Prius starts with red triangle, stuck in Nuetral, no Drive or Reverse

The first thing to do is read the codes (or have the codes read) to find out why you have the Master Warning Light on.

If you get no codes, all that means is the reader used was inadequate and cannot read the hybrid system ECUs.

Report back with what codes your car has.

This thread has a review of some reader apps.

 

You need to read the codes as dolj said. Ideally, you should get an OBD2 reader to connect to your phone / tablet, to be able to read other troubleshooting data (battery voltages and more);

Many things could cause your symptoms. It sounds identical to when my battery ECU high voltage sense connector began draining some of the battery - it was made worse by leaving the car unused for a few days, and by damp weather…

However that is just one possibility - getting an OBD2 reader is good advice, as you can then get advice on these forums (many workshops may just say ‘you need a new hybrid battery’, when actually you don’t)…

 

Sounds like you're having the battery isolation fault issue You want to measure from one of the silver plugs on the orange safety plug with a DC voltmeter to one of the bolts that holds the battery to the floor or frame of the car when you touch the two leads to the proper places you should see DC voltage and it should count down to zero It probably will not it'll stop around 60 48 101 something like that and then sit there That's your problem that needs to count down to zero and it's not because the battery is not isolated from the chassis of the car and it's pushing voltage from your DC battery to your 12 volt grounding point for all your computers and 12 volt equipment and it's wreaking havoc on that use your cheap code scanner and clear the codes twice in a row without moving from the seat did the red triangle go away and now the car readys? Almost guaranteed your problem is the isolation fault now if you want and you want to go further find the code scanner that really can read the codes and doesn't have to clear it twice and you'll see the proper code I don't remember the number right offhand but it's a doozy The test with the voltmeter is called the down and dirty test for HD battery leakage there is a YouTube video showing you how to make the connections I use clamps so I don't have to hold the leads on the bolt heads I clamp them there and then stand there and watch the meter take a picture of it when it doesn't zero and fix it or tell the customer stand around like the monkeys and the Amoco commercial whatever The point is you found your problem I do think but it can be other things too don't get me wrong this is just a real common one and a generation two with some age on it

 

Here's the deal with a P0AA6. The HV cabling and system is insulated from the regular 12v system of the car. The HV system continuously monitors this 'separation' of the 2 systems and can be seen on techstream software as "shortwave highest value". When the separation is perfect, it shows a value of 5v on the Techstream software. When less than perfect, it shows a lower value. The worse it is, the lower the value, all the way to 0v. Around 3.2v, the car will trigger a P0AA6 code. If you are currently driving the car, the code will still allow you to drive, but as soon as you turn the car off, it will lock out the ability to go to ready/drive. If you reset the codes, it will allow you to drive the car again, and repeat the cycle. Without a good code reader/scanner, the easiest way to reset codes is to unplug the 12v battery.

Here's what just happened to me, after the same Debbie weather in South Carolina. It was a crazy day yesterday.

So a friend that I helped, months ago, calls me up and says his car coded as he was leaving the driveway. Sends me a dash photo. He describes all the symptoms of a P0AA6 fault. I drive 30 minutes to help, get there and my darn laptop won't fully start the Techstream program. Keeps asking for a new key code. Spend 30 minutes trying to get it working, even with the key code, but no luck. I'll need to come back after sorting out the laptop.

My son calls me. He's using my 2007 Touring. Car coded on the way to work, only a minute from his house. He sends me a picture of his dash while at a red light and continued to work 5 minutes down the road. Picture looks identical to the one from my friend, but pictures don't always tell the tale since many faults cause the same lights. 2 hours later, I finally figure out what's wrong with the laptop. It went to a default date of June 2008 and messed with the software subscription date. Got that working again and drove 30 minutes to check out the kid's car. P0AA6, 526/612. Everything looked good on techstream. Reset the codes. Shortwave was 4.99, hmmmm.. Told him to bring it to the house after work and we'd swap it with the 2006 so I'd have time to investigate further. I go home to get the 2006 ready.

