13 shutdown cases reported for Toyota Prius

Again, you can get a number of similar alert icons on the screen if the gas cap hasn't been securely attached after a fill up.

From reports on this board, this appears to be a much more likely cause than the SW problem.

 

Is there a coding scheme to help me identify the TSB's applicable to a 2004 Prius? How does it work?

 

All,

Thanks for the interesting information, however, I'm having trouble figuring out if my car needs an update. I'll call the dealer, but to be honest, I trust the people on this forum to be more accurate in determining if my car needs the update. It looks from my VIN like I may be a candidate, but I can't figure out which Plant the car came from, which is the deciding factor...can anyone help here. Here's the information I have: (Note the VIN is JTDKB20U853030161)

Thanks,

[email protected]
---------------------
18186 VEHICLE INQUIRY REPORT DATE: 02/10/05
DCV920 TIME: 13:03
Model Number: 1224A SERIAL # :53030161 Check Code: 9
Model Description: 4-DR GAS/ELEC Category ..........: G
Year ............: 2005 Current Dealer ....: 800-45050
Interior Color ..: FA18 BURGR Wholesale Dealer ..: 45083
Exterior Color ..: 0202 BLACK Previous Dealer ...: 45083
Body ............: HYBRID GAS/ELEC SDN Invoice Date ......: 02/08/05
Number of Cyl ...: 4 Ship Date .........: 02/09/05
Allocation Number: 01B Retail Date .......:
Engine Number ...: 3474187 Date of First Use .:
Vessel Number ...: 358 TRAC ..............: NO
Vessel Name .....: PYXIS V154 Damage ...........: NO DAMAGE
Accessories .....: FE BC CF WL PDI ..............: NO
Fleet .............: NON-FLEET
Port PDS Complete .: NO
VIN .............: JTDKB20U853030161
Ignition Key.....: 64941
Factory Installed Accessories: FE BC
Port Installed Accessories ..: CF WL
Retail
Vehicle Base Model ...................: $20875.00
Total Accessories .....................: $ 5310.00

 

I spoke to Toyota Customer Service about this issue first thing this morning. I was told that they know of six confirmed cases and are doing an internal investigation of the situation. The CS person assured me I would be notified if anything needed to be done to the car. I don't remember if I registered with Toyota or not, but they did not need my serial number to find my car. All they needed was my name and address.

 

So how do I make an official report to Toyota? I'm rather displeased that I paid 26k to nearly die because Toyota didn't notify me of a known problem either before or after the incident two weeks ago.

 

Call (800) 331-4331 Ext. 3 and complain.

 

The 11th digit, in your case "3" means the Tsutsumi Plant.
A "7" means Toyota Body Plant.
Each TSB indicates which VIN numbers have to be worked on unless the work was done subsequent to manufacture.
I had an August or October 2004 VIN (#3751) so practically every Prius TSB had to be done. My local service department (Bighorn Motors) was great shuttling me around town or lending me a car if I asked for one. Great guys. Never said NO to anything I asked for and this was my first Toyota ever. What a pleasant surprise.

 

I have read the contention on another site that these upgrades will negatively affect gas mileage up to 5 mpg. Has anyone experienced this? Can anyone explain why this might be true, if there is any truth to this theory. Could the current upgrades crop of Priuses meet the same epa standards as those tested for epa in 2005?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tstreet\";p=\"90827)</div>

My gas mileage hasn't changed at all on my 2004 after the update. I continue to get anywhere from 47-50 mpg with mostly highway driving at speeds of 70+ mph.

 

A query (not in this case, but in others): Are more Prius owners running out of gas, compared to other drivers?

The reason I ask this is that I often (semi-competively) hope to break 500 miles per tank for my Prius. The other night, I drove for about 29 miles after the first "BEEP" warning and the single gas gauge segment blinking, so I could use my local gas station. (They're nice guys.)

Now, I would never do that with my old car -- I barely ever let it get down to the "red area" of the gas gauge. But with the Prius, I thought, naah, it'll be alright.

