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2010 Prius Dead - Check Hybrid System!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by dazeet, Jan 26, 2015.

  1. dazeet

    dazeet Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    springfield il
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I went to start the 2010 Prius III Friday 23Jan'14 at 7:30am and all I got was "Check Hybrid System" and multiple warnings on the display. Ugh. Called Toyota dealer (Scott Clark), and they suggested changing the 12v battery first ($400 was their estimate!). Since it was 5 years old (I bought the car at Scott Clark 6Feb'10) and I needed it NOW so I would still have time to get it towed to them if the 12v battery did not fix the problem. Bought one at O'Reilly's for $187.87 (175.99 + tax) - an AGM p/n SSB Prius with a 3 year warranty, which looked pretty much like the original, even having the hole for the vent adapter, which I put on the new battery. Sad to say that the new battery made no difference (I wasn't really expecting it to), and the dealer confirmed there was no special procedure to install it.


    So I had it towed in to the dealer. I heard back from them later Friday that it was giving multiple DTC's (don't know which ones yet) and they were waiting to hear from Toyota HQ in CA, probably on Monday.


    I talked to them Monday afternoon, and they were being sent a knew IPM (Intelligent Power Module) to install in the inverter. Yes , I had the EOE software recall update previously done, as well as all other recalls.


    Thankfully it is covered under the Hybrid Warranty, and is now covered for 15 years under the new ZE3 warranty extension. I should have the car back on Wednesday.


    ZE3 warranty extension question: Does this mean the new IPM has a 15 year warranty starting from when it is installed on Tuesday 27Jan14 or from when I got the car on 6Feb10?


    The luckiest thing of all is that it happened in the early morning in my driveway, and not in traffic. My wife and daughter had just driven round trip from Charlotte NC to southern Mississippi over Christmas without incident!
     
  2. Jonny Zero

    Jonny Zero Giggidy

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  3. PriusInParadise

    Joined:
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    The warranty extension is from the date the vehicle was first put in to service.
    If you are the original owner, then 15 years from 6Feb10.
     
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Just curious, how many miles on it?

    Good they're taking action. :)
     
  5. dazeet

    dazeet Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    springfield il
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    The car had 69,682 miles.
    I got it back today (Thursday) and all seems OK, except the Hybrid System Indicator seems to be off on the avg mpg and avg mph (lower r/h of display). Maybe it takes some time to "relearn".
    They had to wait an extra day for a special dielectric grease.
    The best part - $0.00. YEA! for the warranty.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Vehicle:
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    Plug-in Base
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    don't the avg mpg and mph get reset when you disconnect the battery?
     
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  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    They probably had 12 volt disconnected, and no memory saver tactic, meaning mph etc reset.

    (Dang, Bisco just sitting with his fingers poised over keyboard...)
     
  9. dazeet

    dazeet Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    springfield il
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    They did reset to zero. What I mean is that I drove 43 miles to get home, 41 of them on the interstate. The first 10 miles were a 71 mph, and it took forever for the avg mpg to slowly climb to 28mpg, with the avg mph showing 9 mph. At 10 miles I slowed to 65 mph, and when I got home the avg mpg read 40.2 mpg (tire presuures were adjusted at mile 20 at Discount Tie on the way home- pressures were very good before adjustment), and the avg speed was 13 mph. Seems strange when 41 of 43 miles were at 65 mph or higher. I drove gently too.
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i don't think there is anything to learn, but perception isn't always reality. i always feel like avg mph should be higher. mpg's are another ballgame though, and some have reported up to 8 mpg loss after a botched update.
     
  11. macman408

    macman408 Electron Guidance Counselor

    Joined:
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    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    The reason why the average mph and mpg are low is because after the dealer connected the 12V battery again, they undoubtedly left the car in Ready for a while while running diagnostics, grabbing a coffee, and/or moving it around their lot. So it spent a lot of time at 0 mph, and had to occasionally run the engine to keep the HV battery topped off. By the numbers you list, I'd guess they had it on for maybe 30 or 45 minutes like this - nothing unreasonable. (You say 10 miles at 70 mph, after which point it said the average was 9 mph; so roughly you spent 10 minutes driving, plus probably a few more getting up to speed. If we know that the total distance was 10 miles, and the average speed was about 10 mph, then that means the total time would've been 1 hour; an hour minus the 10 minutes (plus ~5 more while you were in the parking lot, getting to the highway, etc.) of your driving yields about 45 minutes or so.)

    The combination of the engine running for a couple minutes out of those 45, plus probably starting your trip with a low HV battery (thus the engine runs harder to charge it) explains your low mpg. Reset the trip meter again, and I'm sure your mpg/mph will be back to normal.
     
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