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Engine Indicator On

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Sumedha, Apr 11, 2015.

  1. Sumedha

    Sumedha Junior Member

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    I am a little freaked out and I am seeking your help in this situation.

    Today all of a sudden my yellow engine indicator lighted up. I tried turning off the vehicle and start it back to see whether it goes off. No luck in that effort.

    I have Prius 2012. I serviced it last on 10/31/2014 and I have now run 8000 Kilo Meters after the last service. I am using 0W-20 as my engine oil.

    I see the vehicle going to EV mode and Engine mode depending on the way I drive and I've even achieved 20Kmpl in the last run. Could this be a sensor or a serious issue. I am freaked out as the local Toyota dealer is closed for 3 days due to holidays and I have no local expertise to get help from.
     
    #1 Sumedha, Apr 11, 2015
  2. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I would check my oil level, and visibly check all fluid levels.

    But todays vehicles don't offer a lot of hands on things you can do outside of obtaining codes.

    Is this your ONLY car? Because unfortunately I think your best move is to NOT drive a whole lot or at all, until you can get it to a Toyota Dealership.
     
    #2 The Electric Me, Apr 11, 2015
  3. Sumedha

    Sumedha Junior Member

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    This is my only car. I looked at the oil and it looks a little brownish to me. I can may be get a technician (not from Toyota/my car is outside the warranty period as well) to do a oil change and see how it works.
     
    #3 Sumedha, Apr 11, 2015
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Which light? One of these?

    Capture.JPG
     
    #4 Mendel Leisk, Apr 11, 2015
  5. Sumedha

    Sumedha Junior Member

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    The engine sign. Which is marked for Canada.
     
    #5 Sumedha, Apr 11, 2015
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  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    where is the oil level?
     
    #6 bisco, Apr 11, 2015
  7. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Yeah, I was more concerned with Oil Level...not the fact that it's brownish.

    You just want to make sure you haven't lost a lot of oil for some reason.
     
    #7 The Electric Me, Apr 11, 2015
  8. Sumedha

    Sumedha Junior Member

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    One thing I noticed is that the EV/ECO mode transition is normal as well as the charging of the hybrid battery. I will check the oil levels and get back

    When you take the indicator out, there are 2 dots as indicators. Oil level is above the bottom most dot but half a inch lower than the top dot.

    Could this be the reason ?

    I also looked at the gas cap as suggested in some posts, it is nice and tight.
     
    #8 Sumedha, Apr 11, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 11, 2015
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no, as long as it's between the dots, you're good. you'll probably have to have the codes read.
     
    #9 bisco, Apr 11, 2015
  10. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    You need to connect a Prius compatible OBDII reader like the Scangauge II or a Techstream mini-VCI cable to the car to read and interpret the engine fault codes.
     
    #10 Mike500, Apr 11, 2015
  11. Sumedha

    Sumedha Junior Member

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    Got a scan done and the error codes are below

    P0171 - System Too Lean
    P0171 - System Too Lean History

    My technician (not from Toyota) told me I need to do a engine cleanup/tune up and that's why the error is coming. He also said, no harm driving short distances.
     
    #11 Sumedha, Apr 12, 2015
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do a throttle body and mad sensor cleaning to start. it's cheap and easy. follow u tube instructions carefully.
     
    #12 bisco, Apr 12, 2015
  13. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    How many miles on the odometer?

    Check for an air leak below the throttle body, a loose PCV hose, a loose engine oil cap or dipstick, etc. If you don't see any obvious problem a fuel injector may be partially obstructed or the fuel line pressure may be low. Or the air/fuel ratio sensor may have a problem. Also check the mass air flow sensor and clean if needed.
     
    #13 Patrick Wong, Apr 12, 2015
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    A few people have been reporting Exhaust Gas Recirculation circuit clogging. I was under the front end of ours yesterday (applying a wax/oil treatment to the suspension), saw the pipe leading from exhaust to the EGR unit. In past I've taken the pipe off on the OTHER side of the EGR unit, the one you can see from above. Cleaned it out. But I've never got to this one coming from the exhaust, to EGR. I had a minor amount of build up, even at 40000 km's or so. From the EGR it feeds (via the pipe I did clean, into the intake manifold. Seems a bit of a design flaw: the thing gets build-up quite early, and hard to access/dismantle.
     
    #14 Mendel Leisk, Apr 12, 2015
  15. Sumedha

    Sumedha Junior Member

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    I did take my car to get a injector clean up done and it solved this issue. There were a lot of gum/char around all 4 injectors blocking the optimal spray pattern. Some injectors were totally blocked and it was only dripping fuel than spraying. Unfortunately I missed taking pictures of them.

    My car was doing 17 - 18 KM per litre of fuel and now it's doing more than 27 KM per litre. I guess everything comes back to the quality of the fuel we use. Sri Lanka is never known for using quality/clean fuel.
     
    #15 Sumedha, Apr 28, 2015
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats, well done!(y)
     
    #16 bisco, Apr 28, 2015
  17. CR94

    CR94 Senior Member

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    that's essentially the same problem another member (whose name I forget) had with Nigerian gasoline not long ago.
     
    #17 CR94, Apr 28, 2015
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