I have been lurking here since Feburary 2007 when I bought my Prius. I love the car. I search for my problem and found some answers but with that said here is my problem: Today and yesterday my engine would not stop running in my works parking lot. Consider this: I just drove 25 miles at 55 mph. My battery was in the green the AC is off the radio is off I am traveling at speeds less than 15 mph (looking for a parking spot) In the past my engine shuts off and I cruise around on electric. But the past two days this is not the case. I also noticed yesterday on the way home, at a stop my engine continued to run and it keep pulsing the vehicle forward, then the engine finally shutoff.... I don't like this trend! thanks for your input
Hmmm, I can see a couple of possible reason off the top of my head: 1) You battery was full green (all bars filled in). If the battery gets "too" full the Prius will spin the engine using the battery to bring the charge down. This doesn't use any gasoline. I've seen this at stop lights just coming of the highway 2) Sometime when coming off the freeway the ICE likes to run. I've found that I need at least one stop and then go over 35mph to bring it back into stealth mode. I'm not sure why this is. Might be that the ICE is actually too cool coming off the free way.
I bought mine March 9, car built Feb 07. I have similar events, but no "pulsing." Sometimes the engine runs longer than I expect or want. This is when warmed up like you described, when cold the engine stops right away, when I figure it needs to run more to warm up. But I am learning to stop worrying and let it do it's thing.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(llsouder @ May 16 2007, 09:09 AM) [snapback]443262[/snapback]</div> Unless I shift into N or park at a stop, I have to keep my foot on the brake to keep the vehicle from drifting forward, whether ICE is running or not. I don't believe this is at all unusual (though I welcome correction if it is)
Thanks for the input people. I just drove to the DMV and back and it ran a lot but the gas mileage was 50 so... I guess I can't complain. Thanks, just wanted to bounce this off of some other owners... when you talk to "non-owner" they just don't understand
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(llsouder @ May 16 2007, 11:09 PM) [snapback]443262[/snapback]</div> My bet is you're in S3, idling check mode. http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/five-stages.txt Ken@Japan
Hi Megansprius Your Prius tendency to 'creep' forward when you're stopped as at a traffic signal is intended and normal. It mimics the ordinary automatic transmission's creep and would serve to prevent your drifting backward on a slope. It is the electric motor. You can prevent this 'creep' by pressing the brake pedal more firmly when stopped. Set your MFD to "Energy" (the display which shows the gasoline engine and electric motor and wheels) - come to a stop with light pressure on the brake pedal and your can see 'energy arrows' flowing from the electric motor to the wheels. Now press more firmly on the barke pedal and you can see those 'energy arrows' go away.
Yeah, I've seen this happening too; the ICE keeps running when it doesn't seem necessary. It's as if the ICE sometimes "forgets" to shut off when it should (altho' I'm sure there's a valid explanation for this) Sometimes when this happens, such as in a parking garage, I'll hit the EV mode switch to kill the ICE.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(llsouder @ May 16 2007, 07:09 AM) [snapback]443262[/snapback]</div> I suspect that you just don't have the brake pushed down hard enough. The car does try to simulate a regular car creeping forward when you take your foot off the brake. If the traction battery is sufficiently charged, then pushing down hard enough should ensure that the ICE remains off. Dave M.
