My TSB EL010-04 Update Thread

Some data on my experience and with the EL010-04 TSB done on my Prius.

Timeline Thus far:

• 
  
  At the time of drop off ODO mileage was 12394. I showed 56.3mpg with 366 miles on the tank. Either 3 or (More likely) 4 bars on the fuel guage. I turned off the Smart Entry/Start--this may be important.
  
  At pick-up ODO mileage reset to 11831 (as expected as that is what they recorded at the 9/9 "check"--though it's going to make keeping track of Lifetime MPG a little funky!). MFD showed 22mpg with 7 miles!!! A/C was full blast set at 70 degrees. I do not know if there was a lot of idle time or what, but they must've been doing something weird for mileage to be that low. 2 Bars on the fuel gauge. Car brought around with the fob in the slot...just drove away as I had things to do.
  
  When I next tried to drive the car the Smart Start did not work! I'd turned it back on on the original drive home. All other features seemed fine. I went through multiple rounds of trying the button in both positions, in READY, with car off, every combo I could think of.
  
  Called the Service mgr...bring it in. The Prius certified tech, Mark, was, fortunately working and took it straight back. They worked on her for about 1 1/2 hours and could not get the fob to recognize the car as having smart entry. Apparently as part of the TSB "all the computers" have to be reprogrammed. For some reason (?b/c SS/E was turned off??) it didn't take and he didn't know how to fix it. He's going to call 'Kansas City' on Monday and see what they say and get back to me. Just to let you know...the battery in the FOB is fine, remote works great and the fob, obviously, works in the slot. Also, my wife's fob does not work either.
  
  Hopefully it's just a reprogramming thing.
  
  Everything else was 'normal'....just had to redo the shutting off of the reverse beeping. Even NAV, BT Phone, etc. retained their presets. Apparently they kept the 12v on a tender during the install.
  
  I'm going to make this thread a 'sticky' and will update it for the next month or so. That is mostly so those who are waiting to have the TSB done for other experiences to see mine, which I'm trying to document in as much detail as possible.
  
  I'm currently at 1 bar on the fuel guage and will try to fuel up ASAP after it starts flashing to get a 'baseline' for how much difference the TSB has made. My previous largest fill was 9.6 gallons and that was driving more than 60 miles past the start of flashing.
  
  Look forward to any comments.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon\";p=\"40338)</div>

Is a Guinne Pig someone who drinks too much Guinness Beer???

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon\";p=\"40374)</div>

:lol: Either way the title fits!

 

[align=center:21324c5209] UPDATE #1
[/align:21324c5209]

Last bar started flashing on my way home from work this evening. Drove 4.7 miles to the gas station and pump I almost always use.

I'd traveled:
104 Miles since the TSB was done showing 2 bars
470 total miles on the tank

MPG showed 50.0 for the 104 miles
MPG had shown as above.

I filled to 2 clicks after auto stop of pump on lowest fill setting.
Took a total of only 8.308 gallons I was really really hoping for better since that number is almost exactly what I'd get previously. I'm still holding out hope that with a full tank reset things for the next fill will improve.

Anyway, overall calculated mileage for the tank was a respectable 56.57 MPG ...assuming there were no other miles traveled that I'm not aware of or fuel drained or added that I'm not aware of.

Next update will probably be at the next fill up...probably a couple of weeks unless there are other issues or they fix the SS/SE...I pray!!

 

[align=center:ba248f3e61]UPDATE #2 [/align:ba248f3e61]

Ok, went in today to have the SKS (Smart Key System--I'll stick with the new nomenclature from now on, I like it better anyway) fixed/reset.

No luck. Actual quote from Mark, the Prius Tech "I've never been this confused in my life." When I went out to see how he was doing after waiting in the waiting room for almost an hour and a half you'd have though someone just told him his dog had died. He'd called Kansas City, got no help. He called California...they told him to do some other TSB...no dice...the TSB they sent him didn't even look the same as what he was seeing on his scanner.

Ok, the details of what I've discovered/learned/deducted....
1)They sent a new FOB and key with the Computer/Combination Meter. He sent back my old FOB/key. Said it was part of the TSB, but I can't really find anything in there that says that.

2)When I brought in the car I brought both my new FOB and my wife's old FOB. I noticed something interesting as I was getting into the car this morning. When I opened the driver's door and moved the fob within the range of the interior oscillator/transmitter a tiny hidden light on my wife's FOB (but not my new one) began flashing and continued to flash for several minutes. Eventually it would stop for no apparent reason.

3)My wife's FOB will start the car with the FOB in the slot, but it will not unlock or lock the car with pushing the buttons....my new FOB works fine for all things, except the SKS....hmmmm. I asked if maybe my wife's FOB battery could be dead, but they said "no" b/c the light flashes. Still tempting to try a new battery.

4)Neither FOB seems to be 'registered' with the SKS system in the car itself. This is the worst part to me. As I see it it's exactly the same as if you lost both of your FOBs and had no spare. They can't just get a new fob and register it with the car, they have to replace the entire SKS computer with some pre-registered FOBs!! I'm afraid I might be in for an entire new SKS computer.


Where I stand on this....They're trying to get one of the high powered Prius Techs from Kansas City to come down sometime soon to work on my Prius to try to fix it. They're supposed to call.


FUEL GUAGE
First bar since refill dropped off at around 90 miles into the tank. The second bar dropped off about 30 miles later. Hmmm...not too reassuring that the TSB has made the guage more predictible. Still, I care most about the end of the tank and how much is left when the last bar starts flashing...We'll have to wait another week or so for that answer.

Stay tuned for further updates!

 

Thanks for the files, I'll take a look, but I think I have them and, unfortunately, all require both the hand held scanner/programmer tool AND a registered FOB...I have neither currently.

 

[align=center:e728e2f345] UPDATED #2A[/align:e728e2f345]

Service manager called. As I'd thought and as I told them...but they didn't want to believe, the SKS ECU must be replaced.

If you have this TSB done and you have the SKS DO NO TURN OFF YOUR SMART KEY SYSTEM!!!! He said that when they talked to the 'experts' they said that is why it isn't working. There is nothing in the TSB that warns of this, but when the system is reset, if the SKS is not turn "ON", then it clears the registration and you can no reregister the FOB...essentially the SKS is dead.

The new SKS ECU is expected in next week, along with 2 new FOBs. Hoping they'll let me keep my 2 old fobs and just register those to the car as well so I'll have spares.

This is good. Something valuable learned so hopefully others won't suffer the same fate. Evan the Guinea Pig strikes again!!

 

You're welcome and I'm glad I've been of some help. I get an aweful lot from these communities and hope to give a little back.

Most people do like the seaside blue, but by far most want to talk about hybrids in general.

Finally, I emphesised this more in my thread at Priusonline and Yahoo 2G, but folks like Tempus who have to leave their car for up to 2 weeks at the dealership are in a tough spot!

In 2 weeks, if you leave your SKS turned on, you will almost certainly drain your 12v battery. If you turn it off, and the service tech doesn't know to turn it back on (and how would he since the TSB says NOTHING about it), then you lose your SKS ECU!! I think this is a situation where it is very very important to talk with the service advisor, try to talk to your service tech, let them know about this problem. Write a note to turn the SKS back ON and tap it to the steering wheel or over the key fob slot or something. Maybe go back once a week and insist that they let you start and run the car for a while to recharge the 12v battery. Since the waits for the replacement combination meter/computer are clearly in the 10day to 2 week plus range right now and many dealers are insisting on keeping the car we're going to see problems with either dead batteries or unregistered ECUs, neither is a good situation!! ukeleft: ukeleft: