Red Triangle/Dealer Refusing to Honor Hybrid Warranty?

Hmmm... I suppose its feasible that running out of gas at highway speed could over rpm or overheat the electric drive system if you try and push it to hard? How fast were you going when the dash lit up?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding was the full hybrid system had to be covered by your EPA emissions warranty. From the Toyota 2008 model info "Hybrid-related components for hybrid vehicles are covered for 8 years/100,000 miles." Seems like the transaxle should be considered a "hybrid-related component"? Now, whether they could argue your changing the HV battery could have damaged the transaxle is a different question.

Rob

 

P3009 that's a high voltage leak! you need information codes to know where it is leaking from before you decide it's the transaxle.

 

BTW, I agree there is an important lesson for everyone here. Don't run out of gas! If you do, don't just keep driving!

For reference, a few quotes from the 2005 Owners Manual & Pocket Guide:

Rob

 

What a total bummer. That is a lot of expensive stuff to fail on that Prius. FWIW, the OP did not start off by trying to bash Toyota. He was clearly just trying to trouble shoot he car at its current state. The bashing happened when people started questioning him on the history of his problem.

While I find it strange that Toyota would let you drive on the battery until it caused irreversible damage to the battery, it is not that surprising.

The same could be said for the level of warning that a "low oil pressure light" gives. A little red oil can light does not give the feeling that impending doom is immanent. Yet, we all know that low oil pressure can completely destroy an engine.

Having said that, I understand the difficulties in forcing your engine to shut down when it senses low oil pressure. However, I seems like it would be simple to shut down the Prius when it reaches a certain low level of charge.

 

There's measures in place for running out gas and not killing the battery. What happens is when you run out of gas, the Prius will run on battery power until it shuts down at a certain SoC. I suspect it lets the SoC drop to ~30%, and then shuts down. Now at the point it shuts down, you're not supposed to try to turn on the system again to see how far you can still make it. The remaining power is used to start the system again, and also run the gas pump once more fuel is put in. There have been cases where people try to start the Prius again before putting in more gas and repeated attempts of doing this will completely drain the HV battery, and could cause other damage, like the pumps.

 

Yeah, I would agree that sounds a little fishy. I suppose an over temp on one of the motors could damage the insulation and result in a leakage to chasis which would probably throw the leakage code. If its a problem with the electric motors though (which are part of the transmission/transaxle) I would think that would qualify as "hybrid-related equipment" as defined by the warranty. It would seem to me like there are a lot of other places this leakage could occur, I would particularly check all around where you installed the new battery. It wouldn't take much to throw that leakage code, as I understand its very sensitive (like a GFI outlet). Even just some grease on the contacts, or if any of the HV lines got pinched at all could probably trip it. I can see how running the battery low would weaken it and result in a delayed failure. I'm not so sure that an electric motor would go this way though.

I think you definitely need to get him to explain to you exactly what he thinks is wrong and why and why its not part of the hybrid system. I would still consider a second opinion too.

BTW, here is an example (albeit on a gen 1) of P3009 supposedly linked to transaxle electrical failure and not covered under warranty:
Replacing A First Generation Prius Transaxle

Rob

 

Also interesting, from the prius FAQ:
13. Can Prius run on electricity when it runs out of gas?No. Though Prius can operate in electric-only mode when gasoline is in the tank, it is not designed to run without gasoline. Doing so could cause severe damage to the hybrid system, so drivers should be sure to keep gas in the tank at all times.Toyota.com : Vehicles : Prius : Frequently Asked Questions

Rob

 

Well I dont always have a fax handy, nor would I always bother to send data to someone on the internet that asked for it.

Changing the battery does seem simpler than changing the tranny.

The story took long enough to evolve that I don't think the OP is a troll. Of course, I could be wrong, but I think he is real.

Based on the description of his problems, I assumed he had some electrical insulation failure on the motors. As mentioned by MSCRMS they are part of the tranny and would not make a lot of noises.

All in all these failures seem related to excessive heat. Excessive heat will fry your battery, and excessive heat will cause the motor insulation to fail. This is just a guess based on the type of failures he saw.

 

You might want to give Steve a call at the site below. He specializes in used Prius parts and rebuilds. A number of folks on the list (myself included) have bought cars and parts from him with good luck.

autobeyours salvage and rebuildable cars

Rob