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2007 Prius entering Failsafe mode after short drive, OBD2 reads Code P3012

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by kosherHa1al, Jan 28, 2018.

  1. kosherHa1al

    kosherHa1al New Member

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    Greetings PriusChat people,
    my 07 Prius with 104k miles has the Red triangle of death. First step : I got a new 12v battery, and disconnected it long enough to reset the codes (over 30sec I believe), but after a short drive and even just turning the car off and back on to ready mode(hold the brake and press start button) the Triangle returned to haunt me. Also if you push the car slightly to get over a hill or merge in some crazy California traffic the car will enter failsafe mode and limit speed to under 20mph. I suspect there could be an issue with heat somewhere as the Battery fan will come on when Failsafe mode engages. It has a clean Airfilter, fresh oil change and new 12v battery from auto zone.
    SO here is the data I have:
    OBD will sometimes read P3012 which is the low voltage reading on battery block 2.
    -When I clear the code, the OBD will be clear BUT the Triangle with check engine lights and VSC will be illuminated. After I restart the car and rescan the OBD shows a DTC, but it will read as NONE or sometimes the P3012 code

    The Triangle and other maintenance lights can be cleared but they come back after the car is driven for a short time. When the car is pushed above 65 or up Hill, she will enter Failsafe mode, and the car needs to cool down before you can drive at normal speeds (over 20mph).

    I checked the inverter coolant res when the car is in Ready mode, and there is turbulence so I believe that the pump is still functioning properly. (Is there a temp sensor I can read with OBD2?)

    When I start the car, the Drive battery shows a low or no charge but Charges full very quickly, under 5 min/ or a short drive. My driving habits give me about 38 - 50 mpg on average.

    I was curious if the Traction Battery was the culprit? I'll research that next.

    if anyone has experience with a similar issue, I would appreciate any backup!
    Gratzi
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    HV Battery is the culprit, with you low miles, you may be able to get a goodwill warranty from Toyota. They should help pay a portion of the battery replacement
     
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  3. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    I thought it would still be under warranty in California.
     
  4. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    10 year/ 150 k miles. Just out of warranty more than likely.
     
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  5. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Sorry, mind glitch.
    I thought we were still in 2017 not 2018 LOL
     
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  6. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    No worries;).

    It could have sold in early 2008, aonthere might still be a chance:whistle:.
     
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  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    No no, not the high demand Prius
     
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  8. kosherHa1al

    kosherHa1al New Member

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    Thanks guys, my next move it some social engineering and hopefully get some help with the HV battery. An Update as well, I did some short drive testing and the car once again kicked in to Failsafe mode and a detail left out was the regen braking was disabled and braking felt 100% mechanical.
     
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  9. kosherHa1al

    kosherHa1al New Member

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    I wish! but will try anyways..
     
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  10. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Someone local who had a similar issue at the end of December was @110bhp . He ended up rebuilding his pack;).

    He got a harness and we worked out a deal for him to use the Hybrid Automotive equipment :).

    Maybe Jeremy will comment how his experience is going after the rebuild (y).
     
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  11. 110bhp

    110bhp Junior Member

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    My car is doing great ~1500 miles later. Your best bet is to remove the battery and replace failed modules. I would replace them in pairs, then use the hybrid automotive charger/discharger. My total out of pocket to replace 4 modules was $400. If you wanted your own charger it would obviously cost more. Beats ~4k at the dealership any day.
     
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  12. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    Hybrid Automotive now has modules for $45 each, matched to your mileage.

    Replacement Toyota Prius Module - Hybrid Automotive
     
    #12 Prodigyplace, Feb 15, 2018
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2018
  13. eblade

    eblade Junior Member

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    ... yeah, dealership doesn't really offer any great thing for it, either. they give you a 90 day replacement warranty on it, is what i was told. People may want to weigh their options, between rebuilding packs, or getting a different battery, or whatever.. I'd like to say I'm pretty happy with having spent 3k for GreenTec's top of the line battery -- rebuilt battery with newer cells, and if it craps out on me in that 3 year warranty period, they claim they'll have someone out to replace it within a day, once I have a dealer verify that it's the battery code. So that peace of mind is good for me . . . well, at least it was until the rest of the car crapped out ;) but i'm hopefully dealing with that now.
     
  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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  15. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Dude, you got screwed. Badly. You could have purchased a new Toyota battery for that price, installed with a 3 yr factory warranty. The battery has a serial number that's entered into their database along with the car's VIN so it can be honored by any dealer.

    Instead you bought a used, repaired battery for the same price. Sorry to be the bearer of such bad news. :unsure:
     
  16. eblade

    eblade Junior Member

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    Dealer was at 4k + labor, with a 90 day warranty. I said "at that price and warranty, i'm definitely going 3rd party" he said "absolutely, that's way better than anything we can do" . . . and GreenTec sent someone to my driveway to swap it. Anyway, my point was, it's worth considering the many many options that are out there, if your time and peace of mind are worth more to you than the time and effort to rebuild your own pack, it's an option worth considering. Personally, I have exactly zero desire to go putzing around inside the battery pack, so that also weighed a little bit on the decision. But I went with the 3k option for the warranty instead of the 1k option to just get the car rolling again.
     
  17. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    As the saying goes, it's good to get a second opinion. You know how a dealership isn't telling you the whole truth? Their lips move.....

    It's possible that you literally may have an even older battery now filled with many modules culled from 04-06 batteries. Study up on the green-tech warranty because you will most likely need it before the 3 years is up. The "record" reported here is one poor guy going through 6 Doorman brand rebuilt batteries. Lots of folks reporting 2-3 replacements. They just don't last.

    GOOD LUCK! (y)
     
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  18. eblade

    eblade Junior Member

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    Thanks :) So far, I've been happy with it, we're coming up on 7 months. The rest of the car is not doing so wonderful though, so I'm wondering if it was a mistake. At the time, I considered that the car could easily clear another 100k, but it has atrophied pretty spectacularly, as well as taken a couple of bumps from other vehicles that have done some cosmetic. I've got 238k, with a refurbed battery and brand new brakes, and everything else is kinda questionable. But we shall see. I plan to drive it until we kill it completely, because after the cosmetic issues, we're definitely not getting any kind of a decent trade-in value on it. Unfortunately, with my other car having DIAF'd recently, now this one is getting triple duty, which is also not good.

    BUT... anyway. On GreenTec, they told me if it throws a battery code, they'll replace it next day. I'm good with that, in comparison to what the dealer offered me. Of course, that same dealer also told me that my gas engine has "internal damage", and now I no longer trust that they'll tell me anything correct, unless they tell me exactly what I already know for sure. I guess, looking it up, GreenTec's battery was technically $2145 and they probably charged me like $600 or something (and tax, making it 3k) to drive it to me and replace it for me. I'm also OK with that, at least, I was employed at the time, so I was good with that. Now that I'm unemployed, I'd be digging at the battery myself. They claim the battery is made of "new generation" cells, and when I asked the tech installing it specifically what that meant, he said the 2k batteries are from 3rd gen cars, at least 2010+.

    For all I know for sure, everyone's lied to me about everything, but if this battery craps out, then they'd better be honoring that warranty. ;-)
     
  19. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    If a Toyota battery is dealer installed it has a 3 year warranty. If somebody else installs it it has a 1 year warranty. The dealer installed warranty includes installation.
     
  20. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    That is what the Prolong system is for. :D
     
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