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ICE starting and stopping repeatedly at stop?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by jharvey963, Jun 29, 2007.

  1. jharvey963

    jharvey963 New Member

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    I just did a long trip and had a strange experience with my Prius.

    After a long stretch on the road at freeway speeds, I exited right into a construction zone that had traffic stopped. After a few seconds of standing still, the ICE shut off, only to restart again immediately. It ran for another 2 or 3 seconds, then shut off again, only to restart again immediately. It seemed like it did this 7 or 8 times while I sat at a dead stop.

    I wasn't moving at all and had the brake pedal firmly applied. The yellow battery line (showing the car was drawing battery power) on the MFD was NOT displayed. I had the AC on one of the low settings, but the battery level showed it was mostly charged (not full green, but maybe only 1 bar short of that). My headlights were not on. The temperature outside was warm (maybe 85 - 90?).

    Anyone have any idea what this could be? I did a search of the forums but didn't find anything like this.

    Thanks,
    J.
     
    #1 jharvey963, Jun 29, 2007
  2. jharvey963

    jharvey963 New Member

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    Oh, yeah, I have a 2007, option pack 5.

    Thanks,
    J.
     
    #2 jharvey963, Jun 29, 2007
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Sometimes when the SOC is high the ICE will cycle off and on like that to drop the charge down...but usually it'll be at full green when it does that.
     
    #3 efusco, Jun 29, 2007
  4. Brewmaster

    Brewmaster Junior Member

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    My Prius does this also. I dont know what it is but it feels like the engine is bouncing around when it does it.
     
    #4 Brewmaster, Jun 30, 2007
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    You said you were at highway speeds just prior to this.

    Most people believe the Prius is a slow and poky vehicle. In fact, cycling the engine is how the Prius asks, "can we do that again?"
     
    #5 TonyPSchaefer, Jun 30, 2007
  6. FL_Prius_Driver

    FL_Prius_Driver Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jharvey963 @ Jun 29 2007, 04:58 PM) [snapback]470265[/snapback]</div>
    I have had very rare occurances of the engine lugging and about to stall after coming off the interstate. Now this is with a 2001 Prius, so there may be no relationship. However, if it happens again, the following checks may help:
    1) Turn the air conditioner off. See if the change in electrical load has any effect.
    2) SLIGHTLY pulse the accelerator while holding the brakes down. This cured the problem for me one time.
    3) Put it in park/neutral and back to drive.

    Be aware of your situation. You do not want to find an undiscovered software bug of causing the car to shutdown or jump, or something else with people/traffic in front of you.
     
    #6 FL_Prius_Driver, Jun 30, 2007
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