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All Warning Lights Came out and power dimmed

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Mattdr28, Aug 8, 2021.

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  1. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    I was driving my 2008 last night when suddenly several warning lights (including the hybrid system warning on the center computer console) came on and the car began to gradually lose power. I pulled over and shut it off for 10 min to reset the system. Turned it back on and the lights stayed on. The power in the car continued to die. My dad pulled up behind me and said my rear lights slowly dimmed. I had the car towed to the nearest shop where I am awaiting a diagnosis.

    Any thoughts on what this could be? In addition to the hybrid warning system I noticed the following lights: yellow engine light; the red triangle of death; VSC light; and the ABS light. Wondering if this could be any of the following:
    - 12 V battery (which is around 7 years old)
    - Power inverter
    - the alternator
    - serpentine belt
    - Out of gas? My gas gauge hasn't worked for awhile.

    When the tow truck guy arrived he hooked a jump box up to the battery. This immediately gave it juice and caused the hybrid warning system light to go away. The other lights stayed on and the car still wouldn't turn on.

    Any thoughts?
     
    #1 Mattdr28, Aug 8, 2021
  2. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    Hi Folks,

    As I posted yesterday, I was driving my 2008 on Saturday when suddenly several warning lights (including the hybrid system warning on the center computer console) came on and the car began to gradually lose power. I pulled over and shut it off for 10 min to reset the system. Turned it back on and the lights stayed on. The power in the car continued to die. My dad pulled up behind me and said my rear lights slowly dimmed. I had the car towed to the nearest shop. In addition to the hybrid warning system I noticed the following lights: yellow engine light; the red triangle of death; VSC light; and the ABS light.

    The shop replaced the 12V battery in the car and added some gas (it was pretty low if not empty). The car started up but all the warning lights were on. The shop said it gave out the hybrid warning system code when they hooked it up. They want to replace the hybrid battery for $2,600. I asked them to check the alternator and inverter pump as well. Could the low gas have been a problem? The gas gauge hasn't worked for a while so I stop pretty frequently to get gas. Could this have screwed up the hybrid battery? Is there a way to check the hybrid battery voltage? Should it be checked before replacing the battery?
     
    #2 Mattdr28, Aug 9, 2021
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I would first try filling up the car with another 5 gallons of gas. Then disconnect the 12v battery negative and reset the car. Then see how it runs after that. There were reports of the hybrid battery dying after running out of gas (cause it draws so much power from a battery). So if your battery is weak, it could throw the code for hybrid battery replacement. You can maybe fix this problem if you force charge the HV battery after you put more gas in it and get it running.

    To force charge the battery, you would make sure you're in an open space with nothing in front of your car to hit. Put on your parking brake, put car into DRIVE, while you hold down the brake, you press the accelerator to the floor. With both the brake and accelerator pressed, you will see your HV Battery Meter charge. You can stop when the HV battery state of charge meter is completely green.
     
    #3 JC91006, Aug 9, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 9, 2021
    SFO likes this.
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If nobody has read the car's diagnostic trouble codes yet (or they have read the codes but haven't told you what they are, the actual codes, I mean), they're being silly. From the behavior, my money is on a code for the DC/DC converter, or possibly the cooling thereof ... but that's why the car gives trouble codes, so we don't have to guess.
     
    #4 ChapmanF, Aug 9, 2021
  5. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    The shop informed me that the "code for the hybrid battery" was still on after they replaced the 12V battery and put gas in it. I asked them to look at the inverter pump. I've been doing a lot of reading about the cooling system and I'm wondering of it could be a dirty fan. Not sure the last time that was cleaned.
     
    #5 Mattdr28, Aug 10, 2021
  6. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    Update: talked to the shop. The codes they gave me were: P3193, P0A0F, C0200, C0205, and C1241. None of these have to do with the hybrid battery from what I can tell. I get the feeling the thing was just out of gas and the 12V (7 years old) needed to be replaced. Thoughts?
     
    #6 Mattdr28, Aug 10, 2021
  7. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    You're quite right that none of those pertain to the hybrid battery, and it seems in the earlier conversation where they didn't tell you the actual codes but just said it "gave out the hybrid warning system code" as posted in #2 they were sloppily vague, or if they said it was the "code for the hybrid battery" they may have been BSing. Or they had such a code at one time but not when you later asked them for the actual codes, and they hadn't written it down.

