1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Red Triangle warning + Every other orange light to the right of it..

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by PepoGimez, May 14, 2016.

  1. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    i'm new to this forum, and since i've never really had any problems with my prius, i've been more of a lurker rather than making an account.

    Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post (quite lengthy).

    To give a little context. I have a 2004 toyota prius (Generation 2, light blue). It's the most amazing car i've ever driven by far for many reasons. I bought it used with around 140k miles almost 3 years ago. Now it has 180k miles. It got a "almost" new hybrid battery and actuator before they sold it to me, and toyota checked it out and told me everything was great.

    Around 2 or so years ago, the display on my prius (the one that shows MPH, odometer, gas tank) stopped turning on when I turned my car on. It started only happening once a month or two and now happens more often than not. When this happens, the MPG meter on the main screen stops working and the GPS becomes wacky. However, the car itself, and the AC seem to work. Only mechanical issue just seems like the pedal has more resistance than usual. I've taken it to toyota 3 times for this, and they've told me that they have no idea, but no matter what it might be, it'll probably cost over $1,000 to fix... No warning lights every show up.

    MAIN ISSUE:

    Today, I let my father use my car on his errands to save gas, so the rest of this is just what he was able to remember. Apparently while on the freeway (around 60-70 MPH), my prius engine just shut off and the car just stopped. The display and everything was still on but the car was just stuck. He managed to get off the freeway and the car would not turn off (the key would not eject either). Then the red triangle warning light came on along with the engine check light, the orange light to the right (circle with exclamation point), and the VSC light.

    They managed to somehow turn it off and get it to the front of our house. Then it stopped working again and would not turn off. The car would only let me put it in neutral or park, and would make a double beep when I tried to put it in anything else. I finally got the car to turn off and when I turned it back on the red triangle master light remained and now every orange light to the right of it turned on. I parked in my drive way and there it sits.

    I read that it may be the 12v battery. So I did the triple headlight thing where you go to the maintenance screen. I checked the voltage with the engine off and got 11.9v that would flicker to 12v. Then I turned the engine on (only lasted a few seconds before turning back off) and the voltage showed a constant 14.6v. I have a battery charger and a small multimeter but I don't know how to use them.

    So that's the issue and I'm not in the financial condition to take it to my nearest dealer (about 15-20 minutes away) and have them do another inspection where they find nothing but a way to charge me. I want to make sure it's not something I can personally fix before I take the risk.

    Any ideas?

    P.S. Thank you again for reading all that, hopefully it helped.
     
    #1 PepoGimez, May 14, 2016
    Last edited: May 14, 2016
  2. S Keith

    S Keith Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2015
    799
    327
    0
    Location:
    AZ
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Wall of text.TL;DR

    Something broke.

    READ...
    THE...
    CODES...


    Code reading options in my sig.

    Okay... fine... I read some... the combination meter issues you describe are an extended warranty item. Unfortunately, you are past the 9 year cut-off. Your best option is to send it to one of the few folks on eBay that will fix it for around $120. Dealer price is outrageous.

    Good luck,

    Steve
     
    #2 S Keith, May 14, 2016
    Last edited: May 14, 2016
  3. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    My apologies. I tried to space it out frequently to make it easier to read, and warned ahead of time. That issue I was able to figure out and I have someone that could fix that I think. However, I'm not sure that's the problem that i'm having right now. My car has run fine for almost two years now while intermittently not displaying anything on that specific screen, but now my car has many warning lights and won't work for more than 2 miles. I have a feeling this is unrelated to the first issue, but I want to be certain.

    Thank you for your reply!
     
  4. S Keith

    S Keith Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2015
    799
    327
    0
    Location:
    AZ
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Combination meter is completely unrelated.

    You have experienced a significant failure. I'm guessing a P0AA6 HV leak or an inverter coolant pump failure (IIRC, covered by a recall). But those are just guesses.

    Dude... what part of Phoenix? I might be able to swing by.
     
