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check engine, (!) and VSC light

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by aanimate, Oct 7, 2009.

  1. aanimate

    aanimate New Member

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    Was driving yesterday and suddenly triangle, check engine, (!) and VSC lights came on. I stopped and restarted my 2005 prius, but red triangle and check engine light still on. Car drives the same, no problem at all.
    My tank was half full, I pulled to gas station and filled the tank, and the lights went away.
    So I thought that I didn't put the gas cap tight enough.
    Today I was driving home and the same thing happened, all 4 light came back. I filled my tank again and lights went away.
    Does anybody know what the problem is. Could it be a bad gas cap?
    :confused:
     
  2. Blegate

    Blegate Prius Gen III 2013

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    Codes... you need to get the codes generated by the car's computer. A toyota place can do this or if you know someone who has a scanguage.

    Sorry
     
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I suppose you know that when you tighten the gas cap, you need to tighten to get at least one click? Also, when the cap is removed, you can look at the black rubber O-ring to see if it looks damaged.

    However, even if the cap is bad, that would not cause the master warning triangle, (!), and VSC lights to come on. The latter two lights indicate a brake problem which might be related to the 12V system. Maybe your inverter coolant pump has failed so your inverter becomes slightly overheated. This causes the DC to DC converter voltage to sag and the skid control ECU turns on those warning lights. Then, when you stop for gas, this gives the inverter a chance to cool down and restores normal operation of the DC to DC converter temporarily.

    I suggest that you visit your Toyota dealer very soon to have the DTC retrieved to confirm or deny the above.
     
  4. aanimate

    aanimate New Member

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    Thanks so much for the help.
    I am bringing the car to the toyota dealer tomorrow.
    The thing is though, even I if don't drive the car for extended time( 4-8 hours) the two lights will come on, and to make them go away I just have to put the gas in.
    The other interesting thing that dealer told me after I describe the problem is; sometimes the lights related to a loose fuel tank cap can come back (even though they went away for a while), so I need to drive it couple more times to make it go away.
     
  5. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    I think Patrick is right about this. Your weather is not very hot, so the inverter gets just warm enough to panic, and then it cools down enough while you're buying gas to clear itself. See a dealer. If your 60 month/60K miles warranty is still in effect the inverter pump replacement will be free.
     
  6. aanimate

    aanimate New Member

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    As I mentioned in the post before the light still come on even if I don't drive my car for more then 8 hours, that should be plenty for it to cool down.
    Anyways I just connected the OBD II tool and it says "no codes found".
    Very strange.
     
  7. johnjamis

    johnjamis Junior Member

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    It is easy to tell if the inverter pump is working. With the car in "ready", just look in the inverter coolant reservoir(next to the inverter). If there is turbulence, the pump is working. If the pink fluid surface is dead calm, it is off.
     
  8. William Lowe

    William Lowe New Member

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    Same symptoms no codes invertor is working.
     
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  9. Brodgah

    Brodgah New Member

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    Having the exact same problem. Battery normal charge, just had 12v replaced about a year ago as well.. checked coolant and levels are fine... sort of spinning
     
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Easiest way to figure this out is getting the codes read on the car. No guess work after that
     
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  11. Brodgah

    Brodgah New Member

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    Took the car in for codes and showed no codes..... ):
     
  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If you had warning lights on while the codes were being read, there would be codes. You would need to get a Prius compatible code reader to do this.

    Is your hybrid fan on? This is the fan on the rear passenger side of the car. If that fan is not on, my guess would be that your inverter pump has failed. You can check the inverter coolant reservoir and see if there's any movement/waves in the coolant. If there's no movement, then the failure is the inverter water pump (somewhat common after 100k miles since last replacement)
     
  13. Brodgah

    Brodgah New Member

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    If the fan is on, it's not noticeable or is loud sounding- checked coolant ... seems to be semi swirling but it may just be from the wind here in Kansas City
     
  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how many miles on her?
     
  15. Brodgah

    Brodgah New Member

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    250,000
     
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do you do your own work? if so, you should get mini vci, to properly read the codes.
     
  17. dejanna

    dejanna Junior Member

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    I also had the check engine, red triangle, yellows (!) and VSC light come on. I suspected something to be overheating because the rear seat fan comes on when I drive it. I have drove it twice since lights came on, drove slow seemed a little noisier and idled a little more when stopping but other than that it drove ok up to 45mph. Will check codes tomorrow with OBD.
     
  18. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Also check the back seat fan and filter for dust and blockage.
     
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  19. vlalra

    vlalra Junior Member

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    I have all the lights in the title along with the big red triangle. The code I got was p2601. I have replaced the water pump and refilled the Reservoir. I reset the computer and drove great for 10 miles at 45 mph. Than all the lights came on again.
    The back seat fan come on as soon as I start the car and is loud. Until the lights came on I never heard it.
    Please help it is my only form of transportation and I don’t have the money to take it to shop.
    What trouble shooting could I try?
    I have a 2005 Prius.
     
  20. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Nobody can help you until you scan the codes with a scanner that can read Toyota codes and post them here

    And no a generic code reader cannot read all the codes.
     
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