So, I hit a deer last night at about 40mph (after rolling up onto my hood she trotted right away without even a limp, hopefully she is ok). Damage occurred at my drivers side headlight and surrounding body. The light was pushed well into the body and screw hole tabs have all been snapped off the headlight assembly. I'm ok with epoxy holding the tabs in place and a couple wrinkles on the body, no big deal. However, much like last time something went wrong with my Prius, the dashboard warning lights lit up like a carnival. The dreaded red triangle/exclamation, the airbag, and I what I believe was a brake warning light all came on as well as the word "problem" displayed on the screen. This morning I ran a code scan using Techstream and a MiniVCI (I think is what it is called, sure you guys know what I am talking about), got a number of codes having to do with airbags, brakes, HV system, etc.. So I removed the plastic front end, got the headlight unwedged and removed and inspected any wires that were in the area of damage and could find no apparent damage. Long story short, I have run the scanner numerous times, have also cleared the codes and ran the scan again. This returned less codes but still the airbag and a couple others remained (I can provide more details on this if any one cares). Eventually after another clear all codes followed by a 10 minute or more test drive was carried out. All warning lights were now off and the following rescan shows not one code. I am all for self healing cars but it seems odd and I don't trust it. Two things that are still puzzling me about the Techstream results 1) under the Engine and ECT scan it says "incomplete" and 2) I was asked by a technician to also run the CAN Bus check (I don't even know what this is), the results were a message that read "There is no system found on the Communication Bus" followed by a screen with zero info (empty chart). Should either of these last two things (or anything else mentioned here) cause me concern or should I be glad my warning lights are off and button her back up?
Glad it's still running! The impact likely tripped many of the accelerometers and generated the codes. Your connector work, multiple resets and continued driving with the car's self diagnostics likely resulted in confirmation that the problems have cleared. I can't say what the other issues are, but they are somewhat concerning.
Looking back at some older Techstream screen captures I noticed that it has always said Inc (incomplete) by the Engine and ECT results. Guess I will not worry too much about this. I'm gonna put her back together and see what happens next
What is the mileage on your '05? What you described sounds exactly like the HV battery failing. I have gone through it twice and had the battery rebuilt (not replaced). In the early stages, it is possible the codes will clear (using a tool, like my ScanGauge), but it will inevitably come back, usually within a few days. One symptom I noticed right before failure is wild fluctuations in battery SOC on the Energy screen, such as going from 1 purple bar to 8 green bars by simply driving modestly for the (flat) street. Then down again. Then eventually "Problem!" appears on the MFD and all the lights come on. However, the car still allows you to drive, though I wouldn't do it for long... My guess is the deer collision is coincidental. Hope that helps.
He's already rebuilt his battery in another thread, and he has the tools necessary to assess its health.
Ah, ok. I hadn't seen the other thread, or know of his prior experience. Just sharing mine hoping it would help.. Good luck to the OP in finding the cause/solution and keep us posted!
