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2014 Prius V won't shift to D or R

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Kemmotar, Sep 23, 2021.

  1. Kemmotar

    Kemmotar New Member

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    Kentucky, USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Wife's car, started running rough on startup, then one day it went into turtle mode just after leaving house and hybrid battery died before we could get back to the house. I cleaned the EGR system, but when I turned it on and tried to put it in gear, it would either crank briefly and then stop, or shift to neutral and the P! light would blink. Had it towed to the dealer who diagnosed a bad head gasket, and wanted $9K to replace the engine. Brought it home, and replaced the head gasket myself. After putting everything back together, it is now acting the same as before, except it won't even try to crank. Just shifts to neutral when I try to put it in drive. No codes. Hybrid battery shows about 3/4 full so the dealer must have charged it. Measured hybrid battery voltage is 210V. 12V battery was dead, so I charged it. It's been on the charger for about four hours, and measures about 12.4V when I disconnect the charger, so it's possible that it's still too low. Would that cause this problem?

    TLDR: Car won't shift into gear or start engine after head gasket replacement. 12V battery may be low. Would that cause this? If not, what might?
     
  2. Kemmotar

    Kemmotar New Member

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    Three
    OK, a couple more wrinkles. I charged the 12V battery for a few more hours, and it's now at about 13.4 with the charger off and the battery connected. Doesn't drop too much when the car is powered on. Car shows the same behavior as before... shift into neutral when I attempt to shift into drive.

    I also checked the hybrid battery again, and it's at 210V still, and that doesn't change at all when the car is powered on and the shift attempt is made. I also checked the lugs where the wire runs from the hybrid battery to the front of the vehicle, and those are showing no voltage, which makes me wonder if there's a bad relay somewhere. I haven't been able to find a good reference to show when those lugs should show voltage, but it seems like they should when the car is on and attempting to use the hybrid system.
     
  3. Kemmotar

    Kemmotar New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    I figured it out. Got Techstream up, and ran diagnostics and had P0A0D code on the hybrid control. Turned out that when I replaced the safety disconnect for the high voltage battery I didn't realize you had to slide it to the right after flipping the lever down. Once I did that, I had to do the starting procedure where you hold the start button down for 45 seconds and then push it again. Started right up and went into gear, and now it's running great!
     
    gggGary, Tim Jones and Mendel Leisk like this.
  4. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    A marginal or flaky 12V will provide all sorts of trouble for the start sequence. The latching relays appear not to be closing. Remove the 12V for ten minutes, re-attach and re-try the start sequence.
     
    #4 Air_Boss, Sep 24, 2021
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2021
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The power management control ECU is making the decision not to put the car in gear or crank the engine, and it is eager to tell you why it is making that call.

    Getting access to a good scan tool, or getting the car to someone who has one, will allow the ECU to tell you why it has made that call.

    If the P light is blinking, the transmission control ECU might also have things it is eager to tell you.

    Trying to not ask, and just guess, can be a long slow way to solve this kind of a problem.
     
    gggGary likes this.
  6. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    Better would be a Toyota Techstream mini-VCI cable software available on Amazon or eBay.
     
  7. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    There ya go. That'll interfere with the latching relays.
     
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  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Hmm, I guess this was another case where you were a new member and your "I figured it out" post was held for moderation, and then later showed up ahead of our replies....
     
    gggGary likes this.
  9. Kemmotar

    Kemmotar New Member

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    Three
    Yep! Replies were on the money, but I'd already figured it out by the time I saw them.
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Read this belatedly, and that crossed my mind.

    hats off to you for heroic fix, and dodging $9k bill. (y)(y)(y)