chirping noise/smart key malfunction/lowered gas mileage

the chirp problemthat you hear is just a pump that takes coolant from a thermos andpumps it into the radiator to help warm up the gasoline engine, its not to worry about.

2nd the possible reason why your transponder didnt work could may as well be the battery in the transponder, ( btw try pressing lock and unlock on the remote when it wont let you in, see if that works)

your gas mileage might just be down due to the winter blend of gas, or weather changes, or tire pressure / air filter / oil , any of the above.

also, the lime green is good! ( any color is good as long as theres colors , no bars mean problem) dont worry just drive it!

 

Hi grasshopper. To expand a bit on what statultra said, when it's cold, your Prius will run the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) to heat the cabin, if you don't have the heater turned off, and to warm the catalytic converter to keep emisions low. Running the ICE uses gas, so your MPG goes down. Running the ICE also charges the HV battery, so the display shows green more. Since "winter gas" contains ethanol to reduce emissions in all cars, it has less energy per unit of volume; you'll use more volume (gallons) for the same kind of driving.

All cars use more fuel in the winter because of greater demand for heat and lower energy fuel. In the Prius you just have a way to see it. Don't worry, it's just winter.

Do a search on block heater and you'll find lots of discussion. Many people have them, particulary as you move north. I don't know why SKS would be affected by cold unless the cold affected the availability of voltage to power the system, either in the car or in your pocket.

 

I just had the SKS problem (wouldn't work, buttons on fob did nothing, needed in slot to start) yesterday, but only when it was parked next to the Midway. The battery is about 1 1/2 years old.

 

SKS works by an oscillator at various places in the car triggering the fob to transmit a security code, which is received by the same receiver that the remote lock function uses.
So, if the buttons on the fob don't work, either the fob is the problem, or the receiver. If you see a red light blink on the fob when you touch the door handle, or when you press a button, then the problem probably is the receiver and ECU, although the fob could be transmitting a weak signal. Also outside interference (radio towers, cellphones, etc) can cause SKS and remote lock malfunction.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DanMan32 @ Dec 30 2006, 12:11 PM) [snapback]368675[/snapback]</div>

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We also picked up an '06 last June. One other thing that will make a little red light blink on the fob - is to watch it carefully as you walk up to the car. When you get fairly close to the car, the dome lights will come on. The 'handshake' signal is that the light will blink just as this action takes place.

I'm embarrased to admit that we had owned the car for over two months, before I discovered that the dome lights will come on automatically as you approach the car!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(grasshopper537 @ Dec 28 2006, 11:07 AM) [snapback]367717[/snapback]</div>

Not to long ago someone on here was trying to get enough people for a group buy on block heaters, if the search function still works you may find that topic. Hobbit has an excellent write up on how to install one. Your dealer should be able to sell you one, they are a Toyota accessory.

The dealer did not give you a good answer about the battery SOC indications, probably because they don't know the answer and are to arrogant to simply say that. If you count the bars you will see that there are 8 of them, they go from approximately 40% to 80% state of charge (SOC). Those numbers are not exact but they are close. Toyota engineers decided to keep the battery between about 40% and 80% to increase battery life. The bottom two bars are pink, the four in the center turn the display blue, and the top two make it all green. The car usually tries to keep the battery in the blue at about 60% to 70%. If you drive in the mountains you will see the SOC in the pink, sometimes with only one bar left, while you are going up long steep hills; when you come down again it will frequently go clear to the top, all green. Both of these conditions (pink and green) are normal. I have never seen the last pink bar go away no mater how long and steep the hill, I do not think that would be normal.

It is also common to have green bars (70% to 80%) in cold weather because the engine runs more to keep the emissions under control and to keep the car warm. That is also part of the reason why the mileage is down in the winter.