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Can anyone help with a dtc C1259 on 01 model?

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by greasemonkey007, Mar 17, 2015.

  1. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    I recently bought an 01 model that I knew had bad batteries. It has 246,000 miles. The codes that were in it when I looked at it said that the hybrid battery was bad. It had a bad aux. battery as well. There were a couple of C codes that I couldn't get much info on. Thanks to Prius Chat and those that have contributed, I already had a battery pack for it reconditioned with gen 2 modules.
    NOTE: When I pulled the traction battery out, it had been so hot that it burnt the wiring harnes up that plugs into the ECU and melted a lot of the plastic that covers the terminals and wiring harness. It even burnt the sheet metal around the ECU end and burnt a hole in the carpet that covers the battery pack. This car could have burnt to the ground. I'll try to post the pics here.
    I installed the HV battery and new 12V Saturday evening. The car started up, ran a few seconds, and then the warning lights lit up like a Christmas tree and the engine shut off. So I hooked the laptop up to it this morning and retrieved the codes.
    They were:
    P3191, 3101, 3140
    C1521,1522

    I bought a subscription to Alldata DIY to see what the codes meant. I then went straight to the safety disconnect plug, removed it, put it back in, and made sure it was latched. I cleared the codes and ran another health check. This time all I got was a C1259 and just the "brake" light lit in red. Alldata suggests it could be 1.) a votage of 10.5V or more for 1.5 seconds or 2.) a regenerative malfunction occurring on HV ECU side. I don't know enough about this car to know what "normal" is for everything. So I drove the car and all the drive train seemed to be working properly, including the braking position (regenerative braking). The front left brake sounded like I need to inspect for brake wear or something, it made just a little noise as the wheel turned. Could worn brakes cause this code? I haven't pulled the rotor off yet. I tried to clear this code out a couple of times and it just stays there and the brake light stays on. So I tested the brake light to make sure I could turn it on and off via techstream. It worked. There were several other tests available in techstream but I just didn't know anything about what they were. I've never messed with any other parts of a prius other than changing a rear wheeI hub assembly on my 01 (thanks again PC!). I couldn't get any more info from Alldata on how to proceed with the diagnostics so I am at a brick wall.
    HOPING someone can help me out!
     

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  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    sorry to hear about your issue.

    You've made a good start by showing that you see the value in getting access to the information you need. I'm not sure what the Alldata subscription costs, but I'd recommend going straight to the real source and signing up at techinfo.toyota.com. The Toyota manuals do not have the problem where you get a code and can't find out what it means.

    The C1259 you're talking about happens to be a code that doesn't tell you much. Your car has about seven computers in it running different parts of the system, and they gossip a lot. For example, the brake computer needs news from the HV and battery computers so the regen braking can be coordinated. C1259 is a code logged by the brake computer that only means the HV computer has told the brake computer something isn't right somewhere else.

    When you have a C1259, really the only thing to do is read the codes from the HV and/or battery computers, and fix whatever problems those codes refer to. The C1259 will then take care of itself.

    The trouble is, a lot of "generic" code readers are not able to talk with all the computers in the car. They may show you any codes in the engine computer, and even the C1259 (which comes from the brake computer), but to see the HV and battery codes you really need a scantool that is known to be fully functional for the Prius. There are a few choices that you can read about if you search this forum.

    Once you are able to get the actual trouble information from the HV and battery computers, you should be on the way to a solution.

    -Chap
     
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  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    ... reading your post more carefully, I see you mention using Techstream to read the codes. That's a strange situation, because if there's a C1259 then there should be codes in the HV ECU, and techstream should certainly be able to see them. I would try again ... if still nothing shows up, I would start checking whether something is impairing communications between the scantool port at the HV or battery ECUs ... maybe by staging some known problem that would set a code in one of them, and seeing if it shows up. Hmm, puzzling.

    -Chap
     
  4. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    The engine probably didn't actually start. the motors/transaxles starts the motor buy spinning the ICE at operating rpms (from what I've heard a little over 1100 rpms) but the engine didn't actually start. I'd check the throttle body, clean it and clean the mass air flow sensor.

    Side note. WOW, in sane story about that battery. I've never seen anything like that! How on earth did that happen. Glad nobody got hurt or the car didn't burn to the ground.

    P.s how old are the spark plugs?
    Good luck!
     
  5. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    I didn't notice any codes in the individual sections. I have the mini vci with techstream but I don't know everything I can do with it. I don't play around on it too much. Someone sh
    I'll check again but I don't remember seeing any codes in the individual sections. It may be possible that something is broken or burned. I'm not sure how to trace it down. How much does the techinfo.toyota cost?
     
  6. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    Not sure if the previous owner kept driving after the warning lights came on. He said the car just quit one day. After I first cleared the codes this morning it started and ran fine. I don't know what maintenance it's had done. But it drove OK. Just couldn't get rid of that code.
     
