06 Prius: READY+Red Triangle+Check Engine+"Problem"

Greetings forum,

Today I suffered the red triangle while driving home. The engine immediately turned off. Overcoming slight panic, I quickly observed the vehicle running on battery only, turned off all accessories, and was able to "glide/gently-accelerate home" with battery only.

After checking priuschat.com for more information, I returned to the car to get more information.

These lights were illuminated: "READY", red triangle, check engine.
The display alerted "Problem" along with an icon in the top, left corner.

It seems, after the car had been off for a few minutes, the engine would run as expected idle in park, charging the HV battery. (Warning lights mentioned above were on, however.)

I measured voltage at the accessory outlet on the passenger side. 14.4V while the car was on. about 12.3V in accessory power only (POWER+no brake pedal).

Oil level was ever-so-slightly above the top mark on the stick (engine was still warm). Oil color was light and clear (not milky).

Radiator resevoir had plently of coolant in it. All other fluids that could be checked by visually observing the level were within the indicated min~max range.

My research on this forum indicates that having the dealer provide me with the error codes is essential in soliciting help in this forum. I had the car towed to the dealership moments ago. It'll get looked at tomorrow. I'll provide the codes to this thread once I know what they are.

I *so greatly* wish to keep my hopes up for an inexpensive repair, but I'm afraid the red triangle light wearies that hope.

I'll update the forum with new information, as it becomes available. Also, let me know if other relevant info would help!

Sincerely,
aaroncv3

 

Ok folks, here's what the dealer said:

Codes:

P0121
C2141
C2165​

Necessary Repairs, Quoted Cost:

Throttle Body Assembly:

Throttle Body Assembly, $986.61
Gasket, $5.51
Labor, $267.08
Total before tax (my calculation), $1259.20
Total after tax (dealer quote), $1373​

12V Battery:

Battery, $334.94​

Totals:

Before tax (my calculation), $1594.14
After tax (dealer quote), $1703.51​

I have a pretty good feeling I could get away spending less getting it service somewhere else.

What do you think?

Best regards,
aaroncv3

 

I really think the 12V is fine, too. The vehicle is still parked at the dealer this very moment, can't check a mfg date on the battery right now.

State vehicle inspection on Tuesday had it at 162,625 miles.

 

I've been calling around. A second mechanic, with the information the dealer gave me, estimated $750 P&L on the throttle body alone. A third mechanic, also without yet looking at it, said it would not be $700 as it is likely that the entire assembly does not need replaced, and he has spare parts on hand. I'll probably hold off on the 12V as well--until absolutely necessary. His yelp reviews also included reviews from some Prius owners, all 5 stars.

To all thread posters: thank you for your time and help so far!

 

Follow-up: I called the dealer to square up for the estimate, he asked, "You're not going to give me a chance to be competitive?" I asked, "Can this be fixed without replacing the entire throttle body assembly?" He said "No, its dirty, and the electronic part is dirty... it's the electronic part." I asked, "If someone had the electronic part, could that alone be changed?" He replied, "It's not gonna work. If you take it somewhere else, it'll just come back... but if that's what you want to do, I'll go ahead and get it ready for you." Nice guilt!

Yes, sir, I think I'll take it elsewhere!

 

Yes, I searched throttle body assemblies, found a range of prices, most 50% or more below the dealer quote.

I acknowledge that it would, no doubt, be an investment to get the basic tools required (ratchet, sockets, maybe a few other things), it's just not on my radar of stuff I want to tackle with various other irons in the fire right now. Right now, an honest repair by an honest repair shop (assuming such a thing is not an impossibility) is much more valuable to me.

I'll update with the outcome of Friday's scheduled service.

 

I went with the third mechanic. He replaced the throttle body with a pull that had been cleaned, and took my core. He showed me the core, and where the valve was sticking because it was dirty.

As a courtesy he also replaced my A/C air filter, which, he showed me, was absolutely filthy.

Regarding the 12V battery, he tested it and confirmed that it was fine.

The cost was $250, out-the-door.

He also brought up some other areas that need attention:

1. cleaning HV battery terminals and HV battery fan/airway(/filter?)
2. front shocks/struts, rear brakes, 4 tires.

I've known about the struts for a few months. I told him of an upcoming relocation from San Antonio to Southern California and that my budget is currently tight. He said the work to the HV battery is of higher importance and that it would be wise to have the service done before leaving.

He pointed to another Prius on his lot, which was visibly packed with household items. He reported that it had been towed back from somewhere between Las Vegas and San Antonio to his shop at the cost of $1200. He said that he had warned the owner of that Prius of urgent required service as well.

I can't say with absolute certainty that I was not being lied to, but I had a gut feeling that the urgency of the HV battery work was good advice.

He also said if the HV battery on any Prius was deep-discharged and critically damaged, he wouldn't even work on it.

If the A/C filter was any indication of urgent preventative service necessary to the HV battery fan/airway(/filter?) and to the likelihood of corroded copper terminals, it would be worth the preventative maintenance, would it not? He estimates $350 for that work.

What do you think?

Best regards,
aaroncv3

 

Man, what an ordeal to find a mechanic you can trust in short order! It seems that by nature, the potentially costly repairs (and potential for gouging) come at the worst times!

Clearly, not just any mechanic is qualified to service many things Prius. If one broke down hundreds of miles away from a large city (or a more progressive one, perhaps?), imagine how the task of finding an honest, qualified mechanic becomes nearly insurmountable!

This had me thinking. What if priuschat had an app on the website that cataloged proven mechanics and repair shops: qualified by Prius experience and expertise, quantifiably promoted by positive Prius owner reviews. Such an app would be searchable by area and proximity and positive reviews. It is possible that the data, in relatively short order, could become richly dense.

I found this guy on yelp, but a custom tool like the one I described could be even better from the very start--better suited than a big-box search engine.

There might be a million reasons (or a few big ones) why a relatively small team of website operators would not want to develop it. But, if you were the Prius owner long on urgency and short on resource, wouldn't this be invaluable? I bet, at one point or another, we've all felt a similar stress!

Surely this has been discussed here!

I enjoy developing small, electronic, microcontroller based projects, but I concur: 5V is not 200V+, and knowledge about the risks associated with working with high voltage are essential for safety.

None of those codes were indicated by the dealer. I bought the used vehicle one year ago. I know that the previous owner, at some point, had to replace some of the cells. Could this information affect the perceived urgency, or is the mechanic-suggested HV battery service extraneous, and almost certainly unnecessary?

 

Directions printed. I'll give it a go and report back.