Gas engine runs for 2 minutes

Every year, in last week of May, we disconnect the neg side of 12v battery and leave our 2010 resting in garage until our return in Sept. This year, like all others, I connected a charger to the battery...after a couple minutes it indicates "FULL." After reattaching negative cable I press start to reawaken dash panel. A minute or two later I start the engine. All is great! I pull out to top off tire pressure and gas engine stops after several short minutes. Car is only running off of battery. Gas engine will not start up. I pull back into garage and wait a while. Same thing happens; I drive 1/4 mile and gas engine stops.

We stopped by Toyota yesterday to purchase Pink Coolant for inverter cooler. It was at the low point and we raised it to "F." It was just something noticeable, so we topped it off. The Toyota service tech told us to disconnect the battery and leave it off for about 20 minutes. Sooooo, we did. No positive results, still the same problem.

Our Prius has been a real jewel for over 13 years...not one problem, We drive like two old folks -we are-, keeping it garaged for all of it's 74,000 miles...but now it seems to be demanding our attention.

I'm not adverse to having it towed to our dealership, but I'd sure like to be a little knowledgeable about possible causes...prior to giving them a green light. I thank you all for any advice offered...truly we will be grateful beyond words.

Jim

 

Hi Tom!
No red or amber lights. Dash looks normal. Lower left is the READY light.
I do not have a scanner. However, I am not opposed to purchasing one if that might help isolating. I do have a small one I use in our F250 to reset the "Check Engine" light.

 

Tom...thanks for your replies!
I did not try that. I will tomorrow. Thank you for the suggestion. I've been leery about getting too far from home...I have no idea how far the car will travel on batteries alone. Gulp!

 

Today, as always, it started right up. Backed out of garage and engine runs for a few minutes. Drove down our driveway and joined road, punched it to get over 20 and gas engine did not kick in. Once we returned to garage area, we followed YouTube and placed it in the "Maintenance Mode". Once here, the gas engine continuously ran. Other than the dash indicating it was in this mode, there were no other warning lights present. When we returned car to normal, our irritating issue continued...engine will run for a couple minutes then we are on battery only. We thank you again for any thoughts. Jim

 

We did purchase, from Toyota [$$$], a new 12v battery a couple years ago...and I thank you for the thought. Jim

 

Thank you for the suggestion. We just pulled it out to the road and punched it, traveling over 20...sadly, the gas engine never kicked in. Rats! Jim

 

It sure seems like all should be good. All panel indicators look good and it runs fine in the Maintenance Mode. However, since we've done a few road tests to get it above 20...we are down to 2 bars on the battery indicator. I'm getting nervous about being stranded. I do have the ability to to pull it back up, but that becomes a little too "country"...the car's in mint condition and I'd hate to mess it up with an "oops!"

I just rechecked the auxiliary battery voltage; 12.44 with the neg cable lifted, 12.39 chassis ground to positive.

Is there a way to recharge the high voltage battery pack...I wonder if it charges while idling in Maintenance Mode? Also, the 12v aux battery was purchased Oct 2016 and has a 7 year warranty. Is it possible the battery is weak...even though the voltage appears to be good? Boy, the mystery of hybrid vehicles...we've loved the car, but understanding it is way above my analog mind.

Thanks again for your input.
Jim

 

Thank you again and again. I have, now, removed the battery and we're planning on taking it to the Toyota dealership tomorrow. I actually thought we bought it a couple years ago...when in fact, it has been almost 7, and apparently that was the warranty of the battery. Soooo, we'll see what happens. Perhaps, as you eluded to, the stored power might dwindle...and...right now I sure hope that is the case.

Thank you so very much for your -and all others- input. Having this forum is so very helpful.
-Jim

 

IT WAS THE BATTERY!
This morning I bought a new battery from Toyota dealership; $263.00. I was going to have the service dept run a load test...but then I thought, why? If they tell me it's bad I'll buy a new one, if they tell me it's good I'll buy a new one. Sooooo, I just took the old one to the parts dept, he gave me a 10% prorated credit and off we beamed.

To our delight, the car appears to be acting like its old self.

Thank you all for your support...we are very happy!!!
Jim