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2006 Prius park gear question/problem

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by reor, Jun 8, 2012.

  1. reor

    reor New Member

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    Hi.
    Yesterday I parked on a very slight slope (the front sat maybe 1 half to 1 foot higher than the rear) for a few hours. It was the end of my carport. When returned to move it forward and park, it was dead. So I put a charger on it and got it started but then the red triangle warning light was on saying that there was a problem with the parking system. Does anyone know what is wrong and how to fix it without going to the dealer? I was thinking maybe some kind of reset. Thanks my email is [email protected]
     
  2. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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  3. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    The parking error is a red herring. The Prius displays it when you have 12V problems, and also if the door is open at the wrong time.

    Tom
     
  4. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    I just replace the 12V battery. How long does it take for the triangle of death to turn off? All the voltages and recharge voltages are now in spec.
     
  5. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Usually 4-5 cycles of the ignition.
     
  6. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    Thanks. I've made one 4 mile trip. I'll keep count. If this doesn't work, then I have a loose wire/connection up by the engine. A few years back, squirrels chewed up some wires and the patches may have come loose. Those pests totally disabled the car.
     
  7. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    I've made multiple trips and the triangle of death stays on. The new battery still checks out okay and is within specs. The car locks in the park position--NP. Any suggestions? The next step maybe to have the dealer check out the wiring.
     
  8. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    The only thing you can do from this point is have the code read.
     
  9. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    Yup, I also came to the same conclusion. I was just wishing for a different answer to the obvious.
     
  10. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    It turned out that there was corrosion where the cables went into the fuse box under the hood. We live in an area where a lot of salt is used on the roads in the winter. Since the repair was done at the dealer, I haven't had any problems.
     
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  11. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Thank you for the update. We get so few of them but, when we do, it really helps add to our database/troubleshooting abilities.
     
  12. RunnerCNY

    RunnerCNY Junior Member

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    Unfortunately, it took the dealer mechanic to track this down. $$$'s I did have a new 12V battery and it tested out just fine. But if someone has an intermittent problem or the triangle of death stays on, yet the 12V battery is good, look for a bad electrical connection. We've even had rodents chew through the wires.