2010 new 12v battery still getting triangle "!" And p lock malfunction

What's the voltage of the new battery? Just because the battery is new, it does not mean it's not drained. A fully charged battery should be at least 12.9 volts at rest.

 

how are you going about the 12v battery test? is it car off, after several hours?

 

Search for "p-lock". There was a thread about a month ago and that owner had a failed part - a relay as I recall.

 

No. There is no "battery learning". It's possible the Prius now holds some codes even if the 12V battery is disconnected. If so, they have to use the Toyota Tech tool to reset the code. That's a 10 min. job max. but they may insist on one hour min. charge, and that's in the $100 area (shop rates are now around $100 per hour).

It's sounding like replacing the 12V battery is now a dealer service job. Unless you catch it before it goes completely dead, and put another 12V source on the car while replacing the battery.

 

I'd get new battery for the multimeter, and check/post the "car off" battery voltage, for the new battery, and the old one, if it's still around.

How often were/are you getting this dash warning, ie: is it intermittent, once in a while, or steady?

 

I'm not sure I understand. Are you saying something will be hooped if the car has the 12 volt power interrupted? I've intentionally done that when working on brakes, without undue problems, other than loss of trip meter data, radio presets, and maybe auto power window needs relearning.

If you want to preserve memories, say during a battery swap, there's DIY options. One of the sweetest is a cord with OBD plug at one end, and 12 volt accessory plug at the other. You plug into a jump pack, lay it in the driver's foot well. Indicator light on the cord confirms your connections and power.

 

Kinda reluctant to ask, don't want to add to your problems, but: is the new battery AGM style, and has the vent port?

 

I just connect my "alarm battery" to the boost point under the hood when messing with the 12V battery. You -DO- have to be careful though, first to get the polarity right, and second, to make sure you don't ground the +12V battery cable (it stays energized).

Don't know what this "p-warning" is all about either. It's the "park lock" mechanism electrical control. Maybe the park-lock is sticking and draining the 12V trying to fully lock after the car is shut down? If so, the warning will still be there after replacing the 12V battery. And it may still drain down the new 12V battery.

I think you need to keep hunting.

 

sounds like the old one is fine. does it change when you hook it up?

might this have anything to do with a door/hatch or parking brake switch?

you need tech stream to get all the toyota codes and reset things.

 

I'm really confused by this thread but I have the P Lock Malfunction problem and am looking for a solution. But you are saying you could drive your car? How?

Mine won't let me do anything because of the P Lock Malfunction message. It's Wednesday and I think the last time I drove it was Saturday... ? Can't remember driving anywhere since then.

 

you need a new 12v.

 

The parking lock is an actual thing. You've probably noticed your Gen 3's steering wheel never locks and you can turn the steering even with the car off. They eliminated the theft-resistant steering lock most cars have, and used a theft-resistant transmission park lock instead. It's locked and unlocked by a switched-reluctance motor mounted on the front of the transmission (with theft-resistant bolt covers too). A switched-reluctance motor isn't easy to hotwire by just holding a battery to it; like a stepper motor, it needs to be fed the right sequence of pulses by the transmission control ECU. So, any problem with the motor itself, the linkage, the wiring from ECU to motor, that ECU itself, or the power feeding it, could be involved. The Repair Manual will have steps for narrowing down the search for the cause.

Replacing the 12 volt battery is a popular first alternative on PriusChat, hoping to get lucky and never have to diagnose an actual problem. If it does the trick and the code never comes back, you win ... otherwise, it was maybe worth a try, and now it's just time to take the actual code over to the manual and start doing the diagnostic work. On my own car, unless there's some obvious, unmistakable reason to think it could be a battery problem, I just skip straight to diagnosing the problem the code is about. But many swear by the fuss-with-battery-first idea.

-Chap