Master, VSC, Brake and Hybrid Indicators On - Help

Hello All,

I purchased a 2004 Prius about a month ago for my kids to drive. I like it so much I traded in my Accord V6 for a 2010 Prius.

Everything was fine up until it warmed up here in Virginia and the car (2004) started smelling pretty bad inside. I could tell when I purchased it the previous owner had a dog from a few scratches inside, but never imagined that I would find what I did. The dog left a little something of itself to be remembered by, and it was ill when it did it. How that odor was masked at the point of sale up until it did is beyond me! Needless to say I took the rear seat out as I was tracking down the odor and found the solidified treasure down on the passenger side under the bench, under the black metal brace for that side of the bench. I started to trace back the path and ended up taking apart the back end and passenger side. While I was at it I removed and cleaned out the Hybrid cooling fan that is next to the battery. Sorry for the disgusting prelude but it is necessary to set context unless this is pure coincidence.

I put it all back together and yesterday afternoon I started it up and ran an errand. After about 5 miles the Master error indicator (red triangle), brake (!), VSC, and Hybrid indicator in the MFD all came on. I checked the voltage on the 12V battery per suggestions here on the site. Indications say it is in spec. I checked the inverter fluid for turbulence and saw plenty.

The Hybrid water pump (assuming this is the inverter cooling pump) was replaced according to Toyota owner web site at 108,717 miles and 4/06/13 or 3 weeks before I purchased it. The 12V battery was replaced back in March 2010 at 84k miles.

Today after having let it sit overnight, the 12V still reports good, but only the Master indicator and Hybrid icon in the MFD are displaying. The traction battery is down from 5 bars to 2, but that could be a result of putting a load on (A/C and lights) several times while testing the 12V I suppose. The ICE does turn on.

I have an Actron 9175 OBDII scanner but it either will not pull hybrid system codes or there are none reported (not likely right?).

Is it possible I knocked something loose or got something wet (spraying - but tried to be extra careful) in all my cleaning activities or is it pure coincidence that this has happened now? Any ideas on what to check or am I stuck calling the dealer and getting it checked out? It was originally titled in NY so the battery should still be covered under the 10 year 150k mile warranty.

Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks for the responses. I took the back end apart again and disconnected the battery entirely while taking things apart. I hooked up the fan directly to the 12V battery since it is a 12V motor - it worked. I made sure all connections were snug, reconnected the battery and drove for 10 minutes around the neighborhood with the rear panel off and the plastic air funnel to the rear seat removed so my wife could see if the fan came on. It did (after a couple minutes) and it stayed on. The codes were one as I would expect after having the battery disconnected. The indicators stayed off during my 10 minute test run, but they all came back (master, vsc, brake, hybrid) after going out again this evening (came on before making it down the driveway - its a short driveway).

While doing all this I noticed a lot of water down in the auxiliary battery compartment. There was enough water to come up about an inch above the bottom of the battery (I removed the water and dried it out down there). I am thinking that the since the voltage levels are good and the battery is encased in hard plastic that it is ok. Am I asking for trouble?

Any additional ideas? Any recommended code readers that will work on a prius?

Anyone have experience with the mini-vci reader on ebay (I can't post a link yet, too new...) -- does it still require a techstream/TIS subscription?

Thanks again.

 

On the 2004 is there a difference between the (!) brake light and ABS ("ABS") error light?

 

Ok, so I jumpered the DLC3 pins 4 and 13 and got a solid red triangle, continuously blinking (!), ABS, and Airbag icons, and a VSC blink code of 51.

 

That's a start. I will see what the service manual says to check.

 

I re-checked the codes this evening since last time I let it sit this long the VSC and Brake indicators turned off. They did again this time and I jumpered pins 4 and 13 and got a continuously blinking airbag, Brake, ABS, and VSC indicators...no pause.

I double checked the battery test again a couple times:

Push power button once: 12.6 - 12.8v
Push power button twice: 12.2 - 12.4v
Brake and power button 3rd time: dropped to 11.9v briefly and jumped to 14.1 - 14.4v

If I turned on the AC (max), lights, and rear defroster I would see the voltage drop to 14.1 and then 14.0 (saw it drop to 13.9 a couple times). When I turned these all back off it would only recover to 14.1v.

If I read correctly these are all within spec. Am I wrong - is the drop to 11.9 an early indicator?

Still trying to make heads or tails of the C1310/51 code and the service manual. Also saw thread where Leighman poo-poos AutoEnginuity (Got Autoenginuity, anything else I would need | PriusChat). Anyone have issues with this tool or any other (what have you had success with in terms of being able to read all codes including the hybrid systems)?

Thanks

 

Thanks nh7o. Has anyone found a mini VCI that can get to northern Virginia faster than the slow boat from China? (checking Google and eBay now).

 

All,

I received my mini-vci and plugged it in (thanks for the recommendations). It has been sitting so the VSC, Brake and ABS lights disappeared. Received the following:

Past codes:
Hybrid Control - P3000
HV Battery - P0A85

Current Codes:
Hybrid Control - P3000
Air Conditioner - B1421 (my heat shield is on so it is blocking the light sensor...)
Immobiliser - B2775

Am looking these up and will scour the site. Any tips are appreciated.

 

PO8A5 was a previous code. I cleared codes and put 5 miles on the car with the rear exposed so my wife could see the fan working (also hooked it directly up to the battery and it worked). Later it quit again. Checked the relay which was bad and replaced - still not coming back on now. Time to check the controller... voltages on the battery seem fine - gap between min and max voltage across blocks is .1v

Checking terminal connectors for signs of humidity damage...

 

Update: when I run the active test for the hybrid cooling fan it will not come on. Connecting the fan directly to the 12v auxiliary battery always works. In further testing I found that the plug for the cooling fan is receiving 2.3v. This is a little more than it is supposed to have for SP1.

 

I hope I have found the problem. I believe the water issue is related to the fan no longer working. Attached are 4 pictures showing corrosion on and in the plug that sits above the fan assembly secured to the body. The leak seems to be up high, possibly at the bolts that secure the hatch pistons to the body. Water then drips down (both sides of the body) and is what caused this. Anyone have experience replacing the connectors instead of the entire harness?