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RED TRIANGLE OF DOOM - prepare me.

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by Prodarwin, Feb 3, 2014.

  1. Prodarwin

    Prodarwin Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2013
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    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    2002 Prius
    152K miles

    Relevant data: This car is often used for a commute that is 6 miles each way. I've heard this may degrade 12v battery performance as it won't be given adequate charging time. Is this true?

    On Friday, car was driven about 1.5 hours from home. Parked for approx 15-20 mins. Upon re-start the Red Triangle light came on, along with the check engine light. I drove it about 5 mins to a gas station. Turned it on and off a couple times just to see if the codes as well as got gas. All the lights went off. Drove home without issue.

    Saturday, I pulled out my code reader. Its a cheapie code reader and didn't show anything (as expected). Drove the car to dinner that evening with no issues.

    Sunday, my girlfriend took the car on a ~1hr min drive with a few stops running errands. The lights came back on, but I am unsure at what point (she doesn't note details like this), then went off again.

    I was planning to do a big 155k service of any/all major items I could, but sounds like I need to learn about this stuff... quickly. Based on some reading today on this forum, I am going to:

    1) Order a Mini VCI cable/figure out how to run techstream on my laptop (could be troublesome as I only have a linux laptop)

    2) Clean the throttle body. Not sure why, but seems to be showing up in a lot of Red Triangle threads.

    3) Check the 12v battery voltage w/ and w/o ignition on.

    4) Verify inverter pump is circulating fluid. I assume this needs to be changed anyway - can anyone point me to a good how-to for this?

    5) Get on my knees and pray/begin searching for a more reliable/easier to work on replacement.

    What else do I need to know?
     
    #1 Prodarwin, Feb 3, 2014
  2. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    4,365
    3,209
    1
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    You are on the right track. Lots of good stuff on your list.

    Start with the 12v battery. Always. It's easy to access and assess.
    It won't be cheap to replace. (Several hundred dollars, as opposed to a cheap, generic $80 battery.)
     
    #2 ericbecky, Feb 3, 2014
  3. Prodarwin

    Prodarwin Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 31, 2013
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    0
    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Woah, you scared me for a second.

    $160 aint bad

    I'll check into it tonight and report back.
     
    #3 Prodarwin, Feb 3, 2014
  4. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    4,365
    3,209
    1
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Double check that yours has not been converted over to one with bigger/standard posts, first.
    Some have.
     
    #4 ericbecky, Feb 3, 2014
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Hey, even if it did get changed in the past to the upgraded 28800-31290 Panasonic version, it still ain't "several hundred dollars" even to buy that one straight from the dealer. I changed mine last year. It was over $200, which is a lot for a battery, but also it's a lot of battery - where else you gonna find a 51 amp-hour battery that fits in that space?

    In answer to a question at the top, I have a commute of about 2.3 miles and the battery seems to do fine. I do make longer trips every so often for shopping and so forth, which probably helps top it up.

    -Chap
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Feb 4, 2014
  6. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    4,365
    3,209
    1
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Nice deal on the battery.
    Glad you replaced it yourself. Saved you a bit of money.
    Usually it's over $200 if you have a tech do it for you.
     
    #6 ericbecky, Feb 4, 2014
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