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Red triangle

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Natenew2006, Jan 10, 2019.

  1. Natenew2006

    Natenew2006 New Member

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    2006 Prius
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    Was driving the other day and the red triangle plus vsc, abs, and another light came on. No check engine light. I pulled over and turned the car off and it wouldn’t start back into ready mode. So I unplugged the battery and waited a minute then plugged back in and it started up and I took the car back home. Before I got out of parking lot with car still in park the triangle came back with all lights. Drove normal the entire time and got the same 45mpg I always get. Fast forward two days later to today I go back to car and it wouldn’t start and it acted same at it did. So I plugged in my scan tool that says it’s compatible with hybrid vehicles(Bosch 1150) it auto decteted car and started scanning and said not all modules completed(guessing because I reset the car by unplugging the battery before driving home) anyway it continued scanning and said no codes found. So I told it to erase all codes and when I did that all the lights went off including red triangle and I put my foot on the brake and it went right into ready mode. I let it idle and warm up and the light never came back. Took it for a ride up and down street and no problems at all.
    When I got back home I lifted the spare tire tray storage and see that there is a very very small pool of water and moisture around 12v battery. The big hybrid battery is completely dry and no water there. Also noticed the negative battery cable where it bolts to chassis is a little loose where I could move it a small amount. Could this be my issue?

    Sorry for the long post!
     
    #1 Natenew2006, Jan 10, 2019
  2. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Welcome to Prius Chat (y).

    Sounds like you have a common rear hatch leak from small cracks along the rails. This will be where the water is coming from;).

    If the negative is loose, I’d snug it up as a faulty 12 volt will mess with electronics :cool:.

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
    #2 Raytheeagle, Jan 10, 2019
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  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    When the triangle comes back, you should be able to find your code P0AA6
     
    #3 JC91006, Jan 10, 2019
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  4. Natenew2006

    Natenew2006 New Member

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    Thank you I will keep y’all posted. I just thought it was strange that the lights were on but it wouldn’t show a code yet erasing the codes turned off the light
     
    #4 Natenew2006, Jan 11, 2019
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  5. Natenew2006

    Natenew2006 New Member

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    I have driven the Prius exactly 225 miles between 2 days and have not had any issues at all, no lights or anything. Then there is today, I drive the car about a mile and parked and was waiting to pick someone up, waiting in the car with it on. All the sudden the triangle, ((!)), and vsc light up. I kept the car on while waiting for another 20 mins then drove it a mile home another mile with no issue. I kept the car on and plugged in my obd2 scanner and no codes came up. I powered the car off and it would not go back into ready mode. Scanned codes again and no codes. All lights mentioned still on. I went ahead and erased codes and it cleared the red master light and the others. Car went back into ready mode and all was good. I checked 12v battery with car off and it measured 12.3.

    On a side note from last post I tightened up loose negative connection. Before I new connection was loose the battery voltage measured 11.9 and 11.7 when brake lights were on. I check voltage with the self diagnosis on the navi screen. After tightening I never checked again. Today I checked voltage with my obd2 scanner and it read 12.3 with car off.

    Also the water still remains in 12v battery compartment and small bit on spare tire. But nothing where the big hybrid battery is. Just haven’t had time to clean and fix seal. Also just had heavy rain overnight
     
    #5 Natenew2006, Jan 19, 2019
  6. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Your Bosch 1150 is NOT fully compatible w/ the Prius, DESPITE the manufacture claiming hybrid "compatibility." 100% compatibility would = 100% ability to retrieve ALL codes. The manufacture just says "compatible," and they can get away with that b/c it can read SOME codes ("compatible"), NOT ALL codes ("100% compatible").

    If you want FULL compatibility, get Techstream ($22+ from Amazon). Techstream is the official OBD software written for Toyota/Lexus, and used at all Toyota/Lexus dealerships. Easiest to install on an obsolete Win32bit OS (XP, Vista, 7); Mac install possible, just search for it. You can likely acquire a windows laptop for free, by networking for IT contacts; these people will have obsolete equipment collecting dust somewhere, or will know another IT person who has a laptop. This laptop should become your Toyota OBD2 reader and only used for vehicle maintenance/diagnostic. NO email, banking, online purchases for security reasons.

    Quality control of the cables is all over the place, since these are knock offs from Panda Land. You may have to return and buy again to get a working cable. Doesn't matter who you buy from, as all the sellers are most likley buying from the same one or two producers of the cable and hacked software.
    Amazon.com: mini vci techstream
     
    #6 exstudent, Jan 19, 2019
  7. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    It is likely your Bosch scanner can read all the codes, but your "guess" at why it can't at the moment is off the mark. That is not why, it would have no impact that you disconnected the battery. It is hopeful that your scanner is trying to read, or at least recognising there are other ECUs it can't read, so you need to find out why. It might be that you need to add addition configuration files or settings, which maybe at additional cost.

    While Techstream is probably the best software, it is by no means the only software. You can even buy the same handheld tester made by Denso that Toyota techs use.

    To reiterate what others have said, you have codes when you have lights on the dash. If you don't see codes, your scanner is at fault. Even though your scanner cannot see the codes, it can issue a global "clear all" command, which will clear all codes. Hence your lights go off. But, because you haven't fixed the fault which causes the light(s) to come on, the fault resets and the light come back on.

    When you are diagnosing a car "guessing" is probably the worst thing you can do.

    Update/upgrade your scanner so you can see all codes. Then it, more than likely, will be obvious what you next step will be.
     
    #7 dolj, Jan 21, 2019
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