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rebuilt body control module

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Storyteller, Jun 30, 2015.

  1. Storyteller

    Storyteller New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 29, 2015
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    Location:
    Hawaii
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    I bought a 2012 Prius C with 17,000mi on it in February this year(2015). The body control module apparently went out about a month after buying the car. The start-up screen would not say "ready" and shortly after turning the power on, the warning came on: stop the car immediately, something wrong with hybrid system, get to nearest dealer, etc.! it also appeared there were suddenly a number of other malfunctions in various systems as various warnings came up, one of which concerned the power steering.

    The small dealer I bought the car from diagnosed the problem as likely being a malfunctioning body control module and sent off for a rebuilt BCM which seemed to work for a couple of weeks before it appeared to be malfunctioning again. I live on the very rural island of Molokai in Hawaii and would have to ship it to Oahu ($600 RT) for a shop with a computer scanner able to pinpoint the problem. The dealer suggested I disable the negative cable on the 12 v to see if it would re-set the module and fix the problem, which I did and met with temporary success. When it happened twice more over the course of a couple weeks, the dealer said it would be worth sending the part back and having it reset to factory standards or something like that.

    So, I took it out and sent it in again - but sadly, the same thing is happening again. the BCM appeared to be working fine for about a week, when the warning about the Hybrid system and "stop the car as soon as possible" warning came on. Disabling the 12v ground does re-set it for awhile but the warning comes back on. I am not sure if the hybrid system is really in trouble - as soon as I reset the thing, the hybrid battery indicator shows it is charged/charging properly and all other systems appear to be working - but something is causing the warning to come on and the dealer I bought the car from is out of ideas.

    Anyone out there know anything else I could do short of shipping the car to the dealership in Oahu? Is it unsafe or unwise to just keep resetting the module by temporarily disabling the 12v battery? Does the car have another computer interfacing with the BCM, that might need to be reset?? If there is any way to resolve the problem with having to ship it off to another island?? None of the mechanics on my island (all two of them!) have a computer that can diagnose a Toyota Hybrid nor did they have any idea what else to check, so I am kinda on my own. Wondering if anyone else has had this problem with the BCM? I was surprised to find a problem in a car with so few miles on it - the reason I bought it in the first place!
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
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    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    If the car is under warranty, Toyota (or the company in charge out there) should cover the cost of getting the car back to them. It's like if it breaks down during warranty, they would pay for the tow truck. Same logic.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    this is a new one on me. does your small dealer have a code reader? do you know the history of the car? how is the 12 volt health?
     
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,198
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    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    1. Buy Mini VCI on amazon.com so you can be self-sufficient with regards to pulling diagnostic fault codes.
    2. Once you know the DTC, post them.