G2, Ready On & Off, then no Ice start.

[itradegreen]

I spent 3 years working a simple cost effective lighter 12 volt diy, but toyota's refuses to call it a problem. So much for continous engineering quality control from manufacture to dealerships. Especially, now that, can be used for G1. G2, & G3 12 volt batteries!


Wonderful Cheers for you guys ahead of time for helping me work out my problems with my 2005, Champange Beige Prius with leather & heated seats.

Quick history, I aked my non-toyota service garageman to replace the two oxygen sensors, PVC value, etc. Since my MPG's have dropped, and that the toyota garage said, if i replace the Engine ECU myself, they will try reset the "new salvaged unit" I agreed.

So, the garage man said, I can have the guys here do this for you, but you must stay here with them since they are just "kids" from tech school and they may need you to show them where the parts go...

Anyway, ok I agreed. I drove the car in ther garage this "tech" kid 2 Oxy. Sensors, 1 PVC, one thermostat and O ring. So, as this young man started and moved the car to one area of the garage.

He had no problems with the thermostat, but jacked the entire passenger side (front and back) up saying he could only find the one Oxygen Sensor and their probabley is not another that he could find tonight. Anyway another friend of his walked in and they started gabbing, and I guess they were talking about being unable to find the second O2 sensor and "here ever the PVC valve is? At about that time the kid went to the hydrolic lift and hit the release button, and "dropped the entire passenger side of the car in one awful sounding crash". I yelled saying, "that car has never been dropped like that before or even when the bumpers where bumped" I am unable to believe you dropped it that hard and that it is wrong to do to anyone, because you never know what you might break.

Anyway, after this happpened... They could not get the car going, but they parked it out front so, I can come as charge the battery overnigth since they cannot get it "running again".

I waited over nigth since it was raining outside and I expected to drive it from there... So, the owner said, I am not going to charge you for the repairs since they are not able to get it going.

That day I explained to him about the kid dropping the car over 4 feet and I was worried about it... Then the garageman, told me to just get the car out of here asap. They no longer had time to finish the other sensor and pvc valve!

Ok, so I have the charger hooked up to the jump points and the ready light was not staying On. And the gas engine was not starting up to charge the main HV battery. The " Ready was staying on now. So, I put it in Reverse, backed it out and told them I would drive it back home in electric and I did not drive it over 10 miles per hour and everything seemed to work... as I drove it towards my house, which is less than a mile a way. As I came closer to home I began to slow to park it. Then as I accelerated it a little, it went from drive to neutral and I had to ask a local guy to guy to help push it 1/2 a block. He did, he said wow, this is so light to push, I never tought a hybrid would run out of gas like this. I told him, you are not going to believe me, we have 1/2 a tank and only Just ran out of "battery" power...

5 days later as I am able to get time to work on the car. I cannot get it to start, "the ice" I have a scan gauge II and U100 and P000 are the DTC's on the ecu, but when I hit the scan tool to clear
them, they do not. I filled the gas tank, it flashes, as if it is on full all the time or it drops to 1 bar and flashes. The Ready light will not stay on for more than 5 seconds at this time. And the transmission does not go into drive or reverse as it did before.

Also, I have a hairline crack along the front about 16 inches to the center of the windshield from the passager side towards the drivers side. ( This car has not moved a foot ) I told them about the kid dropping the car and that, it was not cracked me driving it around after I got it home.... So he says he is not responsible for it, and he does not remember being there when the kid dropped the car...

So, what do you all think about, this situation. So, I went around the car and checked every fuze and they are intact. I am out of ideas and stressed... Help me get my prius back on the road!

Lance

[firepa63]

Did you check the service plug on the traction battery to make sure it is firmly seated after the car was dropped? (just a thought)
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/car...0/svcplugs.gif

[itradegreen]

Originally Posted by firepa63

Did you check the service plug on the traction battery to make sure it is firmly seated after the car was dropped? (just a thought)
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/car...0/svcplugs.gif

Yes I did exactly what you listed and still no go! Must the hv battery be at a certain voltage to kick it in to fire the starters ice engine. ? thanks Lance

[firepa63]

There is a minimum voltage, but not sure what it is. I know I've seen it here on PC. Can you see any battery level on the MFD?

