3 days old and in the shop

[raysullivan]

I picked up by Prius on Saturday morning (Canadian base package) and my spouse and I had fun driving it all weekend. Everything worked fine.

On Monday morning, after dropping me off at work my wife rolled over a curb (at very low speed). On the way to her next stop the car started acting funny.

At stops or when decelerating the ICE sounded like it was racing at high revs, the fuel consumption would spike up to 99L/100km, then the ICE would shudder to a stop.

My wife took the car into the dealership where they did a diagnostic. They seemed a bit baffled but the car replicated the same behaviour for them. They consulted with Toyota Canada and think it has something to do with the display screen interacting with something or other (??). They've ordered a new part that should be here in two days.

Does this make sense? Do deep pot-holes and curbs really "break" the car?

The tech at the dealer said it's OK to drive until the part comes in. Does that sound right?

My brief hybrid bliss has come to a shuddering halt. Help. :cry:

[DaveinOlyWA]

i wouldnt drive it.

[hdrygas]

I would agree. You are going to have this car for a long time and you don't want to do anything to muck it up. Do you have the rental option in Canada? Maybe the dealer is being cheep. I would push back get a rental and park the Prius till fixed.

[rick57]

I wouldn't drive it either. If it acted up after running over something,I would say something is amiss underneath. Not sure what happened but it should be able to be seen easily. Also I don't believe the MFD would have any affect on that either,but maybe wrong. What is the part they ordered? Let us know what is the final fix.

[DanMan32]

I doubt the MFD would have anything to do with it either. It does read CAN data via the gateway, but I don't think it can send anything to the CAN.

The CAN by the way you could call in simple terms the drivetrain/HV network.

Something does sound familiar about this. HV battery ECU?

[raysullivan]

I'll try to get a copy of the diagnostic and pass it along to the forum.

I didn't see any damage when I looked under the wheel well.

I've been driving it for the past few days (I don't really go very far on a regular day anyway, just 5 minutes to take my daughter to preschool and then another 5 minutes to work).

It's behaving almost normally (of course, at this point I've driven it as much after it got wierd as before). I keep the AC/heat off, but I can hear ICE idling at odd times, like in reverse. I can still do a few blocks in stealth, but sometimes, when starting up, the ICE engages before I even put my foot on the gas pedal. The MPG has been really high too - cruising on city streets at 15+L/100km. I haven't experienced any of the symptoms my wife did (engine racing at stop, big shudder when ICE stuts off), but then, neither has she.

I'm anxious to get a hold of the diagnotic to find out just what is happening.

[DaveG]

Check the battery state of charge if you see the engine racing at a stop. If the battery is fully green, the car will race the engine (using battery power) to bleed-off excess battery charge so it doesn't get damaged.

If the battery isn't fully green, it's abnormal though. I don't recall from mine what it showed the gas usage during a "bleed cycle" as.

Dave

[jayman]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(raysullivan\";p=\"79322)</div>

The MPG has been really high too - cruising on city streets at 15+L/100km. [/b]

Ray:

I would say that is really s*** fuel economy. The worst I have ever seen from my Prius MFD is 10 L/100km at -40 in Winnipeg traffic.

If you're getting 15L/100km, you're only getting 19 MPG Imperial gallon.

Yesterday I was in Heaven: temps +16 C, no HVAC but windows cracked down an inch, feathering the pedal at 70 km/h. The MFD averaged 3.8L/100km or 74 MPG Imperial gallon.

Jay

[DonDNH]

I'd check the exhaust system. You might crushed a pipe, muffler or converter. This will cause the problems you noted.

[raysullivan]

ops:

Ok. This is where I eat crow. The Toyota tech originally thought maybe the MFD was busted because it was showing excessive MPG. Consultation with Toyota Canada and a second diagnostic convinced them there is nothing wrong with the car.

I now agree (even if somewhat embarrassed).

After hearing that news from the dealership, i took the car out alone (no kids, no distractions) and for the first time drove the car a whole 30 minutes (in my world that's a long time). I averaged 4.1 L/100km (57MPG), coasting, cruising and going on stealth as much as possible.

Since that drive, the next 175 km averaged 6.8 L/100km (35MPG) city and some highway.

Reading Evan's article on mileage tells me that's not uncommon for a brand new Prius.

So how do I explain the initial symptoms?

1. never letting the car warm up: short drives (5-10 minutes) in weather close to freezing.
2. a/c-heater on
3. the MFD shows fuel consumption at 99L/100km whenever the ICE is on but the car is not moving (duh!?)
4. 15+L/100 km I observed was probably uphill/accelerating.
5. My wife hasn't been reading this forum so didn't know to expect a little engine shudder when the ICE shuts down.

So.. I overreacted. Now I can relax and enjoy my cool car.