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Washed car myself. Got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Reset @ aux bat

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by prius4ed, Aug 16, 2011.

  1. prius4ed

    prius4ed Member

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    I know you're not mind readers, but i thought i'd see if anyone else had this happen to them. I washed my 2004 prius myself, drove car off driveway to street. Next time i tried to drive it, i got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Waited a day, same thing. Was able to reset it @ the aux battery by disconnecting both connectors for a few seconds and plugging them back.
    What the heck could have happened? Wife is scared to use car.

    I drove car 60 miles today, no issues.

    Could it be water in an abs sensor? Nothing else got wet, that i know of.

    Would the code still be stored, after doing the battery reset?
     
    #1 prius4ed, Aug 16, 2011
  2. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Re: Washed car myself. Got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Reset @ aux

    Check the HV connectors going to the transaxle and maybe also A/C. Sounds like you got an isolation fault, that went away later when things dried out. Some of these codes you have to clear them, then turn the car off and on again to make ready -- same as a battery disconnect. Did you check for specific codes? Seems like other folks out there with front-end rebuilds have water getting into broken connector problems.
     
    #2 seilerts, Aug 16, 2011
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  3. prius4ed

    prius4ed Member

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    Re: Washed car myself. Got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Reset @ aux

    Thanks, but one clarification needed: I did try cycling the power button several times, with the brake pedal depressed and without it. I couldn't get the car to power on with the brake pedal pushed. I also couldn't get it to power OFF with the brake pedal pushed. I had to power on by pressing the power button a bunch of times (maybe 2 times, I forget) without pressing the brake. It wouldn't go to READY. To power off, I had to press power button without brake pedal down. The MFD showed "Problem" message.

    After I disconnected/reconnected the aux battery connectors, everything was normal.

    Question: From this, I think that disconnecting/reconnecting the aux battery wires differs from just powering ON/OFF several times. Yes?

    Do you think I erased any trouble codes I may have had by disconnecting/reconnecting aux battery wires?
     
    #3 prius4ed, Aug 16, 2011
  4. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Re: Washed car myself. Got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Reset @ aux

    Disconnecting the 12V clears most stored codes. The exception being permanent brake codes or airbag deployment codes.

    Not powering down when you push the power button is usually a symptom of low 12V bus voltage or confusion about vehicle speed. How is your 12V battery? If you try to turn the car on but it doesn't go into Ready, then a weak 12V will sag under the weight of the demands placed on it for running computers pumps etc, given that the DC converter is offline in that state.
     
    #4 seilerts, Aug 16, 2011
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Re: Washed car myself. Got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Reset @ aux

    My guess is you got one of the ignitors got wet and probably still have water in the spark plug well. Very easy to do.
    Did the engine run very rough when it threw the codes.
    I'm talking about the sparkplug cap assy on top of each sparkplug well.

    This is caused by either a leaking or broken water dam in the center below the windshield.
    You also have to be careful you don't shoot water under pressure under the back of the hood as it will soak the top of the engine.
    Common issue.

    Check the soft gasket that runs the top edge of the waterdam seal between the fresh air intake on the bottom of the windshield and especially the center
    where the 2 gaskets meet. This gasket forms a seal when the hood is closed.
    I noticed on my 07 that foam gasket came off where it was weather stripped adhesive glued. Needs to be re-glued this weekend.

    And the root of the possible problem check for corrosion or water in the sparkplug well because if left wet in the wells it will eventually corrode and short out the ignitor and make a real mess of the plug well to boot.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Aug 18, 2011
  6. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Re: Washed car myself. Got no ready light. Got big red triangle, and mfd said "problem". Reset @ aux

    I wash under the hood about once a year and spray with fine nozzle to rinse, avoiding the spark plug area. Should any water get in that area it can be sopped up with a napkin. Also on the reboot, only the neg lead has to be removed. :D
     
    #6 andyprius, Aug 18, 2011
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