[uart]

I cant believe that you let those monkeys work on your car in the first place.

Re the ICE not starting. Since it wouldn't even start at the garage, and you drove home almost a mile on just the electrics, then surely the battery is not the root cause of why the ICE won't start. There has to be another reason.

Re being dropped from the hydraulic lift. Just how hard was it dropped. I've never used one but I thought those lifts were designed to give a controlled decent. Was the lift faulty or is the operator supposed to manage this by releasing the pressure very slowly?

Anyway I think you'll need to get that car towed to the dealer now for sure.

[itradegreen]

Actually it did start in the garage just after they changed the thermostat, then not anymore after that. The lifts are over 40 years old. I am wondering about charging the main HV myself I have a new schuster and an alpha 4 built by litco here in PA.

Usually when I go to the dealer the service men think that they must follow the toyota protcols and cannot troubleshoot without them.

My family is getting tired of driving a car that spends most of the time going from one shop to another. The only thing I know I did when the ice started too accelerate what I thought was to fast, I hit the stop switch and it did stop, and not run from that point? So you think the HV Battery must be charged to what perscentage before it will not "start the system"

Thanks Ya all!

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by itradegreen

...5 days later as I am able to get time to work on the car. I cannot get it to start, "the ice" I have a scan gauge II and U100 and P000 are the DTC's on the ecu, but when I hit the scan tool to clear them, they do not. I filled the gas tank, it flashes, as if it is on full all the time or it drops to 1 bar and flashes. The Ready light will not stay on for more than 5 seconds at this time. And the transmission does not go into drive or reverse as it did before.

Also, I have a hairline crack along the front about 16 inches to the center of the windshield from the passager side towards the drivers side. ( This car has not moved a foot ) I told them about the kid dropping the car and that, it was not cracked me driving it around after I got it home.... So he says he is not responsible for it, and he does not remember being there when the kid dropped the car...

So, what do you all think about, this situation. So, I went around the car and checked every fuze and they are intact. I am out of ideas and stressed...

Hi Lance,

You asked me to comment so I will:

- It was a big mistake to allow unskilled mechanics to work on your car, especially people who have no idea where the parts in question are located.

- As you discovered, the Scan Gauge is useless in providing the diagnostic trouble codes that you'll need to identify what is wrong with your car. You need the Toyota diagnostic laptop or hand held tester.

- The fact that the gas gauge is not reading properly means that 12V power was lost and also implies that the 12V auxiliary battery needs to be charged. If the battery is fully charged and the gauge is still not working right, maybe the electronics were damaged during the charging process.

You are supposed to disconnect the battery cables prior to charging the 12V battery, to avoid damaging the vehicle electronics. The dedicated jump start terminal at the main relay/fuse box is not intended to be used for battery charging purposes; only for giving the Prius a jump start from another vehicle. Also, the battery is supposed to be charged with no more than 4A current to avoid damage to it.

Originally Posted by uart

I cant believe that you let those monkeys work on your car in the first place...Anyway I think you'll need to get that car towed to the dealer now for sure.

I agree with this.

Originally Posted by itradegreen

Actually it did start in the garage just after they changed the thermostat, then not anymore after that. The lifts are over 40 years old. I am wondering about charging the main HV myself I have a new schuster and an alpha 4 built by litco here in PA...

My family is getting tired of driving a car that spends most of the time going from one shop to another...

I think it would be a very bad idea for you to try to charge the traction battery yourself, as this is potentially a life-threatening activity. This is not a do-it-yourself project if you don't understand how the car's systems operate.

It sounds like your original reason for seeking service was due to an mpg decline. Now the car doesn't work at all due to truly incompetent service.

Why doesn't the car start? For starters, it sounds like the traction battery is depleted. You'd have to review all of the work that had been done to see if there were any screwups. You'd also have to see if there was any damage resulting from dropping the car from the lift. If the windshield had cracked due to this drop, then it is likely that other damage has also occurred.

I recommend that you find a Toyota dealer that has competent service and see if they can sort out this mess. Good luck.