I'm not advocating doing this, mind -- I actually think it was pretty dumb of me. But I'm wondering if similar feelings lead to out of gas conditions.

(And, since I understand that running out of gas resembles the software bug very closely, maybe it's not always the glitch.)

 

Heya,

I'd LOVE to make a 500 mile tank. But it'll never happen.

When I'm down to 1 bar, I start chickening.... I've never even SEEN a beep or flash that I've read about.

Bottom line - I know that running out of gas, especially in a high-tech car like the Prius - can be damaging.

Sorry - but I love my little white beauty TOO much to let her suffer just because I want to see a number.....

Yoda

 

What is the problem here! Why wait for a potentilial problem of running out of gas. When the light blinks get gas, simple.
Unfortuantely Toyota's technology has intiated a game wherein owners try to out do each other by running their cars dry to see who gets the best tank full. Think about it , did you do this with your last non hybrid car? For safety sake, when you get low on gas, fill up, simple, forget about the game.

 

Yoda,

Assuming that you poured in fuel while using the "slow" click at the last fill-up, then cautiously squeezed in maybe another 1/3 or 1/2 gallon, and the MFD shows 50+ MPG, go right ahead and hit your 500 mile before fill-up goal.

Worked for me.

 

That is good advice LongJohn but this past weekend my ICE shut down with TWO bars remaining. (Still haven't gotten to the dealer, but she's running great).

I think it was either this mystery bug people are talking about, I have an early 05, or it just received a faulty "out of gas" message from the sending unit.

Either way, I think that the "Bladder" was not a well thought out idea given the effect on your ability to consistently determine how much freakin fuel is in your car at any one time!

 

May 19th I emailed the Service Advisor at the agency where I bought my 2005 on March 6, sending my VIN and asking if it was on "the" list of VIN's that need a firmware fix for the"quitting at high speed" problem. He called me on the phone late in the day and told me to look for a mailing from Toyota during the next two weeks.

I'll post the results if and when!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Devil's Advocate\";p=\"91073)</div>

the bladder is perfectly thought out. It's a device that is on you car to reduce emissions. Nothing else, plane and simple. If your having so much trouble figuering out that the low fuel light means low fuel sell the car and buy something with a pollution tank on it. It's not the bladder it's the person who thinks the low fuel light is lying. This whole line of discussion has been going on since 2001 and 4 years down the road it's still being grumbled about. Did you research the car before you bought it? When any of our Prius blinks it's headed for the gas station. I had the 2001 give me the triangle of death with one bar left on a right hand high speed on-ramp to the freeway, motor never quit and refilled the tank and the TOD went away. Makes us fill after it drops to one bar.

 

Being able to figure out how much fuel is in the tank is not the issue. The issue is in a $27,000 vehicle that is supposed to be near the pinnacle of technological advancement I should not HAVE to figure out how much fuel is in the tank. Especially in a car that has such advanced fuel monitoring. The sensors should KNOW how much fuel is in the tank, and should know EXACTLY how much fuel has left the tank. anything less is unexcusable. There should be no guess work in determining how far you can travel on your remaining fuel. Granted consumption rates can change with driving conditions, but the car KNOWS EXACTLY, how much fuel it is using so it should be able to compensate and recalculate.

The real problem IS the bladder in that the capacity of the fuel tank can vary by over 3 gallons. While one would say, "Hey just fill up before you are near empty and you'll have no problem", the point again is there should be NO REASON for this kind of compromise in a car that espouses "technological advancement" as a main selling point.

Don't get me wrong still love the car, but this is a point that Toyota must deal with or else it will create a great deal of consumer relations problems when the cars fully hit the general population of drivers.

 

The bladder is, of all the current solutions out there today, the dumbest way to achieve PZEV there is. BMW, Ford/Volvo/Mazda and Honda manage to do it without a bladder. I don't even think the PZEV Camry has a bladder. But I suppose if there a few pennies to be saved, Toyota will jump at it considering how much the rest of the car's components (excluding the horrible interior materials) cost.

 

I don't know how much the bladder contributes to emissions control, but all those PZEV cars have considerably higher emissions than the Prius.