2001 Prius, rebuilt battery but shuts down still

Problem appears solved.

I eventually got coolant to flow from the right bleed screw, but as soon as i did it stopped coming from the left. This led to an ephinany.

Solution: two 3 foot hoses from the bleed screws to the reservoir. When both screws were opened, one was sucking in air while the other bled coolant. Put the hose for the "sucking" screw into the coolant and it draws the coolant instead of air. I knew the hoses are recommended but in my case it appeared necessary.

Took a while and a few burps, but my pump is now running quietly and i see turbulence in the reservoir. Next step is to take it for a spin...

By the way, how about this for luck? I get hit by a taxi in my 2002 "good" prius yesterday. No one was hurt. Front end is folded up, although I was able to drive it less than a mile home without so much as a warning light. Should be fixed by next week as i have insurance and the other driver was at fault anyways. It is nice to have a spare car ready just in time.

I'll post pictures of my repair efforts and my sad smashed Prius later today.

Thanks,
Brett

 

That is good advice. Once I have it in good running order for a couple weeks I'll flush the coolant.

 

Here are some pictures of my crude repairs

Open inverter connection point.



Car with inverter removed.


Brand new coolant pump.


My Prius is a friend to wildlife.


The old inverter, upside down. I tried to pry open the bottom to look at the DC converter but was unable to do so easily, and did not want to damage the unit further before sending to Bob.




My poor 2002, attacked by a rogue taxi.

 

Hi Prius peeps,

I've got a little bit of bad news. The 2001 prius appears to need a transaxle.

After some highway driving the triangle of death reappeared. The car still drives smoothly, but I am getting three codes now: 3000, 3009, and 3120.

If I do the on/neutral/drive test to isolate the 3009 code, it only trips when the car is put into drive. According to other threads this appears to mean the voltage leak is in the transaxle.

The 3000 code only sets when the 3009 code appears, i.e. when the car is turned on and put into drive, so I'm thinking those two codes are related and my battery ecu may be fine. I do have a spare battery ECU I could swap in.

The 3120 code only sets after some highway driving, at lower speeds it does not reappear. That may make sense if the trigger is heat related. My scan tool cannot read that data.

I took the car to my local dealership and asked them to give me as much info about the codes as possible. After an hour they gave me a sheet saying 3000, 3009, and 3120. I asked if they could give me the sub codes, sensor readings, etc. They said their certified prius guy was not available today. I asked why they made my appointment for that day if they couldn't give me more than I already knew, and they said well that's why we decided not to bill for it. I'm not impressed. I am no expert, but I find it hard to believe that their guys couldn't tell me the sub codes if they could read the major codes.

So, Prius geniuses.... Should I go to a different dealership to get sub codes? Do they really matter? A bad transmission is a bad transmission is a bad transmission, I'm thinking.

In terms of whether or not to continue repairing the car, as of yet I have invested $950 in a battery, inverter, and water pump. I have lots of battery left over that I may use for another project, so actual expenses may be considered less. A transmission is available locally with 75k miles for $650. Local shops all want 10 hours of labor, estimated, for a swap, so that would run close to $1000. That makes a likely investment of $1650 to get this car working without a warning light, but I'm worried that there would be a further problems if this isn't diagnosed correctly. But on the other hand I don't really want to pay toyota a grand just to tell me that yes, it is definitely the transaxle.

FYI my interest in getting this car working stems from my job. I am an independent medical courier, so I put 40-50k in miles on my cars each year. I don't like grinding newer cars into the dirt, so i get older ones. Sometimes i get lucky, sometimes I don't.

Are there some further steps I could take for diagnosis at home? I don't have a "megger" but I could get one, especially since my work makes it likely i will be dealing with older Prii for the foreseeable future (can't beat the gas savings, they are the perfect cars for the job).

I cannot dismantle the car for tests at the moment, as my 2002 is at the collision center until at least next Wednesday so this 2001 is my work car, warning lights or not. I am only taking local deliveries at the moment. I also do not have the lift abilities to get the transaxle out of the car.

Does Orange4boy want to take a "vacation" in Maine? Is anyone aware of any Prius specialist types in the New England area should I decide to go the transaxle replacement route? Only one local shop has dealt with Prius transmissions and rarely at that.

Thanks again for the help.

 

As you saw from my pictures, it looks like a nut-gathering rodent was living in the engine compartment. The car was parked for many months outside, undriveable, by the last owner. Rodent damage is certainly possible.

I was thinking wiring myself at first, but don't think a wiring issue would explain the 3120 appearing at only highway speeds. To me, that says something happens at high speed that is bad. I will try to get subcodes from another dealer.

As for Patrick Wong's suggestion, he may have a good point. If there truly is a leak in the transaxle but the transaxle warning doesn't trip when I stay off the highway, I may be able to indefinitely use the car for local deliveries and keep the 2002 ready for the longer runs. I think another intermediate step may be to change the transmission oil, clean the pan, and see if that stops the 3120 or at least allows for longer periods of highway driving. Currently the alarm trips at 20 minutes @ 70 mph like clockwork. I was a going to change the transmission oil eventually anyways, it was delayed slightly while I ponder immediately installing a new transmission.

If my on/neutral/drive test shows the leak coming from the transaxle, does that in some way identify the wiring i should inspect more closely? Edited to add: when I removed the inverter, the wiring to and from looked good enough.

 

A thought: if the theory of a voltage leak in the transaxle and high temps occurring at highway speeds pans out, would an under $100 transmission oil cooling system make sense to see if that decreases further wear? Just hypothesizing.

 

The next closest dealer will be reading the codes on July 8. I think I scared the receptionist with the serious tone of my very specific instructions...

 

Changed the transmission oil. See below for the reason you might want to do this occasionally....

 

The smell was stronger than the smell of the new oil (I sniffed a bit to compare) but didn't seem different. The oil looked good.

I thought the pan was a mess though. There was black sediment caked onto the bottom of the pan. The magnet was so coated in gunk that it slid around more easily than it should. The screen, however, was pretty clean.

I've put nearly 1000 miles on the car with no problems other than the warning lights and avoiding 50+ mph.

 

Hello,

I recently looked through all the old maintenance records for this 2001. It is quite hefty, it appears to be a problem car.

The 12 volt battery was dying as early as 2003. It was replaced in 2004. The next 12 volt died in 2009. Early signs of inverter issues?

In dec 2008 there is the following invoice:

"customer states that vehicle's heating system isn't working all the time. 98T fill and bleed cooling system and check for leaks- found water pump leaking, replaced water pump.

verified comment- no heat found no coolant in reservoir- or engine. Filled and bled- pressure tested system and found water pump leaking. Removed and replaced water pump- bled air from coolant verified hat heat is operational."

So the pump i replaced had been replaced only 1.5 years earlier! Probably does not bode well for future fixes.

I wouldn't have understood the importance of these records at the time; now with experience I'd recommend keeping an eye out for these seemingly relatively minor problems if you're buying an older classic prius.

On the bright side, the transmission oil was changed regularly.

EDITED- on further thought I now think the invoice is referring to the ICE water pump and coolant, giving this incident much less importance in regards to the transmission.