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Death Triangle

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by gordonmcds, Jul 21, 2017.

  1. gordonmcds

    gordonmcds New Member

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    Location:
    Auburn, WA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    V
    About two months ago, my drive battery finally died. I replaced it, after a mere 315000 miles. Everything was going fine until this morning. When I was coasting down a hill, I engaged the brake assist (B) on the shifter. Shortly after the triangle showed up. I switched it back to "D" and it went away. Stopped at the local O'Reilly and borrowed their code scanner. The only code was the Catalytic converter code which I already knew about and haven't done anything about it. It happened once more when I hit the brakes fairly hard but it went away just as quickly as it showed up. Is it the inverter? The brake master cylinder? I'm at a loss. I don't want to toss the car as it has been very good to me, however, I also don't want to dump a lot of money into this old of a hybrid. If it were a 69 Chevelle, that's another story. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
     
    #1 gordonmcds, Jul 21, 2017
  2. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Sounds like you need a scanner that can extract whatever codes your car is throwing.

    If the triangle came on there is something in history. You may need to go to a dealer or independent shop that has the correct equipment. Or buy it yourself.

    Or just wait for it to get worse.

    Could be several things. Really just throwing darts at this point.
    - Battery can't accept the regen?
    - Brake system issue?

    You won't know without more data.
     
    #2 ericbecky, Jul 22, 2017
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  3. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    +1 to @ericbecky's comments. Without the codes, it's a million to one guessing game. O'Reillys and such places generally can't read the hybrid codes.

    Also, You should probably click the "Report" button and ask a moderator to move this to the Gen 2 Care, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting forum since your 2005 is a Gen 2 Prius. You'll get more focused attention that way by other Gen 2 owners.
     
    #3 jerrymildred, Jul 22, 2017
  4. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    With what?

    Agreed, need the codes read by a scanner that can see all of them.
     
    #4 fotomoto, Jul 22, 2017
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Base
    agree with 'with what?' if it's a new toyota battery look elsewhere. if it's a refurb, likely the problem.
     
    #5 bisco, Jul 22, 2017
  6. stylinnnn

    stylinnnn Junior Member

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    ----USA----
    yes get refurb batteries and you will be good
     
    #6 stylinnnn, May 23, 2018
  7. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Vehicle:
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    Refurb...hmmm.
    That could mean so many things. There isn't and standard for terminology.
    So easy to get scammed.
    Module swap.
    Balance. Or not.
    Charge discharge. Or not.
    New buss bars. Or not.
    Clean buss bars. Or not.
    Nationwide part warranty. Or not.
    Recent cells. Or not.
    Etc, etc, etc

    For now NEW is best for longevity.
    Most other options will be a crapshoot.
    And you'd really need to delve deep to understand what you are getting.

    At that kind of miles it will be a hard choice.
     
    #7 ericbecky, May 23, 2018
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  8. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    OP, in this case, stand both for "original poster" and "only post." And it was almost a year ago. I wonder what he did with the advice.
     
    #8 jerrymildred, May 23, 2018
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