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What continues to run if the car is not locked?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by NewHybridOwner, Dec 8, 2019.

  1. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    2015 Prius Four.

    My wife insisted that there was a noise in the garage that I could not hear. To cut a looong story short, I eventually asked, "Did you lock the car?" (She was the one who had driven it last.) I locked the car and the noise stopped.

    What could have continued to run, making a high-pitched sound (and presumably running the battery down) when the car was switched off but not locked?
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, the car is constantly monitoring systems. especially emissions

    but as to locked versus unlocked, that sounds like something else. do you have an aftermarket alarm?
     
  3. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    Even 5 hours after being switched off?

    If there is an aftermarket alarm, I'm not aware of it. The only non-standard item of which I am aware is a (non-OEM; I forget the name) remote-start device.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, but see my edit
     
  5. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    See my edit too.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    might be worth looking into that. if there's another reason for a high pitched sound just cause the car remains unlocked, i'm unaware of it
     
  7. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    If the car was parked in a garage near a fob it may have been running the brake accumulator in anticipation of someone getting ready to drive somewhere.
     
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  8. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    That could have been it: I had my key fob in my pocket.
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    A "high-pitched" sound, though? The brake accumulator pump is more like a little buzz, and rarely for more than a couple seconds at a time.

    You can sometimes hear a continuous, high-pitched sound from the positioner motor on the throttle body, but only when the car is actually in READY, not just unlocked.
     
  10. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    There is a particular noise at that specific time, though it is brief and doesn't fit your description of being high pitched:

    upload_2019-12-8_18-53-53.png
     
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  11. Johnny Cakes

    Johnny Cakes Senior Member

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    Good call Fuzzy 1 -- interesting that the OP indicates five hours and that's when Toyota indicates that the sound is present. For the OP, here's an example of the fuel evaporation leakage check sound


    Can we get a few more facts?

    You indicated that you could not hear the noise (I'm not good at high frequencies anymore either). But could you hear it when you went in the garage? RU saying that the noise immediately/instantly stopped with the locks were engaged or was it moments thereafter? Trying to eliminate the locking being a coincidence (post hoc ergo propter hoc).

    When your wife first got out, did she hear the noise then? Or was the first time the noise was heard five hours later? How long was the noise present before it stopped (key)?

    In the immortal words of Joe Friday....

     
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  12. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    My mistake in describing it as high pitched. I assumed that it was because I have severe high-frequency hearing loss, which the hearing aids don't fully compensate for. My wife recognizes the sound in the video linked in the post by Johnny Cakes.
     
    #12 NewHybridOwner, Dec 9, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2019
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  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that was the reason for post #2

    however, locking the car doesnt affect it. if it actually stopped when you locked the doors, it would be an amazing coincidence, but not impossible
     
  14. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    My wife does not recall hearing the sound when she got out of the car, but she recognizes the sound in that YouTube video. She heard it only when we were in the garage, but even standing right next to the car *I* could not hear it. It must have been sheer coincidence that the sound stopped within a few seconds of the car being locked.
     
  15. Johnny Cakes

    Johnny Cakes Senior Member

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    Glad the mystery is solved!

    One of the very few things I remember from high school: "post hoc ergo propter hoc"
     
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    had to look that one up :p
     
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  17. NewHybridOwner

    NewHybridOwner Active Member

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    But "post hoc ergo propter hoc" ("after this, therefore because of this") is a fallacy.
     
  18. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    They didn't say they remembered THAT part. :ROFLMAO:
     
  19. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    exactly. the fallacy is that locking the doors stopped the high pitched sound
     
  20. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Not a thing wrong with getting up close and familiar with some fallacies