Okay so I was just wondering if anyone knows what's wrong with my Prius. I changed gears to reverse but the car did not move.. It kind of felt like I was in Neutral. And a turtle light popped up at the same time. I went forward and braked after about a minute. When I pushed down on the gas the car did not move again and the turtle light came on again. The car drove forward after a couple of seconds and the turtle light is off now. Does anyone know what that means? My coolant light has also been on for a while.. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with it.
The terms "coolant light" and "been on for a while" should never be used in the same sentence. You should not wait to see how long it will take for this to clear itself. I would start by checking the voltage of the 12V. So many issues can be be caused by a weak 12V. 12.6 and above is a strong 12V. These were some comments found on the subject. You don't say where you live or what temperatures you're dealing with but maybe something here will sound familiar. More information about the condition might help to troubleshoot it better. Turtle Icon The Turtle light is explained on p. 94 of my old 2001 manual.<br><br>Basically, it's a warning light stating that the hybrid battery is in some diminished condition, so your available power will be limited. drive without hard acceleration, or pull over from that big mountain that you're climbing, or stop driving in reverse for that long distance, to allow the battery to warm up/cool down/recharge.<br><br>The turtle light will come on briefly when you start up the Prius, but should go off quickly if all is OK.<br><br>The reviews/test drive reports of the Japanese-style Prius (pre-North-American release), which had a smaller battery and engine, had several reports of the Turtle coming on, mainly on long uphills and such battery-draining activities.<br><br>Many people have gone up long mountain ranges and had the electric assist cut out on them, and not gotten the Turtle (where it's expected). The only reports of a US Turtle sighting have been when the Prius sits outside long in really cold temps (<20F for a long time), and I think I recall one or two reports in 110+F degree desert driving. It'll take the Prius a bit longer to give you the READY light in this instance. Prius Starts but won't move | PriusChat
Short answer: get it to a dealer ASAP for diagnosis. If you are ambitious have them tell you all of the trouble codes that are reported, and post them in the "Gen I" forum.
