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2010 Prius Codes: (P3190, P3191, P0A0F, U029A) - Lost power while accelerating

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by GreenTea&SaltWater, Mar 28, 2023.

  1. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    Hello everyone I've come a long way from being stranded in a desert Walmart parking lot for 7 days, 2 years ago. I have a different issue this time.

    I noticed that for the past ~500 miles my acceleration would sometimes feel inconsistent. I was going up a slight hill and noticed the engine power feeling abnormally weak, gave it more gas and the dashboard lit up accompanied by "Check HV System". Battery depleted after a quarter mile and I was left stranded.

    Any attempt to start the engine (by reset unplug 12v and orange HV plug) would result in 10 seconds of power then the engine would turn off. I've had HV battery issues but recently replaced all the modules, thought maybe it was the rusted busbars. Cleaned those out and the issue persisted. Whenever the cause has been a weak module I can still drive my car though.

    Checked Techstream and before turning on the engine I got these codes: (P3190, P3191, U029A). After turning engine on it showed these:
    (P3190, P0A0F, C1259, C1310, U0155)

    Watched a Youtube vid that says if the codes P3190, P3191, & P0A0F are present then it is NOT an HV battery issue and it is the engine failing to regenerate battery. I noticed previously that when I start my car the inverter sometimes sounds rough and delayed. In the past when I was having HV battery issues and drove my car like that, the engine would rev loudly when turning off, then the inverter would sputter and shake violently. I'm wondering if this has something to do with it, if its damaged?
     

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  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Yup, that's the sound of a Prius engine not starting. It sounds like it ran for 10 seconds, because the cranking in a Prius goes at engine-running speed, instead of the wheezy lower speed of a conventional starter. But the car only waits so many seconds for the engine to make its own power, and then gives up.

    P3190 simply says the engine failed to make even a fifth of the power being asked of it, and P3191 means "that, and I was trying to start it at the time". Those codes come straight from the ECM, controlling the engine.

    P0A0F comes from the power management control ECU (kind of the orchestra conductor for the car), and it only means "hey, I cued the ECM to start the engine and he said no can do." So it's just telling you the same thing as the P3190/P3191, just at one more layer of hearsay.

    C1259 and C1310 come from the brake/skid ECU, and only mean "the power management control ECU told me there's some problem over there." So in this case they're telling you about the P3190/P3191, just with two layers of hearsay.

    U029A is the power management control ECU saying it had trouble talking to the battery sensor module inside the traction battery. That's a separate issue. If it wasn't a fluke and it comes back again, it'll have to be dealt with, but it's not the main issue right now. That would be figuring out why the engine won't start: good ol'-fashioned gasoline engine diagnosis.

    Inigo Montoya voice: you keep saying 'inverter'. I do not think it is what you mean. (I would bet there are very few people on PriusChat who could listen to recorded Prius sounds and identify ones from the inverter ... and it isn't a thing known for sputtering and violent shaking. Generally, it just kinda sits there.
     
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  3. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    I knew I could count on Mr. Chapman for a swift response. So then if dealing with a gas engine issue, where do you suggest I start? First thing i'm gonna do is clean the mass airflow sensor. But what comes after that?
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The sort of mantra has always been, three things are needed for the engine, compression, fuel, and spark, and you just need to plan a way to systematically check that you've got all three, and sometimes you'll be lucky with the first thing you check, and other times it'll be more like the last thing. (Ok, maybe it's pretty much always the last thing, unless you were enjoying checking things so much you just keep checking more after finding the problem.)
     
  5. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    back in november i got into building a 2stroke engine for my bicycle and those 3 things were embedded into me (fuel, spark, compression), but thats a tiny tiny engine compared to a Prius. Give me something more, where should i start??
     
  6. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Use your techstream to command the fuel pump on- can you hear it hum? Any chance that you're out of gas? May want to rent a fuel pressure gauge set and repeat that test- see if the pump can build pressure.

    Do not attempt to start (ready) the car until you have found your "smoking gun". Too many engine cranking events will completely discharge the HV battery. (hope it's not too late) Most folk do not have any external means to charge that up.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  7. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    thanks. I checked the Mass air flow and cleaned it, then im going to clean the throttle body tomorrow and spray starter fluid into it to see if its a fuel issue. As of last I tried, the engine still "cranks" on for 10 seconds. Should I attempt to start it once more with starter fluid? Or is even that too big of a risk for the HV battery to finish draining.

    could the issue also be a dirty fuel filter? I'm definitely gonna look into the fuel pump issue if this list of troubleshooting doesnt fix it.
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I think I read somewhere (even in a Toyota doc, IIRC) that it takes roughly 1 percentage point off the traction battery state of charge every time you try to start the engine and fail. I think around 20% state of charge is where it says nope and won't try starting the engine anymore. So if you have a scan tool that can show you the state of charge, you'll have an idea how close you're getting.
     
  9. jolynf13

    jolynf13 Junior Member

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  10. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Because every person with a no-start gets a limited number of tries to diagnose it, it may make more sense just to follow a systematic work-through of what's going on with that particular car than to be swayed too much by what somebody else's no-start turned out to be in some other car.
     
  11. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    alright when i go into techstream and go on active test, under which reading will it show?
     
  12. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The system you want to select is Hybrid Control, and there it will be under Data List, not Active Tests.
     
  13. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    ok. what about to test the fuel pump? which settings to i go to
     
  14. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    The modules are all at around 14.5v with the exception of block 5 which is at 13.1v which I understand is pretty low. How much many starts do you believe I have left?

    Here's 3 extra images of other data values
     

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  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Look for the state of charge. It's a percentage. The maximum computed on this cycle was 16.5% and the minimum was 14.0%.

    You seem to have proved that I'm wrong about 20% being the limit below which it won't crank the engine anymore. On the other hand, you're probably pretty close to finding out what the actual limiting state of charge is.
     
  16. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    Ok yeah I was wondering if those percentages had anything to do with the state of charge but since you said under 20% won't start then I assumed it couldn't be it.

    I will try starting it just once more with starter fluid in the throttle. I wasn't able to test the fuel pump because I got this error
     

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  17. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    Does that throttle body look dirty enough to be causing issues?
     

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  18. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I can't state an opinion, because I don't think I've experienced dirty-throttle-body no-starts, so I don't have a sense of what dirty-enough looks like. Somebody else might.
     
  19. GreenTea&SaltWater

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    i was able to run the engine for 1 minute after spraying starter fluid in there. charged the battery a bit. if the issue isnt the fuel pump, which i will check tomorrow, could it also be fuel injectors?
     
  20. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Were you spraying starter fluid for the whole minute, or did the engine continue to run on its own after the starter fluid got it started? If it ran on its own, what happened at the end of the minute?

    What state of charge did the battery get up to?