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Hybrid system warning light / ScanGauge II

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by carlbikes, Dec 5, 2018.

  1. carlbikes

    carlbikes Junior Member

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    2008 Prius, 223,000 miles, central Florida. No problems with this car to date. Only unplanned expense was replacing a water pump which had a pin hole, around 150k miles. Have used a ScanGauge II for many years. Bought a new one, moved the old one to my van. Installed new gauge yesterday and used the X-Gauge feature to monitor the hybrid battery voltage. After installing it yesterday, the voltage showed 226. the digit 6 was fluttering rapidly. I didn't drive it, only idled it for a few minutes. Today I started the car and the hybrid voltage indicated 235V. After driving a quarter of a mile the scary red triangle came on along with the red hybrid system warning light on the center display. I stopped, turned off the engine and unplugged the ScanGauge. Upon restart nothing changed. Triangle still lit, warning light still on. I drove back home and parked it. Just a coincidence or not?? Anyone out there using the ScanGauge to monitor hybrid battery voltage? Any additional thoughts on this?
     
    #1 carlbikes, Dec 5, 2018
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I have a Xgauge too but it does not have Toyota techstream software. The fact that your total pack voltage looks ok tells me it’s probably throwing a ground fault code. The system is seeing high voltage ususlly caused by leaking battery modules and corrosion.
    You can test tht by disconnecting the fat black cable that is plugged into the 12 volt battery positive
    Post black plastic assembly. Just unclick it by pressing the white plug clip. Wait a bit and plug it back in.That will clear the code And allow you to drive away. The code will come back though.

    Buy a VXDIAG on amazon it has full Toyota software. Built in obd connector and uses usb into a laptop.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Dec 5, 2018
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  3. carlbikes

    carlbikes Junior Member

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    Thanks, Ed. I unplugged as you said and dashboard display is back to normal. I will investigate the VXDIAG.
     
    #3 carlbikes, Dec 6, 2018
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  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Good..yeah you got a ground fault error.

    The caveat to the unplug, clear & run routine is there's been a few posts where the battery being used in the same circumstance exploded in the back. I cannot understand why other than the ground fault has become lower resistance. Much lower resistance.

    So buyer beware. Its not a long term fix. But now you do know for sure its the hybrid battery and that will really help.
     
    #4 edthefox5, Dec 6, 2018
  5. carlbikes

    carlbikes Junior Member

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    Scan gauge is the problem!!?? After numerous tests I believe it is. I get the scary red triangle and hybrid system warning light after about 1/4 mile if the scangauge is plugged in AND it is monitoring the hybrid system voltage. If scangauge is unplugged all is o.k. So I deleted the hybrid voltage setup from the X-gauge and now all is o.k. whether or not the scangauge is plugged in. I will be contacting Linear Logic (ScanGauge) to get their thoughts!
     
    #5 carlbikes, Dec 9, 2018
    SFO likes this.
  6. carlbikes

    carlbikes Junior Member

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    By the way, the ScanGauge never recorded any codes but I discovered that it would let me clear the scary red triangle and hybrid system warning light. Also, the hybrid battery charging and engine performance never changed. Always good!
     
    #6 carlbikes, Dec 9, 2018
  7. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    I think some OBD scanners do this if they are not set with the correct protocol. I have seen this problem here before.
     
    #7 Skibob, Dec 11, 2018
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I had "check hybrid system" warning, plus various brake warning lights (and codes), plus return-to-defaults brake performance (brakes worked but felt "off", less responsive), with increasing regularity, about 3~4 years back, with a ScanGauge constantly hooked up.

    I took it into dealership several times, and the last time the mechanic came out to the car to check with his laptop, and noted an occasional disconnect, and accordingly speculated that the constant weight of the Scangauge OBD connector might be causing the problem.

    I disconnected the Scangauge, and since then have used it only intermittently, to check specific things, and have had no repeat of previous described symptoms.
     
    #8 Mendel Leisk, Dec 11, 2018
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    is it the heavy? could you wire it up?
     
    #9 bisco, Dec 11, 2018
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Maybe, but I was starting to find it just a distraction anyways.
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Dec 11, 2018
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  11. Calimobber

    Calimobber Member

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    Just to help the community. I also got this error from my scangauge 2. After inverstigating it more I found it was from the Xgauge I had added. Some codes seem to cause this issue. I have been running stock codes and everything is fine again using my scangauge.

    I did email the company and they are sending me a new cable free that I will try thats suppost to fix the issue if I still want to use the xgauges, They have top notch customer care.
     
    #11 Calimobber, Nov 11, 2019
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