Something strange happened to me today. I was in a ferry and when we landed and it was my turn to start I tried to turn the car on and it wouldn't do anything. I would try to release the parking brake and the brake light was still on on the dash. At one point I saw a fleeting error message on the screen that said something about the brake being engaged and that I should try putting it in Park again when I was on level ground (which I was on level ground). I was wondering if I was just going to be stuck, but I was eventually able to get the car to start. I haven't been able to find this error message in the manual. Should I be concerned about having this happen again? TIA. Jack
It may be a lower than normal voltage from the auxiliary battery. I had exactly the same message while waiting at a drive-up window at a bank a couple years ago. My eventual solution was to replace that battery. I've seen elsewhere that it can go bad (not take a charge). There are other threads on PC that address this issue.
Jack, The cryptic message about "the brake being engaged and that I should try putting it in Park again when I was on level ground," is often an indirect indicator of a weak 12V battery. Do you have a way to check the voltage after it sits overnight? It should be reading 12.5V or better, preferably at or above 13.0V. Service life on the battery is ~4 years. However, if you ever had to jump start the car, a near-complete discharge really diminishes the capacity of the battery to hold a charge and leads to reduced service life. Have you noticed dimmed headlights or interior light with the car in the Acc mode? -- brake pedal not depressed, two pushes of Power button. that would point clearly to the 12V battery on its way out.
See the following for the built-in battery test procedure: http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html
My prius had a similar strange message pop up on the screen..the touch screen says Warning and has 3 icons one showing PS, the second showing a battery and the 3rd showing a car with an exclamation mark. The battery is fairly new but we have had an extremely cold last few days. I only bought the prius second hand about 2 months ago so I am unsure of what this message means...HELP!!
Usually one of the MFD icons will be lit more than the other two. Pls see which icon that is and post.
This means that the hybrid system has a problem. Are any other warning lights on? Any driveability symptoms? The DTC needs to be read so you'll have a clue about the car's problem. Good luck.
