Well today I was driving along and suddenly it says "problem!" in the MFD and the tiangle with the ! inside came on. Then ICE would not come on and the battery was being drained fast. I pulled over and called the dealership, I got it up there and they said the computer needed to be re-programed. This ever happen to anyone else?
I'm sure someone will be of more help, but use the Search page. Look for things like "red triangle". Just on a lark, was it raining or wet?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer\";p=\"73758)</div> No, it wasn't raining or wet, actually the best weather we've had in awhile. Dry sunny and in the 40's.
Well, the dry weather eliminates thoughts of water or vapor getting into a loose seal (was an issue at one time). I just ran a search using "red triangle" and got a full page of results. I was going to flip through and see what I could find for you, but I'm sure you would be better at finding something that better matches your experience. And you can also read the responses and follow-ups. One things for sure: Suggest to your dealer that they pull the error codes from your car. But know this: with some dealers, if you ask that they pull the codes and they don't find anything they will charge you for the labor. But if they do find something then they don'tcharge you. So perhaps there might be a way to "suggest" that they pull the codes without actually requesting it... Sorry for trouble. Keep us posted.
Your ECU needs to be 'flashed'. This is a fairly well known and easily fixed issue and usually doesn't recur (with or without the ECU flashing). BTW, you could have restarted and driven the car without any further problem (more than likely...assuming it is the well known problem and not something worse).
Well they have it overnight. They told me to bring it in when I called. They had it for about a half hour and said I shouldn't drive it until they could reprogram the computer. I don't know exactly what the problem was, but I expect a full report in the morning. They were however nice enough to give me a loaner for the night. it's a Chevy Silverado 1500 Quad cab, a big difference from the Prius, that's for sure!! When I find out what the problem was, I'll let you know. I'll do the search and see what comes up. I didn't get a manual with the car, but I hope to have one soon. I'll keep you posted.
I agree with Evan in that the ECU needs reflashed. All will be ok after they do that,I have never had one return after reflashing. And like he said,it is fairly well known and your dealer should have you up and running in no time. By the way,the Chevy was full of gas,wasn't it? :lol: You should have fun watching the gas gauge drop after driving your Prius,
OK, I got my Prius back. My receipt says: Tech retreived code P3191 and POAOF, current ECU Cal is 34702000 reprogramed ECU per bulletin EG047-04 to new cal at 34705100. So if that means anything to anyone...... I am very happy to have my car back, the Silverado was huge and thirsty! They told me to return it with as much gas as it had when I got it, so before I dropped it off I but $5 in, not nearly enough, it didn't even move the guage any, in my Prius that would have been almost a half a tank! So thank you everyone.
Yes that is the common TSB for the 04/ early 05 Prius'. You should have no problem with that now. Drive and enjoy. With your time in the Chev, I bet your glad you don't have to fill it weekly, haha. I have a 99 Tahoe my wife drives and loves so believe me,it doesn't get the mileage you guys/gals do in your Prius'. Now if I could just talk here into a new Highlander hybrid, hmm? :roll:
my car is in the shop right now for the center console material to be replaced and have my brake light switch recall done. I hope my car doesn't need this flash too. i guess time will tell instead of my lovely prius, i'm driving a Dodge 1500 truck with a Hemi engine. 345 horsepower 14 mpg at best. about 12 to 13 on average. *shrug* i don't want to have to add fuel to this thing.. but.. i'll have to a very crappy vehicle for costing more than my prius.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(babsrocks\";p=\"73920)</div> Yep, that's the one. If you open the hood, near the factory emissions decal should be a dealer decal that states there is a different Calibration and in the blank space a hand-written updated Calibration number.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rick57\";p=\"73925)</div> Rick: Funny you should mention that ... Around once a week I pop in to see my local Prius tech and have coffee. For the past 2 weeks he has been trying to talk me into ordering a Hybrid Highlander, and he's quite the salesman too: "Oh you deserve a Highlander ... your condo has 2 parking stalls why leave one empty ... we could go fishing ..." I really REALLY think he wants a Confirmed order so the dealer can get one in and he can play with it. Not that I'm complaining. I'm really impressed with how friendly the staff is. With my former GMC Sierra, I half expected them to greet me with a comment that rhymes with "duck shoe."
This morning at the beginning of a 1.5 hour trip about 2 miles after I drove past the Toyota dealer my 04 Prius lost power, the red triangle came on and the gas engine died. Smoke was coming out of the exhaust. I shut down the car, waited a minute and pushed the power button. Still the red triangle and no gas engine. Fortunately my service manager at the Toyota dealer was in. He said to slowly drive the car back to the dealer and call him if he I didn't make it and he would send a tow truck. I pulled in to the shop with 2 bars left. My loaner is a Kia that seems to get great mileage and drive fairly well. They said they'd call me Monday when they figure out what the problem is. Sure would be nice if all they had to do was flash the computer. It was time for an oil change anyway so that's optimistically scheduled when the cars running again. I also asked them to align the front end. My Prius has just over 20,000 miles and the OEM tires are trashed even though they've been rotated regularly. This is the third time something was wrong and they had to give me a loaner. The JD Power customer satisfaction survey came today. Its going to be hard to give a good review. I'll post an update when I hear about the car.
Smoke doesn't seem right. Was the ICE actually still running but not giving you power, or was it completely off and you were under electric only and smoke was coming out anyway? Also, unless the ICE was actually running a bit, I think it was a bad idea for your service guy to suggest driving it 2 miles on electric only....that's too far and too risky to your battery....IMO.
Evan, smoke was coming out of the exhaust when I "restarted" after the initial shutdown. I immediately shut down again and called the dealer. After talking to the dealer the smoke wasn't there because the engine didn't start. I was watching my charge state the whole way with the intent of stopping immediately when the Prius dropped to one bar of charge. This is a case where I am glad to have purchased the extended warranty. Thank you.
The smoke part doesn't sound right. Could be a reflash but the smoke has me wondering what it was. And this is your 3rd loaner? What was the other problems. Can't think of why you would have that much trouble. :roll: Let us know what you find out,ok?
The smoke was noticable enough that my passenger got out of the car much more quickly than he normally moves. The first loaner was for three weeks while they tried to get a new gas tank the second was for more of a scheduling problem because the Prius trained tech got sick and they had to keep the car another day. In spite of the problems its a great car. With a little encouragement from me my sister picked her 05 up two weeks ago. I'm just really hoping to get a call by noon saying the cars ready.
