Here goes. On my 2001 Prius, while driving down the road the red triangle comes on and the ICE drops down to idle and the car slows down to 29mph. If I floor the gas peddle the car may or may not pick up speed slowly but if I let off of the gas peddle the least little bit it will slow down to 29mph. If I stop and turn the car off and then back on the triange is still there but the car runs fine. After turning the car on and off 2 or 3 times the triangle disappears. Also the break and abs lights are on. I don't know if there is any connection or not. A friend of mine has an Innova 3100E that I hooked up but could not pull any codes but I could clear the triange by hitting the 'clear errors' button. I left the reader hooked up and when the car acted up again I cleared the codes while driving and the car acted normal again. I did not even have to turn the car off. This is starting to happen more and more frequently. I did take the car to the dealer and they said that there was a short in the engine wiring harness but they could not show me where it might be. The tech said that it looked like something was living up in there but when I asked to be shown where 'there' is I was told that I would not be able to see it. Cost $5200 to fix. Cost of purchase of car $6300 I purchased this car only 6 months ago and I can't afford to buy another one but I can't let my wife drive this car because it is sooooo dangerous. If you have any ideas on what I can try or if there is a reputable repair shop near Chesterfield, VA I would greatly appreciate.
Talk to the people at Taylor Automotive (Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs) in Sanford NC. They may be able to help you. JeffD
There is a nationwide list of hybrid shops at Preferred Independent Hybrid Car Repair and Service Shops | Hybrid Cars However, as I posted for you before, the closest, and by far the best option, is Taylor Automotive in Sanford, NC. It is possible that you have a high voltage isolation fault. But that is exactly the sort of thing that a hybrid specialist shop can find and fix. Honestly, the technician probably didn't know precisely what the problem was, and hoped that, with the high quote, you would take the car elsewhere, or that he'd get paid if he had to work on it for an entire week to fix it.
