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car stopped running, 4 codes pulled

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by JC91006, Jan 8, 2014.

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  1. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    There was a service note at 139k miles that the Toyota techs noticed there was fluid on the transaxle fill/drain seal. I'm wondering if enough fluid dripped out, that would cause the fault at 152k?

    So there shouldn't be a problem with the hybrid traction battery correct? I think the fact the Red Triangle doesn't light up, that's a positive sign!
     
    #21 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    It is premature to say whether the traction battery is a problem or not. None of the three valid DTC that you posted point specifically to that.

    With regards to this leak, I think you should get under the car and look at the transaxle. What is the cause of this leak? Did the owner hit a curb and damage the transaxle?
     
    #22 Patrick Wong, Jan 9, 2014
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I just looked under the car, it looks pretty clean. The front bumper lip has been ripped off but it's clean around the transmission drain plug. No scrapes of any kind. I did notice some residue, brownish color around the drain plug. I felt it and it can peel off. Dried blood from road kill?
     
    #23 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Looking at the codes on the dealer receipt, I wrote down one wrong code

    They are P0541 P0607 P0A2B P0AA6

    P0A2B seems to indicate transaxle failure
     
    #24 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    You are correct, DTC P0A2B means that there is a problem with a temperature sensor within the transaxle. The sensor is not separately replaceable so the transaxle must be replaced.

    The owner can have a used transaxle from a salvage yard installed, this might cost $1,000 or so.

    Transaxle ATF is not going to dry and peel off, so whatever accumulated on the transaxle drain plug is not ATF.
     
    #25 Patrick Wong, Jan 9, 2014
  6. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Yeah, I'll bet its as Patrick said, the brake light failure and the hv ground fault. The biggest question is, how does the car drive? You can drive an indefinite amount of time with an HV ground fault but, we have to find out for sure. The only real way to do that is to replace the brake light switch then move forward from there (baby steps). You can't eat a pizza in one bite lol.
     
    #26 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    So the other 3 additional codes isn't that relevant? Fix the transaxle and that's about it? Shouldn't the car still be able to start with a bad transaxle? Or that's definitely a brake switch?
     
    #27 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  8. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    That's very likely the brake switch
     
    #28 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    You definitely need to test the brake switch and replace if needed. Hopefully the transaxle is the cause of the high voltage ground fault but this cannot be established without further testing that you have stated is too technical for you.
     
    #29 Patrick Wong, Jan 9, 2014
  10. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    In reality, there's a chance that the brake light switch is simply out of adjustment (very likely).
     
    #30 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  11. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    There is a person that's been asking me to buy a $800 traction battery, he still has his transmission on his wreck. It has 119k miles, you think this will be a good item to swap in? Or find one with fewer miles?
     
    #31 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  12. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Too early to tell at this point. First you need to get the car running and figure out the "real" problems. With the brake light switch failing, you really don't know what problems the car has.
     
    #32 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  13. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    The car was running just a couple days ago and it just quit.
     
    #33 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  14. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I'll ask if the owner wants to deal with putting a transmission in. He declined the dealer offer. With 152k miles, it may just be parted out....and I could use a few parts for my 2006.
     
    #34 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  15. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Running fine with no codes? If so then now you have these codes? I mean really no matter what happened in the past, your at a juncture that the brake light switch has to be fixed so you can assess these other DTC's. It may be that when you replace that the car runs and drives great. This is my course of action anyway.
     
    #35 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  16. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    How it quit matters too. Was he driving down the road and the car suddenly shut down? Or did he turn it off and it wouldn't start again?
     
    #36 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  17. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    He was driving down the road and the red triangle came on. Towed to dealer and got all the codes read off. However, now I don't see the triangle when I press the start button.
     
    #37 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  18. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Yeah, there's a chance when you replace that switch, everything will work fine. If it does, have him immediately replace the transaxle fluid.
     
    #38 usnavystgc, Jan 9, 2014
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    The car has a pretty good history...except at 139k miles the owner declined a transaxle fluid change.

    New coils, spark plugs, water pump, elec water pump, new front bearings, doesn't burn oil (dino oil at dealer since day one, amazing)......only thing they neglected to do, the lifetime transaxle fluid....which failed at the end of the 152k lifetime.
     
    #39 JC91006, Jan 9, 2014
  20. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    post deleted, please ignore.
     
    #40 dorunron, Jan 9, 2014
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