Start the 2006 and plan to move it where I can wash it. 10 seconds later, RTOD. Park it. Dash looks identical to the two photos I've received. Knowing what's about to happen, I turn the car off and back on. Will not go ready, although READY flashed several times. Connect the laptop and find P0AA6, 526/612 and shortwave is 1.76v. Curious about the rash of P0AA6 codes after this weather, I pop the trunk and pull out the floor pieces. First thing I notice is the 12v battery is covered in condensation on every visible surface, including the terminal clamps. That's enough for me, most likely the HV battery is the same way. I unplugged the 12v battery to reset all the codes and then started the car. It coded again shortly after starting, but since it was READY, it allowed me to drive. Driving with the laptop/teschstream on line, the shortwave value increased to 4.2ish over about 5 miles. Stopped at a Wendy's parking lot and reset all the codes again. Then over the next 25 miles, shortwave improved to 4.99 with the occasional flicker to 4.97v. Took the car home.

Son gets to the house around 11pm. Says the car was driving perfect. Connected techstream again and shortwave was still 4.99. Hung out for a bit and a bite. I made sure he knew how to disconnect the 12v battery to reset codes just in case and then he headed back home with the 2007.

If this happened to me, on 3 different Gen 2 cars, I'd imaging it's going to happen to a LOT of gen 2s. The rapid change in temperatures and the huge amount of humidity is causing a lot of condensation. The car likely just needs to be started and run for a bit so the HV battery cooling fan can blow some air through the battery to dry the condensation.

 

Interesting. I wonder, do the apps that can command the battery fan ON also work with the car IG-ON, before you try to go READY? Maybe give it a few minutes to dry off before putting it to the test.

* wonders if it's worth getting one of those apps

 

This was actually in my plan, but.....my hybrid assistant app is on a dedicated Galaxy S3 I've had for quite a while. It hasn't been plugged in for a while and battery was dead. And...it's so dead it won't even charge. One more thing to add to my list from yesterday's day of hell...

 

After Debbie here in North Carolina Central part of the state Orange county both of the generation 3s are like terrariums The windows are rolled up they are sealed but seats are starting to show white mold where the high moisture content is and you can smell it the minute you open the door the persona turning the same way I have to get those moisture removal bags and hang them up in these things and they will dry out The generation 2's on the other hand are in seemingly stellar shape I just looked in the trunks today All of the generation twos had water in their 12 volt battery wells when I bought them that's been dealt with and the process to deal with it has shown to hold up well no water in the trunk no moisture in the back no droplets no condensation nothing in the generation twos of course they're driven The threes are sitting but they're not in total shade so they see the sun and all that until the rain came like this they were not like that on the inside. Even the two generation twos on site that are parts vehicles are completely dry inside quite surprised and one of those doesn't have tail lights in it or any of that but all the glass is intact completely dry inside one of my cats sleeps in it.

 

While reading above I was thinking can you take a picture of how you connect to the Safety Plug.
than I got to this line.

Thanks

 

Yes that's the name of the video of the guy made I try to make it easy

 

I'm not quite sure of the point ... yeah, that can show you if you've got an isolation fault in the battery, but an isolation fault is just what the P0AA6 code already tells you you've got.

You might use it to decide if the fault is in the battery or somewhere else in the car (the meter will only 'stick' at some voltage if the fault is in the battery), but that's what the INF code with the P0AA6 already tells you. (INF 612 if it's in the battery, other INF codes for other parts of the car.)

So maybe if you don't have access to a scan tool, you could do that to decide if you're looking at 612 or "any of the other INF codes besides 612".



But there was an easier check people came up with back in gen 1, which didn't give you those INF codes yet. You could clear the code, and then go IG-ON (not READY yet), and see if the code comes back. If so, battery has the fault (think "612").

If not, hold the brake, shift to neutral, and press the button for READY. If the code comes back then (after the SMRs click), think 614.

If not, shift into a gear. Code comes back now? Think 613.

If not, turn on the A/C. Code comes back now? 611.

That little checklist is essentially what the later generations just run through automatically to give you the handy INF codes.

 

I have a small pile of older Android phones that I tend to keep after replacing them, thinking I might use one later as a display for something or in some other clever way. I've seen at least one get to the point where I put it on the charger and the notification LED just pulses red, but I've just let it do that for maybe an hour or two and then seen it begin charging.