  7. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    I can't remember how to put TS into "test mode". Someone showed me how last year but I haven't needed it til now. He said it increased the sensitivity so it would pinpoint the problem when you drive it.
     
  8. VOR

    VOR Junior Member

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    In case you still need it here's where you'll find the info on pricing:
    TIS

    I'd like to offer some technical info too but I'm still learning myself. However, if you got Chap looking at your post you're in good hands. :)

    -Vance
     
  9. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    All I can say is God is good! I hooked the laptop up this morning, cleared the code again, and ran another health check. It was gone! I drove it about 5 miles and still no code. My guess is that when I first put the safety lock in I didn't get a good connection and it just didn't like it. Whatever it was, I hope it's gone for good.
     
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  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Ok, this seems to be the fourth story like this that I've seen here:
    1. Russell Walker, Brisbane, April 2013 with pics. (For a while I had forgotten about this one.)
    2. lovemy02prius, near Detroit, September 2014, with pic.
    3. andrewedwards89, February 2015, no pic.
    4. greasemonkey007, Arkansas, March 2015, with pics.
    I wonder if this is starting to be a thing (if four PriusChat threads from a population of ~ 52,000 Gen 1s could be enough to constitute a thing). Feeling a bit of temptation to go open my battery and check the condition of the sense wire harness....

    -Chap
     
  11. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    The car I started this thread about is the 2nd 01 model I've bought, since my wife liked my car better than her 06 model (why, I'll never know!). I bought the 1st one with 122,000 miles on it and bad batteries since I had already rebuilt my wife's 06 battery pack. The last module, #38, had a hole burned in it and the ring terminal on the sensing wire that should have been on there was completely gone. It also melted the casing of mod # 37, almost completely through. I pitched those 2 immediately and 2 more after I started the reconditioning since they didn't want to cooperate. Since I couldn't get the capacities close to 6000 mAh I bought a used pack out of a front-end wrecked car. That pack only had about 4500 miles on it as verified by the invoice from the dealer. The dealer had to put new batteries and tires on it to sell it and the guy that bought it had it less than 6 months when it was wrecked. So I bought the batteries (HV and aux), tires, and a marker lamp lens on the front bumper since that was exactly what my car needed. The 12V battery only had 1.36V when I brought it home. I never expected it to come back to life but I figured what the heck, it can't hurt to try it. I put it on the charger and for 4 or 5 hours it didn't do anything. I was about to pull the plug on it when I got sidetracked for about 3 more hours. When I came back it was charging! I left it charging overnight and the amp guage was back to 0 the next morning. It was alive!! I definitely believe those are good batteries (GS YUASA).
    Since I still have an original 1st gen pack in my car now, I have decided to check my bus bar/wiring connections at 175,000 miles. I expect I will remove the bus bars and clean all connection as a preventive maintenance. Whenever this battery fails, though I hope it's a long time from now, I will replace with a retrofitted pack of gen 2 mods like I did on the car that I bought for my wife. So far I've put 23,000 miles on mine with no battery problems. I just had to replace a rear wheel hub and I didn't know if it was coming out or not. It got pretty ugly, but I was able to persuade it with 2 shop hammers.
     
  12. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That's interesting. So you've bought two Gen 1s with battery projects and in both cases there were signs of smoke, not just old tired modules going gently into that good night?

    But in the first one, the damage you found was at the individual terminal connection to module 38. Just to be clear, when you say 38, you mean the one farthest from the ECU end?

    While any battery fire is a concern, I think that one doesn't quite fit in the list I made above, which is all PriusChat threads that I know of involving fire at the sense harness connector into the ECU. The ECU connector failure seems to be a pattern we might want to take an interest in, having seen the first one (unless I've missed others) just two years ago, and three more since then ... and I'm not sure I have a good theory how it starts. I completely understand how, once it starts, it goes big. But what starts it, I'd like to understand better.

    The issue at terminal 38 seems probably simpler. At least I have an idea how those might start. The terminals can grow mushroomy corrosion crystal structures, and eventually one might touch the metal case. By itself, that probably has no effect besides setting a P3009 code. But if there's any chance the previous owner had a P3009 and ignored it long enough, eventually some other stalagmite in the battery becomes the second one to touch the case, and right then things get dramatic.

    I am also getting tempted to go check mine out sometime when I have a bit of time. I think I might be more conservative about taking the nuts/busbars off, unless I really see something that seems to require it. My battery had the 40G sealing service done on it, so the bus bars should all be stuck to the modules with the special 40G sauce (which is no longer available). I've seen another poster (probably hobbit) report that even if the visible copper looks bad, the contact area under the nuts generally stays gastight and clean if they haven't been disturbed. So if I look and all I see is corrosion I can brush off, I might stop there and not go more invasive. I could also query the ECU for the series resistances, which should include any excessive resistance at the terminal connections ... the worse the numbers look, the more I might think about cleaning/retightening the terminals.

    But certainly, if I spot anything suspicious about the sense harness, that bad boy's getting replaced.

    -Chap