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master Warning + Traction Battery Indicator

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by raholco, Aug 15, 2010.

  1. raholco

    raholco Ailurophile

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    Had my first hiccup, and it's little disconcerting.

    Usually about every two weeks I take my car through a car wash and I have to put the car in N-no big deal, no messages.

    This go-around as I was nearing the end of the wash, the Master Warning and the traction battery lights gets thrown, with the message on the display saying I should put the car in Park. Well, naturally you can't do that inside this car wash, so I waited until after I exited and checked the charge display: one purple bar.

    So I hit the freeway and within 5 minutes I go all the way up to all Green. So I go from one bar to almost 8 bars in under 5 minutes?

    I find this rather odd that all of a sudden I get this behavior.

    Here's my question: when this happens, does the car store a DTC code?

    I'll watch the charge level when I get back in the car.
     
  2. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Did you have the A/C on and/or the headlights while going through the car wash? I think that the only problem is that the car needed to recharge the traction battery because the SOC had dropped to 40% and it couldn't because you were in N while going through the car wash. I doubt that you set a DTC, but it is possible since you got the Triangle of Death (TOD).

    Another way to get the TOD is to try to shift to D while the driver's door is open. The car does not like this behavior and will let you know promptly.
     
  3. raholco

    raholco Ailurophile

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    Yeah, the A/C was on, but I've had the AC running before in near-identical conditions.

    I just popped down and checked the battery level, and its still green, so maybe this is an outlier.
     
  4. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    A/C takes a lot of energy - kiloWatts of energy. It can run the battery down pretty quickly.
     
  5. donee

    donee New Member

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    Hi Rahalco,

    So, you know what the SOC of the battery was before and after the car wash in both cases? This would take a scan gauge, as the bars on the MFD are pretty loose.
     
  6. raholco

    raholco Ailurophile

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    I just may get a ScanGague after this episode.