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I suspect the car over heated from a failure with the inverter coolant pump. That seems to be a common failure after 100k miles of use. There was an initial recall on this but if it's been replaced over 100k miles ago, then that most likely is your problem with the car suddenly dying. Car dying after 2 miles is more reason to believe it's dying from a lack of cooling
     
  6. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    I'm not sure what those mean, but they sound expensive lol. I have a feeling this car is no longer covered by any recall.

    North Phoenix.

    How can I check this?
     
    #6 PepoGimez, May 15, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: May 15, 2016
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    When the car is in READY mode, open the inverter coolant reservoir cap, look at the fluid inside to see if there's movement. If there's movement/agitation, then the pump is working. If there's little or no movement, then the pump has failed.

    You can also read the codes on the car, it will point you to the problem(s).

    You can have a failure with the engine water pump / or broken belt too.....but I think it's more likely the inverter pump that failed here
     
  8. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Oh ok, i'll do that right now and check.

    Where can I read the codes?
     
  9. S Keith

    S Keith Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2015
    799
    327
    0
    Location:
    AZ
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    per message #2, options in my sig. I have also sent you my phone number. I expect to be in West Phoenix tomorrow, and I might be able to swing by and read your codes if you're not too far north.
     
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Ask member S Keith.....he's in Arizona LOL

    Or you can buy the MiniVci cable from Amazon and hook it up to a windows laptop
     
  11. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Haha thank you! I will!

    I checked the coolant and when I turn on the car it does show plenty of movement.

    Unfortunately the closest auto zone closes in 15 minutes and I don't think my car will make it in time so i'll have to get the codes checked tomorrow morning.
     
    #11 PepoGimez, May 15, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: May 15, 2016
  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    is your water pump belt still there? A car that dies and is able to start again once it cools.....then go another few miles and dies.......seems to be overheating
     
  13. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    I'm not sure what that looks like, but i'll look it up and check real quick. Is there indicator for overheating on the dash?
     
  14. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    you can easily see it on the left side of the engine. I don't know if there's an overheating symbol
     
  15. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    I do see the drive belt for the motor. I actually just had it replaced about 2 months ago. I don't see any other belts however.
     
  16. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    There's only 1 belt, and it's not for the motor. It drives the water pump. You now have to get the codes. The easy stuff has been checked
     
  17. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Oh, then it's definitely there.

    Alright, tomorrow morning i'll go get those checked. Yeah, unfortunately this is not part of the "easy stuff" then.
     
  18. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    welcome pepo, it sounds to me like you need to take it to a dealer for diagnosis and possible repair. all the best!(y)
     
  19. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The engine shut off while driving is usually one of 3 things we see here alot.

    One is the Inverter coolant pump failure already discussed.
    And the other common one is the throttle body is gunked up and the gas pedal cannot control it and it shuts the motor off.
    And lastly the car ran out of gas. See that alot.

    I do know for sure is you need to replace the 12 volt battery. 11.9 is a dead battery. Thats a very sulhated battery. Thats why the car won't shut off. if it goes any lower voltage than that the car will throw a big red exclamation point on the dash when it boots up to alert you. Only there for an instant like a dash bulb test but really noticeable as its the only light not on the dash light bulb check start up menu. Its a unique boot up light.
     
  20. PepoGimez

    PepoGimez Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2016
    46
    4
    0
    Location:
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Ahh, ok. Now this morning, I tried starting it, hopefully enough to drive it to the auto zone about 2 miles from me. The engine would start, and immediately turn off. I got to the corner but I was going entirely off of the declined speed from my drive way. Ended up having to push it back home. I also noticed that the hybrid battery is really low. One bar left. But that might be from when my father tried driving it back yesterday and ended up using the remaining battery power for that extra mile.

    the red exclamation point light with a triangle around it is there permanently. It doesn't seem to go away. Now, I don't know if this helps, but every now and then my right headlight turns off all of a sudden. I have to turn the headlights back on and off for it to turn on again. I read that that might be from a bad battery.

































    MERGED








    Thank you! Definitely think I do lol.
     
    #20 PepoGimez, May 15, 2016
    Last edited by a moderator: May 15, 2016