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Put spare on, and hybrid battery started having issues

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by RedTriangleOfDeathVictim, Feb 10, 2016.

  1. RedTriangleOfDeathVictim

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    Whoever is reading this, thanks for taking the time. This morning I got a flat tire, aaa came and changed it. Here's the concern... In the trunk I have my bike, then there's a tray and under the huge plastic tray is the spare. After the busted tire was loaded the bike didn't fit anymore. So I moved the tray and loaded the bike directly above the busted tire. The wires under there were exposed since the tray was removed. I drove it for .5 miles and the red triangle of death popped up, and the check engine light. I got the code read and it says it's the hybrid battery. It seems way too coincidental it happened after the bike sat back there with the wires exposed. Especially since I read the hybrid battery is back there. Has anyone ever had an issue where the battery wires are moved causing issues to the battery? The battery was charging perfectly fine the day before. Can they test the battery panels to see if indeed it's the battery?
     
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Hi RToDV,

    I wouldn't be terribly concerned yet, but just focus on getting information. As you write you had the code read, it would help us out if you could post the exact code or codes here, and it's also helpful to know by whom it was read, and if possible with what kind of code reader.

    Also, the code itself doesn't say "it's the hybrid battery", the code will just look like a group of five letters/digits. Anything else is an interpretation and that can be useful, but when you post about an interpretation it is always a good practice to include where you got it (e.g. the mechanic who read the code told you that's what it means, or you looked it up in google, or you looked it up in the Toyota manual). The gold standard is the Toyota repair manual for your car at techinfo.toyota.com. Other sources for code interpretations can fall anywhere on a spectrum from slightly oversimplified, through leaving out important information, to just plain wrong. So when you identify your sources, it helps us know where and how big the gaps might be.

    When we know more about what exactly your car is trying to tell you, we can draw more conclusions then.

    -Chap
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! how many miles on her? how long have you owned?
     
  4. Dion Kraft

    Dion Kraft Member

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    Whats happened is that when you put the spare tire on the dia of that is 22 in while the stock tire is 24 in. The ABS sensor now detects that one tire - the mini spare which is on now - is revolving at a faster speed than the other three so indicates a fault but that is expected under these conditions. Just get the tire fixed and the fault (for the ABS) will go away.

    Now if your bike had hit the exposed wires and did something now thats another story and its all speculation without verification from pictures and codes to match
     
  5. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    I've had the spare on for 100 miles (middle of a roadtrip) and had no red triangle or errors come up in that time.

    My guess is that the bike bumped a sensor or connection out of place.
     
  6. Dion Kraft

    Dion Kraft Member

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    Good that someone has cleared that issue up. I have not had a flat so far but on some cars the ABS light goes on for speed difference on one wheel compared to others. But thats not the case here so thats out of the way.

    So the issue, as you pointed out is the bicycle and what it did.
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Could the hybrid battery safety switch be knocked loose? Or would that result in complete no-go?
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if there were exposed wires, as o/p says, they probably got yanked. no idea what wires are exposed under the tray.