    I'm not ready to say the dimming lights have been explained to my full satisfaction, but the codes so far are consistent for running out of fuel, and maybe there isn't much more to be learned before retrieving the car from this shop and driving it a while and seeing if the dimming-light situation ever repeats.
     
    #7 ChapmanF, Aug 10, 2021
  8. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    Just spoke to the shop. Having it towed back to my place. They said a bunch of the warning lights are still on. Do I maybe just need to disconnect the 12V battery to make that go away? The shop said the 12V battery was dead so I had them replace that. Not sure why these lights are still on.
     
    #8 Mattdr28, Aug 10, 2021
    Last edited: Aug 10, 2021
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    #9 PriusCamper, Aug 10, 2021
  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The car will tell you if you ask; it's those trouble codes that we need.

    It's possible to rely on shops to read codes for you, but as you've just seen, it's not always easy to worm the codes out of them, and it's not always certain they used a reader that could see all the codes.

    So you can feel a lot more self-sufficient if you make sure that you have your own way of reading trouble codes when needed, so you never have to get a tow and rely on somebody else for that basic step.

    There are various ways to do that, from smartphone apps to a beater Windows laptop and Toyota Techstream.

    The most important thing is making sure that whatever you use to read codes is able to read all of the codes in a Prius. Plenty of people use things that can't, and we get these weird posts that say "I have all these warning lights and there aren't any codes", or they list a few codes but clearly missing the ones that matter for the issue they're having.

    The Dr. Prius smartphone app is one that plenty of people here seem to use, though it also has a known bug where it turns some real diagnostic codes into bogus ones, making it hard to look them up. I haven't found an issue tracker link for that app to report the bug officially, but it has a 'support' email address; maybe somebody who uses the app could shoot them an email so they can release a version that fixes the bug.
     
    #10 ChapmanF, Aug 10, 2021
  11. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    Here's the codes the shop gave me: P3193, P0A0F, C0200, C0205, and C1241
    Just ordered a reader just in case
     
    #11 Mattdr28, Aug 10, 2021
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  12. Colorado Boo

    Colorado Boo Active Member

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    When I first got our Prius in 2017, one of my first questions was, "So since we have no starter, how do we know when the 12-volt battery needs replacing?" Most of the answers sounded like what your car did....I've heard the signs can be "wackadoodle"!!
    But $2,600 for a new hybrid battery is probably the lowest quote I've ever seen...saw one the other day and it was over $4,000....ouch!
    Keep us posted!
     
    #12 Colorado Boo, Aug 10, 2021
  13. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    I spoke with another mechanic earlier and he said the thing probably just ran out of gas given it was showing P3193, P0A0F. Taking it to a shop so I can get the actual HV battery tested just in case. Bought the OBD scanner as well to get all the codes to show you guys. That will get here Thursday. I think that shop was taking me for a ride (no pun intended). I half expect that when the tow truck finally drops the car off the warning indicators will be gone. I'll keep you guys posted!
     
    #13 Mattdr28, Aug 10, 2021
  14. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    So I got the car back this morning and the engine doesn't start. Everything switches on but the hybrid battery is down to 1 bar. The only gear the car will switch into is neutral. Has safety mode locked me out? I haven't put any gas in it yet, but I assumed the shop did that. The tow truck told me the shop sucks so maybe they didn't. Should I disconnect the 12V battery for a few minutes to see if that resets the system? Still waiting on the OBD device so I can get the codes.
     
    #14 Mattdr28, Aug 11, 2021
  15. Mattdr28

    Mattdr28 Junior Member

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    Good news. After putting some gas in the tank and disconnecting and reconnecting the 12v battery, the car started right up and the warning signals disappeared. Drove it to the gas station to fill up and recharge the hybrid battery. Battery took a little while to fully charge but I think that’s the stop and go nature of driving in DC. When I got back I used the hard charge method and took about 2 min to get it at full green.

    A lot of fuss over a stupid mistake. Keep your tanks full and if a mechanic ever says you need a new HV battery ask for the codes and verify.
     
    #15 Mattdr28, Aug 11, 2021
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