multiple warnings??

[bmack]

icons appeared today . any Idea what they may mean in combination? (!) , check engine, triangle with exclamation, vsc, and car profile with exclamation on the multiimform display. hybrid system contionues to run normally blut the cruise control is off line.

bmack

[edthefox5]

Hi,
Welcome!

There's 2 things I see alot on this site for older cars. One is the small 12 volt boot battery in the rear hatch. When that begins to go bad low volt the car starts to do all kinds of weird stuff. The other is the Inverter coolant pump fails and the Inverter overheats throwing alot of the icons you listed. That one is serious if not diagnosed quickly and correctly as it can lunch the Inverter real easy if you continue to drive. The inverter is around $4000 installed. We see alot of older Prius with failed pumps. Here's some questions so we can help you:

How old is that 12 small battery in the rear hatch? How many times have you had to jump start it? If you own a voltmeter I can tell you an easy way to check it without digging into the rear hatch. Do you own a good quality volt meter?

How many miles on your car? If alot when was the Inverter coolant changed and when was the last time you changed the trans fluid?

To check the Inverter coolant pump operation is simple. Start the car into READY. Open the hood and look at the Inverter coolant tank filled with the red fluid right next to the Inverter. It should show pretty good turbulanece of that fluid indicating pump flow.

One last thing it is essential to own a Scangauge for our cars. They show alot of info to increase fuel efficiency and more importantly they show boot battery volt level and also shows the codes thrown. Your car has thrown alot of codes (its trying real hard to get your attention). If we knew the nature of those codes we could tell you exactly whats wrong with your car. You can pick one up right here at Priuschat. Just click the orange SHOP button on the top of the page and search SCANGAUGE. Good luck and report back.

[Rae Vynn]

Question: Is there any chance you had the car in "D" and the driver's door was not closed?

[richard schumacher]

Rae Vynn has suggested the most likely possibility.

Ed has #2. For that, jdenenberg has documented a simple self-test procedure for the 12V battery at:
Checking 12v Battery Health - Hybrid Car Forums
He adds "It is also documented at
http://www.elearnaid.com/12vo1topraub.html
which sells high quality replacement batteries for the Prius."

If you have a voltmeter you can also check "12V" battery voltage at the jump point under the hood. With the car OFF a perfect battery will be in the range 12.4 to 12.6 V. If it's less than 12.0 V it is near the end of its life.

[ruralrt1]

mine lit up today and 2 qts of oil was all it needed i have 124k on it and am using it to deliver mail. no external leaks but had to modify a 22mm socket to remove the O2 sensor (bank 1 ) before the cat conv

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by ruralrt1

mine lit up today and 2 qts of oil was all it needed i have 124k on it and am using it to deliver mail. no external leaks but had to modify a 22mm socket to remove the O2 sensor (bank 1 ) before the cat conv

Interesting. I do not believe that the Prius engine has a low engine oil level sensor, so if the master warning light came on this is probably due to low oil pressure which means that the oil pickup in the crankcase was sucking air instead of oil.

Did you notice whether the oil level registered on the dipstick, prior to your adding two quarts?

I assume that your comment about the O2 sensor was unrelated to the low oil situation. What DTC was logged for that?

[icarus]

Down 2 quarts is a car that only holds 3.9 is naughty naughty!

If you are using that much oil between changes,, I would look seriously at doing an oil analysis and doing a good engine inspection. Rings, bearings etc. might be way cheaper now than waiting for it to grind more metal away,,, just a though.

Rural (or suburban) mail service has to be the hardest thing ever invented for a car. On the other hand,, you probably paid for the Prius several times over with the fuel savings,,

Icarus