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05 Prius with Red Triangle, VSC and brake warning lights on

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Lou Fezio, Sep 16, 2017.

  1. Lou Fezio

    Lou Fezio Junior Member

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    I've got an 05 Prius that the red triangle, VSC, and brakes warning lights just came on. The car seemed to operate normally in the 5 miles it took me to get home.
    Can someone tell me how to read the fault codes on this car? Or any guidance on what this issue could be?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Check for turbulence in your inverter coolant reservoir. Open up the cap and see if there's swirls/movements in the water while the car is on.

    A more common failure now is the inverter pump, fails around 100k miles
     
  3. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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  4. Lou Fezio

    Lou Fezio Junior Member

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    How do I read the fault codes?
     
  5. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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  6. Lou Fezio

    Lou Fezio Junior Member

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    A bit more on this. The 12V battery was at 12.2 volts. I put a trickle charger on it and brought it up to 12.9. Now when I power up the car the red triangle is still there but the brake and vsc warning lights are off. The voltage at the battery reads 13.5 with the car on.
    Could the 12V battery be the problem? I put a new Optima in it in Feb of 2015 so it's only 2.5 years old.

    I've had this car since it was new and I don't think I've ever had a 12v battery last more than 3 years. I drove the car for 15 minutes just now and the battery voltage was at 13.8 for 5 minutes then went to 13.2 for the duration. I've I've got a charging problem what would the likely suspects be?
     
  7. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The 12V battery could be a problem, and your car might have more than one issue.

    The voltage dropped down to 13.2V because the battery reached full charge. However since you still have the red triangle, another problem is present.

    Have you checked all engine compartment fluids, especially engine oil level? Did you perform the check suggested in post 2?
     
  8. Lou Fezio

    Lou Fezio Junior Member

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    I've got good flow in the inverter coolant and good oil level.
     
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  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    It could be anything from a bad hv battery, car overheating, bad sensors, it's anybody's guess at this point. You need to get the codes read
     
  10. Lou Fezio

    Lou Fezio Junior Member

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    Borrowed a reader to read the codes. It showed no codes but I still had the red triangle. I cleared the codes and the triangle went out. So I currently have no warning indicators.
    Let's see what happens.
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sounds good. and when the lights come back on, get a prius aware code reader.
     
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  12. Ktay7982

    Ktay7982 Junior Member

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    How did you clear the red triangle? My 05 is doing the same thing. I’ve been to Toyota 3 times in the past 3 months...$2300 later I have no idea what’s causing this triangle alert. Is there a way to clear it?
     

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  13. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    1) The info/codes displayed on the MFD are only for audio, navigation. Stop wasting your time playing with it, unless you are experiencing issues with the audio/navigation system.

    2) Toyota should have given you the codes and cleared the codes after every visit. You were not provided with an invoice showing the codes and amount you paid to fix the problem?

    3) It could coincidently be that after each visit a different problem arose, which was not present during the initial visit. But, since you keep saying Toyota found nothing, possibly incompetence at the dealer?

    4) Go to another dealership or an independent shop that ideally uses Techstream software to retrieve Toyota/Lexus codes.

    5) You did not say you ruled out an inverter water pump issue and low engine oil level? While at it, check the other fluid levels too. Checking the engine radiator coolant level involves removing the big black plastic cover that spans the width of the engine compartment, and is held in by six (?) plastic phillips fastness; checking the coolant fluid overflow bottle is not good enough, you must remove the radiaator cap and verify taht the fluid is near the top when the radiator cap is removed. You check the radiator level WHEN THE ENGINE IS COLD; check after the car has sat overnight to be guaranteed a cold engine, and no residual pressure.
     
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