First Breakdown

[bradnunn]

With nearly 20,000 miles on the odometer, I experienced my first
problem with my 04 Prius. I stopped to fill up with gas. Drove
about a mile after the fill up and noticed nothing wrong. Parked the
car for about an hour. When I came back it did not seem to power up
as usual. A red triangle and exclamation point appeared and the check engine light came on. I tried re-booting but had the same result. I drove
about a mile and noticed that the engine never started up. Power
began to wane and a check of the battery display indicted it was down
to the last bar and pink. Pulled off the road and called a nearby
dealer about a tow. Sitting on the side of the road I rebooted a few
more times and eventually heard the engine fire up. (triangle and exclamation point still lighted). I drove directly to the dealer and left it there. Had to take a rental home.

After leaving it at the dealer, they reported that the big red triangle was gone when they started it up and that it ran normally. The computer did register a code that they said they had not seen before. The code was TMC231 which reportedly is somehow related to the PARK function. I don't know if it is in any way related but I do not generally use the PARK button.
I generally just power down and let park auto engage. The technician
also mentioned a U0293 code. I don't know what that is about. After
speaking with Toyota in Calif. the technician called me back to ask
if I had been parked on an incline just before the trouble occurred.
I had not. After further test drives and calls to Toyota, they called
to tell me it was functioning normally and that I could pick it up.
I drove it home (55 miles)without incident. The service manager said
that the folks at Toyota had no explanation and that a case had been
opened and that it would not be closed until there is resolution. I
asked him to contact me once a solution is found. In the meantime I
hope the problem does not recur. Anyone with a similar experience?

[Frank Hudon]

just a thought if it does it again, put it in park then power down and re-boot. That might just get you going normally.

[TonyPSchaefer]

You might or might not have experienced similar issues that I experienced and documented here:
http://www.priuschat.com/forums/priapus-di...html?highlight=

It sounds different, but the warning I received from the MFD related to the brake even though I was parked in a relatively flat parking lot.

It seems tpical that when something like this happens, there are certain steps to follow:
1) Fight back that "Oh crap" feeling.
2) Breathe deeply.
3) Remember that the Prius is basically a computer on wheels with the amazing ability to fix itself.
4) Reboot the car in intervals of about a few minutes.
5) After the third boot, if the system no longer detects a system error, you can drive away.
6) You might want to reboot a fourth time just to check.

Since my episode, I have experienced no problems. I predict that you will probably not see this happen again.

[jayman]

Wow, great timing on this post! I've had my 2004 for about a month now. Yesterday I was driving in traffic, on the same road as usual, at around the 60 km/h posted speed limit. The MFD indicated the battery was green and one bar away from the top, which I usually have in Winnipeg city traffic. The car gave a sudden lurch and started slowing down: the ICE had stopped and the electric motor/generator was the only source of power. The dash had the Master Warning red triangle, the Check Engine, and the Hybrid warning icons; in addition, the MFD had the warning triangle and "PROBLEM." I pulled off safely on battery alone and tried the Power Off / Power On sequence several times, and the ICE refused to restart. Ironically, I pulled into a parking lot off the highway that had a truckstop AND a major towing company, which Toyota Roadside Assistance found hard to believe. Instead of calling the towing company directly, they had to go through a central dispatch, so I had a coffee in the truck stop and waited. I then waited at the towing company, chatting with the tow driver, while they waited for the "official" Toyota call. A big truck had blocked access to the Prius and the tow driver wanted to know if it was possible to push the car. Out of habit, I put my foot on the brake and poked the Power button, to shift into N: The ICE started but the Check Engine remained on. I drove to the wrecker and called Toyota again to see if I should just try to drive it anyway, and they said under NO circumstances to try to keep driving. The Service Manager was VERY surprised to see me again, as that morning on the way to work I had set up an appointment to install winter tires. They set me up with a rental (Ford Focus, yuk) and the tech gave a call before closing. They have never SEEN the combination of codes they had pulled and needed to do more intensive diagnostics starting next week, including discussion with engineers. I'll keep everybody updated on what they uncover, but so far I'm very disappointed and very worried that Toyota's usual excellent reliability is lacking in my Prius. First and foremost, I need a car I can rely on, and if this car proves to be unreliable, I'm getting rid of it.

[jayman]

Based on the advice of Toyota Canada, the technician erased and reprogrammed the PCM/ECU to Calibration #34705100. I picked it up this morning and - so far - so good. They want me to stop in next Tuesday to verify no new codes. I must admit, the tech seems honestly concerned about this and really went out of his way to try to resolve the problem. Here is a strange side effect of the new Calibration: the Homelink has stopped working, and Toyota is baffled by it. The programmed remotes are now erased and the Homelink refuses to allow programming. I just wanted my car back, so I'll let the tech dig into this deeper and hopefully he'll have the answer by next week.

[laserbill]

Is the same Jayman on the Cruiser Boards?

[enerjazz]

Had my first problem today on the way home:
Prius Problem 11/8/2004
Mileage: 4150
Temp: 75
At around 5pm I was attempting to accelerate onto a highway access road. When I stepped on the accelerator the car began moving, then hesitated strong enough to push me forward. It made a "clunk" noise, then picked back up. It drove normally after that.

About 15 minutes later I was attempting to enter a highway onramp. As I began to accelerate the master warning light (red triangle) came on and the car beeped. The check engine light and the red brake system warning light also came on. The hybrid system warning light was also on the display.

I switched to the energy monitor screen and noticed that the engine was not running. The battery level was slowly dropping so I pulled off into a parking lot. I shut the car down, then restarted it. The brake light cleared, but the other lights were still on. The engine did run and began charging the battery. I called the roadside assistance line and she asked if the car was driveable. I took a short trip around the parking lot and the engine was running and the battery appeared to be charging again. She recommended that I drive it to the dealer if possible. I drove the remaining 5 miles home without incident. The lights are still on. I plan to bring it to the dealer first thing in the morning, 11/9/04.

I'll post the diagnosis.

[jayman]

Is the same Jayman on the Cruiser Boards?

?? Cruiser Boards?? Uh, no.

[jayman]

My local Toyota tech called early evening to see if everything was ok with the car. There is a TSB for a similar problem: After stopping at a red light and the ICE shuts down, when the light turns green and you accelerate, the ICE will NOT restart but the electric motor / generator will continue to provide power until the HV battery is exhausted. However, mine gave out almost a block from the light AFTER the ICE had restarted. When the ICE quit, it was a sudden lurch, like slamming the brakes. The "fix" is to flash the computer to the new Calibration number, and the tech is also supposed to put a sticker under the hood next to the Federal Emissions label. I checked and my local tech did put this sticker next to the Federal label. I'll keep everybody informed how well this "fix" has cured the problem, keeping in mind it took a month and 3,000km before this problem became apparent. Still no luck with the Homelink though, it refuses to allow programming.

[DanMan32]

As for the homelink, sounds like it may have gone into an unknown state possibly due to 12V power fluctuations (dead/disconnected battery).

Someone had a problem where it wouldn't accept programming after taking delivery. The problem was solved by going through the proceedure to erase the homelink. It would then accept programming.