd gen forum is where I'll mostly be. Anyway, hello, new hybrid friends!
if the codes show only hi voltage battery issues or if there are other codes that may be a result of low voltage ( either 12 volt or whatever voltage your models hi voltage battery is) check the drprius web page to see if you model is supported. Dr. Prius App the app was developed for a Gen2 Prius initially and works well for most all things battery related. It's main focus is the hi voltage battery. Currently supports many Toyota, Lexus hybrids. drprius + bluetooth odb2 adapter + phone and if you like what you see a small subscription in the either store and you get access to more options. There is a sub forum below all the prius forums for other car discussion. All kinds of model specific subs to choose from. Other Cars | PriusChat
I don't have Techstream (yet). I have a good OBD2 adapter and app (OBDLink), and I got the Dr. Prius App. I also have a VCX Nano, which might be part of the future Techstream link. 180k miles on her, and it's a mess of a car, and I'm hoping to fix all of that. It's really really rough though. I put the 12V on a charger for a couple of days, and pulled codes. All I got was a P0420 and P0A0D, I flipped the latch like this forum told me to, and the bad triangle went away and I got READY mode. I got the car to start and run and drive, but not great. On initial start up, it rattled hard for the first few seconds, then settled down, obviously from sitting up a while. I took it for a couple spins around the block and did the Dr. Prius tests, to the extent that I could. The battery is not great but useable. I'll hold off on diagnosing the O2/cat code for now. First battery monitor and latest, after warming up and some short driving, are attached. Looks like one problem cell, and another heading in that direction. I had a Volt with the same issue, and that affected the bottom end of the range, the delta V got worse and worse to where it flagged the battery as bad. For now, I'm thinking about doing a compression test, to check the head gasket situation, and cleaning the EGR, given the mileage and the obvious signs that this car was not properly cared for. I also found an open hose junction, maybe...this looks like for the coolant sensor? I was a bit afraid of coolant rushing out when the engine started, but thankfully no. The pic I found for this in the documentation is cut off right there. Does this look normal? Maybe shadetree things? I didn't really feel vacuum or pressure from it. I couldn't find anything obvious to plug it into, and I was running out of daylight and time. The other thing I'm stumped on, is the radio and nav system refuse to power up. The documentation said something about a humidity problem...OK great, I'm in Louisiana. There are also a lot of loose fuses tucked away in odd places of the car
If I’m not mistaken that WAS the engine coolant vent spigot. Toyota had a white plastic screw there that you could back out to vent air when refilling coolant, but deleted after 2010~2011, on the Prius.
I had some time to go over the car today, so time for an update...and a cracked hood ornament avatar I put it up on ramps and looked underneath the front. It appears that the crash damage is just the front bumper, the steering and suspension seem OK, the radiator is fine (but exposed), so good news there. The plastic underbody is pretty trashed. One flat tire that I filled. The car was beyond gross, inside and out, so I cleaned it up a bit, and got all of the various stickers and wax pencil marks off. It has a lot of cosmetic issues that I'll just live with. The rear tailgate light apparently caught fire at some point, melted that unit and burned a hole in the tailgate, which got fixed with spray foam and packing tape...I guess I'll get some epoxy filler and finish the job. Check this out: I noticed some what looks like a barely readable message in junkyard paint on the valve cover. Seems maybe this engine or head got replaced at some point. I found no signs of head gasket issues anywhere, and the coolant temps were fine. I messed around with the fuses to get the nav and radio working, but no joy. Folks on the Lexus forum were talking about moisture and the radio amps going bad. Oddly, the screen will close if I pull the screen up manually, but that's literally all it does. No radio, no CD, no noise, nothing. The AC blows nice and cold. I hope the seat heaters work, still too warm here to try them out. Then I took it for a couple test drives, and it drives quite well. It stops and starts and steers fine, and does a reasonable job taking on the bumps on the absolutely awful roads we have here. I got low 40s mpg on the short city drive and 35 mpg on the longer highway test (doing between 70-85 mph). The battery seemed to appreciate getting some exercise, it got to where EV mode was available and working normally. It never showed full or empty, and I might at some point in the future, try to pull it and try to recondition it. I got a fresh P0420 on the highway drive, when I got to where I turned around, I cleared the code. I'll track it and dig into that as it gets more use. So, I might have a winner here. My current shopping list is: front fender, lower grill, fog lamps, right headlight lens, left tailgate light (or a new tailgate), maybe a tire and an amplifier.
