My 2001 Prius has 77K. It has done warning lights before and always been a gas cap that was not tightened or a mis-fire code three times since I bought it last spring. It has been driven very little since Thanksgiving when I was rear-ended and my Camry was totalled. It coughed a little when I started it, but had no problem driving the first 40 miles. I stopped for about 5 minutes to stretch. When I tried to start it to continue to work, all the warning lights came on and it died. I tightened the gas cap and restarted the car to have it die 2 more times. Third time it stayed on and I was planning on limping two blocks to AutoZone to have the codes read, when it rolled to a stop. No forward, no reverse. By the time the tow arrived, it would go forward. The codes were P3101 and 12689.
Reverse is 100% electric in a Prius. P3101 is usually related to dirty throttle body or too much oil put in engine. You need to read all codes with a reader than can read INF (subcodes) as well. Autozone scanners are not that great for diagnosing Prius.
It has given me the too much oil in the engine code before: usually after I had gone over some bumps then parked on a hill. When the oil level was checked, it was not to the max line. The closest Toyota dealer/repair shop it not the greatest. (They advised me to go elsewhere when I wanted to have cruise added when I was having recall work done.) Their best guy has been out. Guess I will just wait. Thanks.
How handy are you with cars? This is not really a hybrid issue, it is a lot like having a sticky choke on a carbureted vehicle. Pull the plastic air intake and take a look at the throttle plate. It should be open just a crack.
I'm betting if you haven't replaced your traction battery that is ultimately going to be the culprit. I had all sorts of issues on my 2002 (112K miles) and ultimately replaced the inverter (per the codes) with a salvage one and still got the triangle of death. Only after replacing the traction battery with a rebuilt re-Involt battery have my issues gone away (fingers are crossed).
