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Engine start-up: Weirdly fast

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by hbrubi, Jan 31, 2023.

  1. hbrubi

    hbrubi Junior Member

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    Hi everyone. I've been driving my 2006 Prius (145K miles) for seven years now (!), with a refurbed hybrid battery installed in June 2020. For all of that time, the engine has started about 10-15 seconds after powering on / "Ready" mode, as I understand is normal.

    On the past six start-ups, however, the engine starts *immediately* upon "Ready" mode—as soon as I power the car on. Any clue what this is about? Incidentally, it started right after a friend drove the car. I'm wondering if it's possible she accidentally pressed something?

    I haven't had the chance to drive the car more than a few minutes in these last weeks, but it also seems like the engine is *never* shutting off—i.e., even when it appears from my screen that I'm in full-on hybrid/coasting mode without using the engine, I still hear it running. Thoughts??

    Thanks for your help!
     
    #1 hbrubi, Jan 31, 2023
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    You may be having an issue with the used HV battery you installed 2+ years ago. Do you have any warning lights displayed on the dash?
    Generally speaking you don't want to leave the vehicle sit unused for any length of time, this can lead to 12v or HV battery failure in the future.

    When required, the vehicle will run the engine to provide heat or AC as needed, see if turning either/both off allows the engine to cycle again.
     
    #2 SFO, Jan 31, 2023
  3. hbrubi

    hbrubi Junior Member

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    Thanks for the reply. No, there are no warning lights on the dash. And the vehicle has not sat unused. I drive it at least once a week; I just haven't had occasion to drive it more than a few blocks in the past month. However, headed out on a long trip on Thursday!
     
    #3 hbrubi, Jan 31, 2023
  4. hbrubi

    hbrubi Junior Member

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    Both heat and A/C are currently powered to off, and have been for the past month or more. I will try turning them on & off to see if that changes something, perhaps.
     
    #4 hbrubi, Jan 31, 2023
  5. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    So, it sits for 6 days unused.

    Long periods of non-use and very short trips are a recipe for problems. More so as the car ages.
     
    #5 dolj, Feb 1, 2023
  6. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Seems like he is not listening.......or not grasping what you are saying.

    The behavior he describes almost always indicates a problem with the HV battery system somewhere.

    I have noticed that even my hybrids will do that for a short time, very infrequently, and I assume that it is because a combination of events caused the HV battery charge to be lower than "normal" and it is doing extra charging duty.

    I think he is not being wise if he takes this car out for a long trip.
     
    #6 sam spade 2, Feb 1, 2023
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Best way to kill a hybrid battery is don't drive it and you sure don't drive it. Should be driven every day.

    The engine should start the second you hit the power button so not sure why you think a 10-15 sec delay is normal. You have it backwards.

    Where did you get the "refurb" battery?
     
    #7 edthefox5, Feb 2, 2023
  8. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Umm, no. It goes to READY within about two to three secs and the engine will come on (all things being equal) about seven secs after that on a cold start.
     
    #8 dolj, Feb 3, 2023
  9. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Good to see that you are still living in your own little private reality, Ed.

    Neither of the above statements is true.
    Not even close.
     
    #9 sam spade 2, Feb 3, 2023
    broski likes this.
  10. broski

    broski Junior Member

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    This is incorrect. The ICE does not come on for ~10 seconds UNLESS there are extenuating circumstances. One common one is extreme cold (~0F) temperatures.

    OP is in NC so I suspect this is not a problem.
     
    #10 broski, Feb 6, 2023
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