Help! Master Warning Light - what to do?

Re: Halp! Master Warning Light - what to do?

Check for inverter coolant pump flow.

See my pictures in post#10 here : http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...95561-maintenance-repair-in-anchorage-ak.html

 

Re: Halp! Master Warning Light - what to do?

Check your 12V battery in the right rear corner of the cargo area. If this is the original battery, this can cause a lot of random problems. Search on here and there are several posts on how to test the battery.

The 12V battery may also be the problem with your Nav that you have posted about on another thread.

 

OK. It still would not hurt to check to eliminate it.

 

Re: Halp! Master Warning Light - what to do?

No its not a quirk. If this car throws codes its unhappy about something.
If it was my car it & was new to me I would go to the dealer and have them pull the codes it has thrown. Come back here and post them and we can help you. Spend the min charge for them to pull the codes.
While your there they can check and make sure all the software is up to date.
This is not the car to drive around with your fingers crossed.

Lot's of 2005's lately having issues.

BTW, whats up with the title. Clean title not a rebuilt?

 

You don't seem to understand causation very well.

You left your key in the car overnight. Inside the cabin the car and the key are constantly communicating back and forth waiting for you to press READY.

Tiny 12v battery... A night full of communication in idle... Then weird problems... low 12v leads to problems... See a pattern?

Also after the triangle lights up, if the problem is not persistent it is cleared by 3 restarts. The codes are still logged so any dealer can pull them all for you.

 

Are you 100% sure that this vehicle hasn't been in an accident? Not salvaged and retitled in a different state? Not big accident and lots of body work? Do all your doors and hatch have the same VIN sticker as stamped inside?

 

Clean Title means nothing if there are any signs of any repairs. You can buy a salvage car in state X, repair it, go to state Y and get a full title that says nothing about it being salvaged. Then sell the car in any state (even X) as a non-salvaged car because the last state's title is not salvaged.

I would look very carefully around the car in bright light for any signs of other repair.

And when something is in an accident, unless it is totalled by the insurance company carfax has no idea. Some insurance companies report everything, other nothing or only some. And if it is a person to person problem where they "work it out", nothing is being reported.

Use your eyes and disregard the title and carfax.

 

If the master warning light illuminates, it is impossible for a logged and stored code not to be read out. You must go to a dealer with half a brain to know how to read them out from the various ECUs though.

And another reason why I suspect your car has been in a much worse accident then you know.

 

Maybe we should start with basics:

1. Exactly which warning lights or icons appear besides the master warning red triangle? Please take a sharp photo of any such warning lights and post.

2. If the red triangle is the only warning, then there may not be any DTC logged by the various ECUs.

3. One example of a problem that would cause the red triangle to appear by itself is low engine oil level. That problem would not cause any DTC to be logged.

4. Besides the warning light, does the car exhibit any driveability symptoms?

 

Very true, I forgot about that one.

But as far as I remember if the triangle comes on as well as the "Problem" car and other various christmas lights, then a logged DTC will be present under all circumstances excluding an ECU hardware fault that prevents the storage of the problem.

 

Yes, if certain warning lights appear then a DTC should be logged (unless the 12V battery fails to maintain 12V bus voltage.)

That's why I asked the OP to photograph any warning lights or icons that appear, besides the master warning red triangle.