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Fuel pump running when car is powered OFF?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by ES44AC, Feb 4, 2013.

  1. ES44AC

    ES44AC C.A.U.S

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    I was in my garage, unheated about 40 deg F, and all of sudden from the Prius I hear a whirring noise like an electric motor. First I thought it might be fuel pressure being relieved so I took off the gas cap and the noise kept up. The car hadn't been run for hours the motor was cold.

    So I get onto the freezing floor and the noise is coming from the underside of the trunk, I am assuming where the tank would be.

    Totally at a loss I went and got the key and powered it ON and OFF, once I did that the noise stopped. Now if this thing starts up again in the middle of the night I will be screwed.

    Anyone hear of this before? ( I hope )

    Thanks!

    ES44AC
     
  2. GBC_Texas_Prius

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    I'll be interested in the answers because mine occasionally does the same thing. I'll go to the garage and I hear a motor running from the rear area of the car. Not the brake pump, I know the location and sound of that pump. I've done the same thing, go get my keys, turn the car on and off and it stops.
     
  3. northwichita

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  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Seriously? Does anyone ever read their owner's manual at all? Ever? Everything is fine nothing to worry about... I have no idea how you're gonna find out what's going on though? I mean if no one on here tells you and you won't read your owner's manual... I guess you're out of luck? :)
     
  5. car compulsive

    car compulsive Active Member

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    Many of us have had this middle-of-the-night surprise when walking into the garage or beside our car outside. The PC search function is a wonderful tool for alleviating this stress. And no, most people don't even open the owner's manual until they need to figure out how to change the clock.
     
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  6. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    I needed to read mine to find how the locks work,but could not figure out how to open the door.:(

    John (Britprius)
     
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  7. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    If I copied and pasted the two pages in the manual it would be copyright infringement. So I'll just tell you what it says. Any sound you hear is normal.
    What you heard is the system testing out the evap. system and testing the tank for leaks.
    If you had the FOB on you and opened a door it would be the brake system pressuring up and other systems getting ready for operation.
     
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  8. ES44AC

    ES44AC C.A.U.S

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    Hi David,
    Thank you for your reply and not being snarky about it. Oddly enough I just had the manual open the day before to look up something else, as if I have i justify what I do in my own home....<sigh>

    Pouring over the manual to find one specific thing isn't my idea of fun. as informative as it might be in the end.

    I've had the car almost a year and have never heard doing the self test you describe, that's why I was unsettled by it.

    Thank you very much! :D

    ES44AC

    To the others who spent time typing and not offering help let me say:

    "People never cease to disappoint me, no matter how low an expectation I initially give them"
     
  9. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    It's not copyright infringement because it's not a publication... Toyota is a car maker, not an evil publisher attacking people for sharing excerpts which is allowed under fair use, but obviously the copyright Nazis have brainwashed everyone into giving their legal rights away! Don't cooperate with any of their BS at all! Every time you use your computer you are making copies of copyright protected material and they don't have a right to ccontrol the computer you own, even though some laws suggest they do!
     
  10. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    You can find the owners manual online and download it for free. Then you can search it with your computer while sitting in a comfortable chair drinking the beverage of your choice. Beats thumbing through a boring manual that is 75% needless safety and CYA warnings.
     
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  11. OceanEyes

    OceanEyes Active Member

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    Much easier to come here to PC and research the posts... but I learned about the EVAP thing from my brother's 2012 Tacoma - he was in the garage and his truck had been at rest when it started making noises. He rushed it back to the dealership thinking the fuel pump was malfunctioning and learned it was a system check. I now take the Prius noises in stride - but the noises or lack of noises (when the car shuts off at a stoplight) usually freaks out my first-time passengers.:rolleyes:

    My question that I asked the more experienced folks here about the bar display/the little cars was answered well as it was not really clear in the paper manual no matter how many times I picked it up with a cup of tea and tried to figure it out.

    Today's reading hit a new high - few to no little cars and the bars soaring... hoping that was something good as I drove almost the whole way home on hilly, narrow, back country roads in EV mode and stayed off the brakes...:love: and in snow with no issues!
     
  12. GBC_Texas_Prius

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    Now I know. The salesman didn't mention it while going over the key points of the manual and it's not found in the manual index. I guess some people are better speed readers than I am and start reading page one through the end to find out what they are looking for.
     
  13. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Unfortunately, I don't like how Toyota has broken out the owner's manual into so many separate PDFs instead of a single one for the owner's manual.

    My 06 came w/a tag that referred to the evap check. Not sure if Gen 3s come with it still. See my post at which noise is which? | PriusChat.
     
  14. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    It's not hard to combine multiple pdf files into one. Do a search for pdf merge freeware.
     
  15. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Actually, when I first got Pearl S I was rather dismayed at the size of the owners manual. I -DID- read it cover to cover, but who my age can remember all that "stuff"! I could only remember "something about that" was in there.
    But there are -TWO- excellent indexes in the back, one by topic and one by title. For the first few months I used them a lot. Still do from time to time. But lately I can't be bothered to play with all the technology.
    I actually use the car to get from "A" to "B". Novel, I know, but that's what I do. ;)
    The fuel price is way out of date, for example.
     
  16. Jimbo913

    Jimbo913 Junior Member

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    Probably not a great feature when it’s cold out and battery is already small and weak. I can tell you that if you ever try to start the car and dash powers up like the car is on and it won’t go into gear, it’s because the 12v battery is weak. Really frustrating experience to go through and figure out and I doubt it’s in the manual.
     
  17. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    The only problem with this method is using the "correct" Toyota terminology when searching. I prefer to leaf through the manual whilst drinking my beverage of choice just to see what catches my eye, then flag that page with a stickie or just fold the corner of the page over. Most of the typical questions we see here on PC are easily answered in the owner's manual.
     
  18. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    If the battery is so weak that this routine evap system check will prevent a subsequent start, then you are way overdue for a battery replacement.
     
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  19. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Most will skim over rather than read the replies on here, then post a new thread saying "sorry if this question have been post before..." Bet the odds of getting hit by lighting is greater than someone here pulling the manual out to read.
     
  20. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    People are conditioned to just ask when they want to know whats what. The problem is the masses are losing their ability to research and analyze. Then they ask "why are all the products coming-from China?" Because we have too many functionally illiterate people on all levels.
     
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