1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2004 getting red triangle but no check engine light

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by dpeverhart, May 20, 2014.

  1. dpeverhart

    dpeverhart Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2012
    126
    23
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    I
    This Prius is an '04 with 156k and it will only start with a jump box. I went into the display and found the 12 volt battery reading 12.2 volts after sitting for 4 hours. When driving stop and go around town I will get the red triangle of death and vsc lights but NO check engine light comes on. Using a Scangauge it shows no codes, system ready. I look into pending codes and there is nothing. However when I force clear pending codes the triangle goes away.

    It's strange there are no codes associated with this fault. Has anyone seen this condition and have a suggestion. I'm thinking to drive it and not force clear the pending codes and maybe a code will show up eventually but I'm not sure.

    Thanks
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,465
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    You should check your oil and coolant levels

    Car starts if you jump start?

    SM-N900P ?
     
  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The 12 volt battery is shot. Replace it. Stop jumping the car its very dangerous.

    There is codes. Probably alot of them. The red triangle is Master Warning Light so car very unhappy about something . You may have damaged something when jumping the car. Very common and expensive story.

    Your not able to read the codes thrown because they are Hybrid codes and Scangauge can only read basic check engine light codes. You need to at least upgrade it to an Xgauge (send it in) or go to dealer and have them pull the codes for $100. Or buy a Mongoose VCI with Android.

    Scangauge will not show Hybrid Codes just basic fault codes. The master Warning Light is a Hybrid code.
     
    cyberpriusII likes this.
  4. dpeverhart

    dpeverhart Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2012
    126
    23
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    I
    Actually it will only start when I clear the 'pending codes'.
     
  5. dpeverhart

    dpeverhart Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2012
    126
    23
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    I
    I did not realize jump starting with a jump box was dangerous with the potential to damage something. I'm using the recommended method under the hood to jump.

    I swapped the 12 volt battery from another '04 Prius and I'm having the same problem so I'm not convinced the 12 volt battery is the issue here.

    Thanks for the info on upgrading the Scangauge. I was not aware of that. I'm going to send mine in so I can find out what the hidden codes are.

     
  6. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,465
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    You need to retrieve the codes. It could be as simple as a brake light switch that's causing the problem, but you can't guess at it

    SM-N900P ?
     
  7. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,448
    3,751
    0
    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Ed (the fox) likes to use copious amounts of hyperbole. There is nothing inherently dangerous about jump starting a Prius provided it is done according to the manual. Potentially costly, but not dangerous, Done incorrectly, there is the potential to do damage of 1000's of $$$. Believe it or not, Toyota do not guard against cross-pole connection and you will blow up the inverter by connecting the +ve to -ve and vice versa. So be very careful to do it correctly.

    Unless you have tested the battery and verified it is charged and can hold its charge, you may have dismissed a very obvious cause of your issues.

    You definitely need to pull the codes, but be aware that you could have many spurious codes generated which are caused by a 12V battery in poor condition. The Prius is very unforgiving once the 12V battery gets past its "use by" date. You need to test the 12V to ensure it can hold a voltage of no less than 11.8V for several minutes with the headlights on. If your 12V passes this test, ensure it is fully charged and then go on and look at at the code(s) that are being thrown.

    hope this helps.
     
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    First you insult me then you say the same thing or worse. Unlike you the op was smart enough to understand I meant: it may damage something. But even after he posts that you still don't get what I meant.

    Prius really shouldn't even be jumped no matter what the manual says. You can be correctly polarized and still damage the car. Seen hundreds of posts here in the last 8 years that the poster swears he hooked it up right and still incurred damage. Including numerous AAA jumps. I believe them. They all can't be wrong.

    Don't jump start a severely drained battery. And don't race the donor car engine. Don't even have the donor car engine on. To many keep alive components on that 12 volt rail that don't appreciate sparks or big surge.
    Smartest jump start I have heard about on PC is a poster used a 14.4 dewalt drill battery to jump his car.
    Current limited. Great idea.


     
    cyberpriusII likes this.
  9. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,448
    3,751
    0
    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Chill, Bro. I hardly think what I said qualifies as an insult. But if you were offended, I apologise.

    However, I cannot just let wild statements go unchallenged, and that is all I was doing, challenging your highly emotive statement. My understanding of dangerous is likely to cause physical harm or injury and this is simpley not the case.

    Your reading of the OP's response is vastly different to mine, and hence the need for me to clarify.

    If damage was caused by a jumpstart, be they by the AAA or any other "professional", then it was done incorrectly.

    All good advice and vastly more objective than the opening statement to your original post. So it seems you are saying now that you can jump start a Prius safely.

    All the best.