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2006- stopped accelerating, was shutting down; 3 indicator lights.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by PaulaW, Feb 1, 2019.

  1. PaulaW

    PaulaW New Member

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    Help! My daughter drives our 2006, lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa- terribly cold the last couple days (-35 last night). The car sat outside in the cold for about 36 hours without being driven or started. She drove it earlier today with no problems except for the windshield wipers still being stuck in the up position (happened about 5 days ago, before the extreme cold). She was driving again tonight when the car stopped accelerating, then proceeded to shut down- monitor went black, time display dimmed, fan stopped blowing. The check engine light has been on for a couple years, but now the Low oil pressure light and the Hybrid system warning light came on. She pulled over and shut it off. She checked the oil, looked fine; it's changed regularly. She was able to restart it and drive it home, which was only another mile, warning lights remain on. The wipers finally came down and started working during that last stretch home....one good thing I guess.
    REALLY hoping we can blame this on the extreme cold. :) Thankfully, temps are warming. According to the owner's manual, we should have had it towed directly to Toyota. Any ideas on where to start? Thanks!
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Best thing to do is read the codes.

    If I had to guess, the car overheated from a failed inverter pump (if that's possible in extremely cold weather?)
     
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  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    in that kind of cold I would have made sure you we’re running fresh 0-20 weight synthetic oil
    And clean trans fluid and fresh antifreeze. I would put a little of the oil your running in a bottle and keep it outside and see how the cold is affecting it.

    Anything heavier the oil may be freezing up.
    Check the oil dipstick before starting the car and see how thick it is.

    A block heater would be a necessity in this cold I’m afraid. And If you plan on keeping this car a obd scanner with Toyota techstream software will quickly become a neccessity as the car is very unhappy about something.

    Quickest cheapest is a VIAX DIAG with techstream from amazon.com it works with a laptop $77 it will tell you exactly what the car is unhappy about. Anything else is a very expensive guess.
     
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  4. PaulaW

    PaulaW New Member

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    Thank you for your responses.
    edthefox5- I searched VIAX DIAG on Amazon with no results including the 'VIAX'. Lots of other possible options....but no idea which might be correct. Do you have a more precise name/model I could search?
    Temps are not normally anywhere near that cold, and it was predicted to last less than 48 hours, so all that prep with changing oil types and other fluids does not seem reasonable. But good to keep in mind, thanks!
     
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Two
    Sorry it’s Vxdiag one word amazon prices have gone up to 99. but found new on one on eBay $69.

    Search amazon or eBay

    vxdiag Nano TIS. The

    latest software rev is v12 the one on eBay,

    I have one works great easy to set up win 7 or 10 laptop will pull all codes and give readouts on every hybrid battery parameter a must if you own a g2 Prius. Save you a ton of money pull the codes with all suffixes post them here and we Will tell you what ails you.

    Good luck.
     
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