Red triangle and hybrid warning light, and Check engine light illuminated! Please help!

Well during my Minnesotan commute this morning the Prius said -20* F and the Turtle was on for almost 30 miles during my 45 minute drive. Brakes were very stiff as well as steering to start out. I did not go over 60 mph and felt like it took for ever to get up to speed for fear of the turtle. My Prius turtle has been on daily for weeks. It took me two turns of the key to get the ready to start the car. Checked battery yesterday and it read 13.8 volts. For sure change the plugs and use the iridium plugs which I think I paid about $9 each. when i did mine I think I only removed the black relay/fuse box above where the plugs are and was able to get access to them all. Took less than 30 min. Wish the Prius had a block heater as my other vehicle has one and it turned over quickly.
TomK

 

1. The 12V battery needs more charging or should be replaced. What are you using to charge it, how much time are you giving to the charge and what charging current is being used? Should be charged overnight at a 4A rate.

2. Yes, you should replace the PCV valve while you are at it. You can try removing the valve without taking off the cowl tray, but if you don't have adequate access it is not very difficult to remove the windshield wiper motor and cowl tray.

3. Yes, P3191 would be stored even after the CEL turns off on its own.

4. The orange turtle light means that you need to restrict power train output because the traction battery has a temperature related issue: either too hot or too cold, both of which significantly restrict power output. In your case, probably the latter. Note that 2G and 3G models do not have this light.

5. If P3013 returns, you will need to work on the traction battery.

6. When referring to the radio being fuzzy, I assume you are tuned to an AM signal. How many miles away are the transmitters from your location and are they located in a major city or some small town? An intermittent fuzziness may point to a bad ground connection at the antenna base. And an AM transmitter in a major city may operate at 50 kW power output while an AM transmitter in a small town may operate at 1 kW output, so there is a big difference regarding the effective range of those stations.

 

That's really weird about the radio because there is no reason that should happen. I wouldn't put too much thought into that but I would keep it in the back of my mind because it is after all a possible symptom (of what I don't know). It could just be an anomoly.

 

Mine also has had this crackling sound until it warms up. Very loud actually to where I turn it down. It has done this ever since it has gotten cold, probably below 15* F. So about everyday, ha! Thanks for the info on the block heater! I will look into it as this is my fifth vehicle and it sits outside my three car garage.
TomK

 

1. The voltage measurement needs to be taken after the battery has rested undisturbed overnight. A voltage measurement taken immediately after charging is not very helpful due to surface charge which overstates the actual battery state of charge. Also, a 1.5A charger is close to being a toy and not too helpful for automobile batteries which are severely discharged, so you may consider getting a charger with greater capacity, intended for AGM batteries. The Prius battery has a label which suggests using a 4A charging rate.

6. When you have some time, wobble the antenna base with your hand, while the radio is on and see if that causes the burst of noise vs. clear signal.

 

Well, the most stringent test of the battery is when it is sitting outside, suffering in the Arctic-survival temperatures that you are dealing with now. It might do better indoors, but since the battery has to perform outdoors, that is where the test should be conducted.

It should not matter much whether the battery cables are connected since the quiescent current draw of Classic should be around 0.03A.

 

I would have liked to know what is the 12V battery voltage measurement at the moment when all the warning lights turned on, while the Prius is still READY. Pls bring your digital multimeter in the car so you can take that measurement next time this happens. You can measure voltage at the 12V aux power socket. Maybe your DC/DC converter is having an intermittent failure.

The very cold weather is stressing the traction battery and P3011 (pointing to the first battery module pair) is probably legitimate. You'll need to take remedial action with the traction battery eventually.

 

Look into the power socket, with a flashlight if needed. The center contact deep within the socket is the positive terminal. Try not to short that to ground, which would be a metal contact running around the inside of the circular opening.

You might also measure voltage at the 12V battery and note any significant differences.

 

I think I'm starting to see a clear picture emerge from the clouds here. I believe all these problems stem from a weak HV battery. The weak HV battery is causing the turtle light then while driving, battery block 1 becomes weak (P3011) and triggers the faults and the rest of the lights come on. This is compounded by the cold weather which we know steals capacity from a battery.

My diagnosis is (if you want it) your HV battery (specifically block 1) is weak. You are at the beginning stages of module failure and that's why the car drives. I would not recommend driving it and def not in this cold weather for fear you will get stranded in a no cell phone coverage area. I know we do have a concern about the DC - DC converter in the inverter but I don't see how that would cause a Master Warning Light and a p3011.

 

No, that's totally not normal and should be rare (ie from going down a hill). That is further evidence of your HV battery beginning to fail.

An your are correct about the 80% but that would be a completely green battery on the Energy screen.

 

The traction battery ECU attempts to maintain state of charge between 40% and 80%. The Classic SOC gauge has four segments to it, so if you see a completely green battery where all four segments are lit, the SOC is ~80%. If no segments are lit, the SOC is ~40%.

Typically the Classic SOC gauge will either read two or three segments when the traction battery is properly operational, which means the state of charge ranges from 60% to 70%.

 

I tried to figure that out today as I read the earlier post. My conclusion is that it must just be a visual graphic and not a percentage of the battery charge on the ENERGY screen. I could not figure it out so if there is a way I would like to also know. I however do not understand most of the settings this has yet, but would like to.
TomK

 

How many miles a day are you driving the Prius?

I recognize that your ambient temps are very cold, but I am wondering why the battery voltage that you reported below is so low, when Prius is not READY. That seems lower than I would expect for a new 12V battery which is supposed to be fully-charged.

When you took those measurements, was the cabin heater on? If yes, maybe the PTC electric heaters were on, which would provide a further substantial load on the 12V bus (around 50A extra.) Turn off the heater and see if that matters to the voltage measurements.

I also am wondering why the 12V battery is taking so much charge, and suggest that you need to invest in a better battery charger now, intended for AGM batteries and with a charging rate of at least 4A.

Obviously a charge rate of 1.5A is insufficient. Maybe the new 12V battery has less capacity than it should, which causes the voltage to sag down under load.

Yes, you've identified the major options for traction battery replacement below. Considering that the battery is 13 years old, and the adverse cold temperatures you have, it is not surprising to me that multiple modules are starting to report problems. This is why it is a waste of time to just replace one module at a time unless your idea of a hobby and fun is to continually remove and work on the traction battery.