Stall and slowness problem 2017 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Wes Covington, Jul 26, 2018.

Page 1 of 3
  1. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    My 2017 Prius was having some weird issues tonight. I would step on the accelerator and the car wouldn’t speed up at first. It would take a few moments and then not get up to speed.

    When I stopped at an intersection it was worse. Sometimes I turned off the car and restarted. Once it said the hybrid system was disengaged.

    I got it home and I hope I can lurch to a dealer tomorrow. Are the 2017s supposed to have inverter issues? Or would this be something else. I didn’t get any warning lights.
     
    #1 Wes Covington, Jul 26, 2018
  2. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    The dealer wasn't able to replicate the problem and told me that they are sending the diagnostic report to Toyota to see if there was anything they missed. The problem has only happened at night in residential areas. Both my wife and I have experienced it and it usually happens that the car won't engage after we stop at a stop sign unless we really floor it. And then it pokes along for a while until it get backs up to full speed.
     
    #2 Wes Covington, Jul 26, 2018
  3. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2016
    1,085
    820
    0
    Location:
    Washington State, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    It's surprising that you are not seeing any warning lights. When you saw the message saying the hybrid system was disengaged, did it appear only briefly or remain until you restarted the car? I would certainly think that would register a code. Did the dealer tell you they had not found any codes? I wonder how thoroughly they tried to diagnose the problem. It definitely sounds like there is some type of problem with the battery driven part of the propulsion system.
     
    #3 davecook89t, Jul 27, 2018
    primer and Mendel Leisk like this.
  4. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    The dealer said they drove the car 22 miles and then ran a diagnostic. I will talk to them tomorrow more about the issue. It did only last for about 5 minutes. And it seemed to happen going slightly uphill.

    The hybrid system disengaged sign came on only for a few seconds.
     
    #4 Wes Covington, Jul 27, 2018
  5. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2008
    1,349
    928
    0
    Location:
    Monument, CO
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Sounds like the IPM malfunction in Gen 3 series. Perhaps review those threads...
     
    #5 FuelMiser, Jul 27, 2018
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    113,715
    51,755
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i thought there was a tsb, could be misremembering. did the engine rev at all when you stepped on the gas?
     
    #6 bisco, Jul 27, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2018
  7. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2018
    7,035
    2,801
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    Maybe having a passenger take a good quality video would be helpful.

    Above all, be SURE that you have this documented with your dealer......and that you get a paper copy.....just incase it continues to be intermittent until AFTER the warranty expires.
     
    #7 sam spade 2, Jul 27, 2018
    davecook89t and Tande like this.
  8. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I didn't see any tsb that covers this issue. I will pick up the car and I will ask for a copy of the report. They should give it to me shouldn't they? It's not like I'm asking for my medical record right?
     
    #8 Wes Covington, Jul 27, 2018
    RCO and bisco like this.
  9. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2008
    1,349
    928
    0
    Location:
    Monument, CO
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Here is the info from one thread in Gen 3, Prius went into limp mode on freeway, IPM failure | PriusChat
     
    #9 FuelMiser, Jul 27, 2018
  10. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I got the car back and it drove fine. The history part didn't show that anything was amiss.

    I guess it's time to just watch and wait. They don't think it was an inverter issue and from the description of those problems, I doubt it was. The car never jerked to a stop while running. It's problem was getting back up to speed after stopping. Or in a couple cases, actually going anywhere. These problems have only occurred twice and it when I was already at a fairly low speed.
     
    #10 Wes Covington, Jul 27, 2018
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    113,715
    51,755
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    i wonder if it is a traction control issue. still, you'd expect a dash light.
     
    #11 bisco, Jul 27, 2018
    Elektroingenieur likes this.
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    113,715
    51,755
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    night time would probably eliminate battery overheating issues.
     
    #12 bisco, Jul 27, 2018
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    59,898
    41,169
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    There must have been codes set, considering you saw a warning, and there was a definite change in the car's behaviour. They're dragging their feet??
     
    #13 Mendel Leisk, Jul 27, 2018
    Tande and davecook89t like this.
  14. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I did not receive any warning lights except one time it said the hybrid system was disengaged.
     
    #14 Wes Covington, Jul 27, 2018
    primer likes this.
  15. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    59,898
    41,169
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    That's a warning I think.
     
    #15 Mendel Leisk, Jul 27, 2018
  16. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2017
    2,515
    3,282
    9
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    Which trim level is your 2017 Prius? If it’s a Prius One or Prius Two, with the NiMH battery, the problem you describe might be corrected by the firmware update described in T-SB-0241-17, “Reduced Power When Accelerating From a Stop.” See this thread:

    TSB (NiMH only): Reduced power when accelerating from a stop | PriusChat

    It’s been discussed before:

    Intermittently Doesn't Start from Stop | PriusChat
    2016 Prius wont accelerate when stopped | PriusChat

    If that bulletin doesn’t apply to your car, or the update doesn’t fix the problem, I’d also suggest making sure the dealer has checked for Vehicle Control History events. See post #9 in this thread:

    A couple of things I have noticed | PriusChat

    Also, do you recall the exact text of the message that appeared on the display? Was it “Hybrid System Stopped Shift to P” or “Hybrid System Stopped Stop in a Safe Place,” for example?
     
    #16 Elektroingenieur, Jul 28, 2018
    scona, bisco, jerrymildred and 2 others like this.
  17. Wes Covington

    Wes Covington Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 3, 2013
    8
    4
    0
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    These seemed to be quite on point. Especially "Intermittently Doesn't Start from Stop". That was the exact problem I had. The dealer did send the history report to Toyota for them to check. On a different day, I may take the care to a different dealer where I think the service department is a little better. And I might be able to refer to some of the technical bulletins referenced here.
     
    #17 Wes Covington, Jul 28, 2018
    Tande likes this.
  18. KMcRae

    KMcRae Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2018
    8
    4
    0
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I'm having the a similar problem with my 2017 Prius Two. It's been to the dealership 3 times and I contacted corporate, but they haven't been able to find an issue with the vehicle and are kicking it back to me at this point. I have little more than 12K miles on the vehicle at this point and it's "stalled out" 3 times in the last 35 days. No error codes, but it does show that the MPG took a steep dive one day it happened (July 27th.) Car left me hanging out in the middle of an intersection when it started acting up the first time. :-/
     

    Attached Files:

    #18 KMcRae, Aug 6, 2018
  19. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2018
    7,035
    2,801
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    YOu should not take this without a fight.

    Given the potential safety implications, I think you should report this to the NTSB/NHTSA and start looking into the lemon laws in your state.
    Most places, if they can't fix it after 3 tries, they owe you a new car.
     
    #19 sam spade 2, Aug 7, 2018
  20. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk MMX GEN III

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    59,898
    41,169
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Contact corporate Toyota. Present them everything that's happened so far.
     
    #20 Mendel Leisk, Aug 7, 2018
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)
Page 1 of 3