 

I went crazy on batteries today. I have an older Dell 64 bit 17" laptop with my first techstream program. I haven't used it for techstream since I bought a dedicated 32 bit Dell laptop with a more recent version. I use it once a year for H&R Block tax software. I tried to get the older 17" laptop version going but the battery completely died and will not recharge. Ordered a new high capacity battery from ebay today for $30. Also ordered a new high capacity battery for the S3. Also $25. Batteries have certainly gotten less expensive. Also certainly made in China. Can't wait to see what kind of durability they have, but I'm sure it's more than zero, which is where I'm currently sitting!

 

I've got a thin and light 13.3 win10, got it second hand specifically to run techstream. Had to put a battery in it bout 6 months after I got it, which may be why the orig owner was selling it. I can tell ya for fact the battery I got is not anything like what it came with new, at least according to the reviews of the model. but like you said above it's way better then nothin. Same experience witlh my old LG phone with it's removable battery. The replacements for the OEM sized battery and the one oversized 10900mah hunker didn't last as long as the original battery, but I'll take what I can get these days for a going on 10 year old phone.

 

Some people just like to verify with a meter even though I'm looking at the crap on the tray and see clearly what's up. So I guess I can skip the meter I do that before I am even looking fully at the battery I do this with the plug out the battery still in the car the carpet on top of it and everything so I can't see what I see because nothing's undone I see what the scanner says and I believe it because it's pretty regular.

 

No don't tow the car just yet You should be able to find a mobile person to come to the car reasonable there's a lot of hungry people out there. When you exposed the 12 volt and or the HV battery in the 12 volt well where the 12 volt goes and where the HV battery goes did you see water droplets Is there water in the spare tire well? Is there water on the other side of the 12 volt battery where the plastic goes in the little junk well? If water is any of those places where the 12 volt goes if you run your hand around there with the 12 volt removed you'll find some rubber plugs touching your fingers push on them and make them fall out now you can spray the hose in that area and you should see the water build up and run right out and drop almost on your foot if it's under the quarter panel that's where the water's going to come out. For the HV battery water comes in through the hat seal because people don't do good housekeeping in the hatch seal well. So what you do about that is right under the hybrid battery in the spare tire well there's a rubber cap You push that through and it hits the ground you retrieve it and throw it in the plastic junk well on the left side of the car you're saving it now when water comes through the hatch or gets in the car it will pass through rather than stay and visit and try to evaporate when it tries to evaporate the interior of your car becomes a terrarium not good You want water to pass through not sit that's the goal. But if you're going to have the car towed then have it towed and just pay the bills I shouldn't really be too much of a thing but when the stuff starts adding up and the things start getting really silly I hope you have a good handle for that kind of vibe so you can put a stop to that mess. Where is the car is in your yard and somebody's coming to it putting a stop to their nonsense is just sending them off the property once your car is held for ransom well you're finished You're going to pay them what they tell you and that's that no matter what because they have your vehicle and in most states that's how it works just a thought

 

Your coolant flow control valve maybe faulty or acting up but it should not keep the car from driving and throw a whole bunch of codes and lights unless you've lost a lot of coolant or something's wrong and generally that doesn't happen unless you see it on the ground under the car everything else is full The reservoir behind the radiator when you take the cap off the coolant is all the way up to the top of the neck right at that little hole getting ready to drop in to go to the reservoir and that's that. So I don't think that's what's making you have all these lights and running problems No You're cheap scanner probably cannot read the computers that it really needs to read the same problem my Inova 3100 series has It does quite well and reads ABS codes but there's a lot of codes that it just can't get a hold of through the can bus for some reason It's not that type of scanner as your cheap one seems not to be either That's why we recommend or I recommend the AP200 from a u t e l it's inexpensive it'll do what you need it to do for most of our generations of Prius here and well that's that If you want to spend a couple of hundred you can but there's no need so I think you have other things going on as well as your coolant valve apparently giving you problems what happens when you clear that code everything start up and act nicely?

 

I sounds like the inexpensive OBD2 scanner that you purchased is not capable of reading all the trouble codes in a Prius.

Which scanner did you purchase?

Did you read the thread linked in post #2 about different scanners?