Have an 05 ...it was a rebuilder with a lite hit in front ...ran it today for first time since I fixed it...started fine ..ICE sounds good ,smooth but after 45 seconds the cooling fans came on (the ICE was cold and A/C off),the motor went to a rough low idle, and it sounds like loose marbles between engine and transmission ..also on the LCD screen inside ,it flashes MAIN BATT in a small red box in the left side ...so I shut it off ....restarted it ..all fine again ...until about 45 seconds then it goes back to the same above problems....there are no codes on my scan guage......question ......could the inverter cause a prob like this as it was replaced ,it came from ebay ..I didnt notice this prob when I tore the car down to fix it ... there were no physical damage to ICE or Trans .......In the 45 seconds that I have of normal running it will go into drive and reverse and move without noise...Thanks all...M
If the MFD shows a MAIN BATT icon, then there must be other warning lights on such as the red triangle Master Warning light. What lights appear? There must be DTC that have been logged, although your code reader is not picking them up. You can either buy a better code reader that is compatible with the Toyota CAN, or else have the car towed to your local dealer for diagnosis. The "loose marbles" probably means that the ICE is trying to idle but MG1 is not spinning at a rate to allow normal idle. Hence the ICE is running rough at a lower than normal idle speed. Could be a problem with the hybrid vehicle ECU. For fun, since your traction battery is probably dead and there's nothing to lose, try starting the car. In the 45 seconds available to you before the drivetrain becomes weird, put the gear selector in D, hold the car stationary by pressing the brake pedal hard with your left foot, then floor the accelerator with your right foot and see if you can charge up the traction battery above one bar, or not.
The red triangle is on brake,abs,check engine, & a few more .red main batt and the word " problem" on the LCD.. ..It could be that the rattle noise is the traction batt is trying to restart the ICE ...still dont know why the fans come on ....I tried the pedal thing ...the pedal has no effect at all ...wont rev.up before or after the prob...thanks
Regarding the radiator fans: they are supposed to turn on half-speed when the water temperature switch mounted on the radiator closes. The two fans are effectively in series when this happens. The fans are supposed to turn on full-speed under engine ECU control or when the air conditioner pressure switch closes. This pressure switch is located near the sight glass on the high pressure side of the air conditioning plumbing. Since the car was hit in the front, was the radiator damaged and replaced? If yes, then it is likely you have lots of air in the engine coolant system since the engine does not run long enough to purge the air out. That might be causing a temp sensor to heat up and prompt the engine ECU to think that the radiator fans should come on. What damage was caused to the wiring harnesses in the accident? Has any damage been repaired? I think your car has many problems besides the radiator fan problem; you'll need to obtain a full list of DTC to know where to start.
