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

2010 Prius codes c1310 and c1259

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Christian Natale, Jan 30, 2021.

  1. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I just replaced the head gasket on my 2010 Prius. I disconnected the 12v battery, the orange service plug at the back and I unplugged the wire harness connection to the inverter (so that I could pull the harness further back. When I put it all back together and plugged everything back in it would not start. The only codes are c1310 and c1259. My understanding is that these codes represent a communication error, but I rechecked all of the connections I unplugged, and the orange pin is all the way in and I pushed the lever to the right. I called Toyota and they told me that the hybrid computer may just need to be reset and they would just need to hook it up to an actual computer to do so. I was wondering if anyone had any additional input before I go and pay them whatever insane price they deem reasonable. There was no hybrid system issue beforehand and I can see that the batteries have a charge. Thank you all so much for any advice you may have.
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    are you sure the 12v battery is not low?
     
  3. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Yep. I charged it with an intelligent charger and maintainer.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,069
    14,974
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Not really, but I can see how a game of 'telephone' could end up there. These codes represent the communication of an error. :)

    I made this image for another thread, glomming together bits of different pages in the manual. Never mind the P0A80, we don't know that's your code yet. But look at the detection conditions for C1310 and C1259.

    [​IMG]

    Notice that each one requires that "communication with power management control ECU is valid". (Emphasis mine.) So it is not a communication error, it is straight up valid communication with the PMC ECU, and the PMC ECU sent actual messages to the brake ECU saying "hey, I'm having some internal issues affecting regen, you're going to be on your own for slowing the car down" and the brake ECU sets those two codes to confirm it received those messages.

    The key is going to be to find out what code(s) the PMC ECU has, which will be the reason it sent those messages. If what you're using to read codes is only showing you those two in the brake ECU and not the code(s) in the power management control ECU, you're going to need something better to read codes.

    Once you know what the power management control ECU is actually complaining about, it will probably be a quick step from there to what's needed to make it happy.
     
  5. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Thank you @ChapmanF ! That is very helpful. Is there a possibility that the solution is as simple as resetting the hybrid system? I did not mess with the hybrid system and everything was reconnected before I hooked the 12v back up.
     
  6. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I am now realizing that as a 17 year old kid choosing a Prius as my first car to ever work on may have been a little bit over ambitious. So I really appreciate any help I can get. I used Prius Chat while researching, and I made sure to do my research before taking it apart. I will definitely make sure to pass on any wisdom that is passed to me and everything that I learn through this experience. I really appreciate the help
     
    mikey_t likes this.
  7. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2012
    1,555
    659
    0
    Location:
    Central MO
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    II
    Try resetting by pushing start button on and off 3 times without pressing brake
     
  8. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I did try that. Also tried disconnecting the negative battery terminal. No luck tho
     
  9. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2018
    5,836
    3,136
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I think you picked a great car to start. Pretty much every manufacturer has at least one hybrid car.
    I would double check every connection, carefully. And make sure the 12v battery IS good.
    What is the voltage of the battery?
     
  10. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 8, 2017
    2,515
    3,253
    9
    Location:
    California
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    I wouldn’t say it’s too ambitious. Aside from the special hazards of the hybrid system, diagnosis and repair of Prius cars is similar to working on other modern, computer-controlled vehicles: you can’t rely on the traditional methods of the shade-tree mechanic, nor on message-board postings and videos, which may or may not have complete or reliable information.

    Fundamental automotive knowledge and mechanical aptitude are still important, but to work safely and efficiently, technicians also have to be able to use the diagnostic and repair information and tools provided by the manufacturer. In particular, you need access to the edition of the Repair Manual (more info) that covers your car, and, for many problems, a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system (or equivalent) that can communicate with all of the car’s computers. Neither of these is necessarily expensive.

    Toyota’s technical training materials, available by subscription to techinfo.toyota.com, are also worth reading; see especially course T071, Toyota Hybrid Systems, but many of the others are equally relevant. Unlike the Repair Manual, New Car Features, and Electrical Wiring Diagram, most of the training materials are offered as PDF documents, which you can download to read later.
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,069
    14,974
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    If it were me, I wouldn't really bother trying to make up some catch-all concept like "resetting the hybrid system". I would just ask the power management control ECU what it wants to tell me, look in the repair manual for what to make of whatever it told me, and then take care of whatever the issue is. It can often be something quite minor and easy, but guessing at it or trial and error will not always be the quickest way to the destination.

    I agree with others here that don't see that as much of a problem. As Elektroingenieur's response also suggested, working on modern cars, there is a lot of information you get by asking the car. If anything, typically 17 year old kids tend to be more accustomed to asking computers stuff than we old timers are. Suggestions you read from us dinosaurs will often sound like a lot of "try this thing, try that, check that, it might be the so and so", as if we've either never realized we could ask the car, or we're just somehow determined to show we can solve the problem without it no matter how much extra work we're making. :)

    You do have to be careful what you do with what the car tells you. You can't assume that it's telling you exactly what the cause of the problem is or exactly what you need to do about it. That's a mistake some novices make, but the car's computers are stuck in boxes and can only tell you exactly what they saw; they can't climb out, poke around, and find out why they saw it. Usually the human has to do some of that.

    In particular, avoid reading too much (reading much of anything, really) into the one-liner "fortune cookie" that you might encounter when looking up a diagnostic code. It is better to go straight to that code's section in the repair manual and look up exactly what that code tells you the computer saw. It's your job to figure out why it saw that. Usually the same section in the manual will go on for several more pages of carefully targeted things you can check so that you get the answer as directly as possible.
     
  12. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Thank you all so much. I really appreciate your input. Is there a separate port for the hybrid ecu? Or does it just go through the OBD port?
     
  13. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,069
    14,974
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    When you connect a laptop with Techstream, you just make one connection to the OBD port under the dash, and Techstream will use it to talk to all two dozen computers in the car. But Techstream knows a thing or two about how to do that, which some other code readers may not. There are in fact a few different networks in the car, there are gateways to hop through to talk to some things, etc. Techstream knows the nitty-gritty topology details.
     
  14. Christian Natale

    Christian Natale Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 23, 2021
    14
    7
    0
    Location:
    Kingston Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Awesome! Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it.