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06' Prius 95k mi. while driving it seems to go into neutral

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Mark's 06 Prius, Mar 17, 2019.

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  1. Mark's 06 Prius

    Mark's 06 Prius Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    06 Prius with 95k mi. At least once a day as I drive the car here in Fl. it pops out of drive and just coasts as I can hear the motor rev. I tried pulling the gear selector into drive but doesn't do anything until I pull over and shut off and restart then it works temporarily. It also does it sometimes when I go to take off at a traffic light, does nothing barely moves. And sometimes it bogs down when accelerating. And I doesn't appear the electric motor is running at slow take offs just the gas engine. Not sure if there's any codes going off at this point because I sent combination meter off for repairs on Ebay for $69 It was a 1 owner car and I just bought it for $100 perfect interior newer tires and body and paint is good except for clear coat on roof. And the multi function display / Nav screen isn't clear to see through I think the sun or heat has faded the screen,and it's not the settings I've tried them all orange/green, brightness, etc. Its faded like old headlights .Lol I may send it off for the $200 repair to fix mfd. I've read many posts maybe Hv batteries or friction plates in gearbox or whatever it's called. But this popping out of gear crap has gotta be fixed I hope to let my gf use it to go work 1hr each way. PLz any help would be appreciated.
     
    #1 Mark's 06 Prius, Mar 17, 2019
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    start with the 12v. if that is good, you'll have to have the codes read.
     
    #2 bisco, Mar 17, 2019
  3. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    You can read the codes via the OBDII port, if there are any. If you don't have an OBDII scanner, buy one. It's a REQUIRED device for a teenage-aged vehicle.

    The Prius doesn't have a neutral in the sense that gears can slip or anything like that. Forward, reverse, and "neutral" are all done with the same static gearing and the HV ECU just controls the speed and direction of the 2 MG's an the 1 ICE. The only way for the car to feel like it is in neutral, is if the car is in neutral. This can be done many ways. If you are driving down the road and press the park button, it goes to neutral. Same if you use the gear knob and select reverse while driving. Or if you select and HOLD in neutral.

    The shifter itself is just a joystick, completely electronic interface. And it has been known to sometimes act up. There are drivers out there that shift a hundred times going to the grocery store. My coworker did that with his Prius. Every light he would shift into B to slow down. Then to D to get going again. Sometimes into N while at the light or while moving. No amount of telling him how wrong this was corrected his actions. That shifter got probably two orders of magnitude more use than my shifter which sees reverse some days and one movement to D per drive. I'd start with the shifter and the park button as those are the two things that can make it go to neutral.

    I believe we had a member here with the same issue and it turned out that their cell phone mount kept smacking into the park button as they drove and sometimes activated it, which sent it to neutral.
     
    #3 2k1Toaster, Mar 17, 2019
  4. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    Your driving it around with no combo meter installed?
     
    #4 Skibob, Mar 18, 2019
  5. Mark's 06 Prius

    Mark's 06 Prius Junior Member

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    ----USA----
    I was while waiting for it to be repaired off ebay, got it back works great, I have a bad call in hv battery pack that may be causing some of these problems,
     

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    #5 Mark's 06 Prius, Mar 28, 2019
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    never heard of the hybrid battery affecting the shifter, might just be a bad shifter
     
    #6 bisco, Mar 29, 2019
  7. Jean de France

    Jean de France Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I have some issues with the shifter but only when the weather is cold (around 0°C). It is on a Prius 2 from 2005 with 400 000 km. The car is always parked outside in near Paris in France. The issues has come one year ago. When I start the Prius and put it on D or on R, the car comes back on neutral when I accelerate. The solution is to maintain the shifter on the D or R position which is not very easy. After a time or a better temperature in the car, the issue disapears. The last time I put the shifter on B and I had not the move to N. So it is a solution. I am sure I have no error code on the car. I hope that the problem will not get stronger that I can't drive.
     
    #7 Jean de France, Feb 26, 2023
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Shifter replacement is fairly simple from what I’ve read
     
    #8 bisco, Feb 26, 2023
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