Petrol Engine not Running

Yes it does... no, she's scatty, but not that... surely...? ...and I would definately get an "of course not!" if I asked. I did remove the fuel cap and had a sniff though. No evidence of diesel around the neck either.

 

Oh dear - what I was worried about every time I tried to start it after checking something. Last time I did, the battery showed three blue bars and the engine started. It ticked over as before for about 10 seconds, then, as the battery display dropped DOWN into the purple, the revs began to climb and then as it went to one bar it switched off and up came the triangle. Its had it, hasn't it? :-(

 

Thanks for the prompt! OK, I'll shell out another twenty Quid. If this doesn't work I'm giving up and retiring it to parts car status.

 

OK, its been a while... After trying everything you all very kindly suggested and having no luck at all, I decided that as the traction battery was now getting dangerously low, with the best cells at 7.0v and some dropping nearer 6, I shelled out the £420 for a replacement second-hand COMPLETE traction battery unit from a scarpyard. This came "tested" (whatever that means) and with a 30 day warranty. I installed it and have the same problem. I thought the wife was mad at me before this, but I was wrong... NOW she's mad! Any more suggestions...? Anybody... Bueller... Bueller...?

 

Sorry, still new at this chat lark... I don't even know where I would find an HV supply here in the middle of Wales - I'm lucky if I've got mains electricity! The OBD2 codes are now P3190 and P0A0F. I understand that the second one is just telling me the engine isn't charging the battery, so the 3190 is the one that matters... Symptoms are still the same - Engine starts, ticks over, then the revs rise slowly as if the choke was closing, then it dies. As I thought right at the start, this was not initially a hybrid issue, it just became one as I overtaxed the HV side trying to make it go. MAF is replaced and throttle body cleaned (butterfly can be moved with a finger). Next most likely sensor is...

 

...this may not be relevant, but it was dark when I was performing the latest test and I noticed that the light in the driver's window button was flashing dimly when the ignition was on... it may be that it is supposed to do that, or it might be another fiendish Japanese secret error message, its just that I've never noticed it before.

 

I have just been looking at this... 2001-2009 Prius P3191, P3190, P0A0F - easy checks for these common codes regarding my error codes. Their picture of a "dirty" throttle body looks like mine AFTER I cleaned it! You've got to realise people that my next newest car is a 1972 and "cleaning" means "scraping the lumps off". I now realise that 21st century cleaning means "eat your dinner off clean"... I'll go back in there tomorrow and polish it to within an inch of its life. As you have probably gathered, I don't really do "modern"... ;-)

 

Yeah, I saw that one... didn't fill me with confidence. :-(

 

Yes! I can't wait for it to get light now, so I can try this...

 

Wow thanks, that's really cool... and not that expensive either. I assume this will allow me to recharge the entire battery, disconnected from the car? If that's the case, I'm in!

 

Like I said, to me that looks squeaky clean! Mine was black all the way down and I scrubbed it up to this level. I'm amazed that this small amount of crud can cause a problem, but I'm happy to go back and do it properly, especially if I can regain some points from the domestic authorities by getting her car working again!

 

Here we are again! Throttle body is now so clean you really could eat your dinner off it... The process sent a whole can of carb cleaner into the manifold too... Guess what...? It started and ran for much longer than before and I was almost ready to smile when it died again. After mulling this over yet another cup of tea with my son who seems to grasp how these things work far better than me (not difficult), I have reasoned thus: Car starts when the system is in "start mode" and is richening it up for 5 seconds or so while the sensors do their checks. After that, "normal tickover" is resumed, the mixture is weakened and it dies. With a ton of highly volatile carb cleaner going down its throat, it managed to run for longer, so I'm looking at either a fuel starvation issue, bad fuel, or diesel in the bloody tank. I am now going to take the rear seat squab out, remove the pump and see is the filter is blocked, or the fuel is contaminated. Oh joy of joys...