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2012 Prius V all kind of wrong

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Stephen Naylor, Sep 9, 2018.

  1. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    I have a 2012 Prius V with 50k miles on it. Never given me a days trouble and been perfectly maintained.

    Wife wanted me to add a seat heater to it so I stripped down the seat and added the seat heater. I ground it to the frame and spliced into the hot wired for the lumbar support. Seat heater works, lumbar works...car won't work!
    I had the battery disconnected the whole time I was doing this, about 5 hours, and reconnected it but the lights all come on, including fault with hybrid system warning light. When I try to shift into gear it won't and flashes up the PARK symbol. I've checked the fuses and they are fine and I've disconnected the battery a few times, negative and positive. I've also disconnected the orange safety key in the trunk and reconnected.

    I've since cut the ground and taken the fuse out of the heater wiring harness but still having same issues. Lots of warning lights and won't start and won't go into D or R and tells me to put the car in park.

    What the heck is going on with this thing?
     
  2. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    What is the current draw on the seat heater? Is it relay protected from the seat heater switch?
     
  3. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Others have had the same result after a long 12v disconnect. Just pull the individual circuit fuse next time. Keep trying a start, reports are that it will start after a few attempts. Don’t disconnect the battery, just on and off a few times and give it a chance to boot.
     
    #3 rjparker, Sep 9, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2018
  4. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    That is not good advice if MG1 is trying to start the engine. It take very few tries to deplete the HV Traction battery pack and have an even larger problem!
    Dealers do not usually even have the necessary grid charger to recharge the HV pack.
     
  5. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    It has an inline fuse and I’ve taken that out and cut off the ground wire to the accessory. Still having the same issue though.
     
    #5 Stephen Naylor, Sep 9, 2018
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 9, 2018
  6. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    He is just trying to get a Ready.
     
  7. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    Sorry, guys. What’s MG1 and HV traction pack mean?
     
  8. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Buzz words that most people don’t know. MG1 is Motor Generator 1. There are two and they run off the high voltage battery (“traction pack”) you did not disconnect hopefully. The 12 v battery is low voltage and separate. Try going to Ready a few times realizing it will be slower to get a Ready than normal.
     
  9. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    Thanks for explaining.

    It still gives me the same series of warning lights: ABS, Traction, oil, hybrid system and a couple of others. I hooked it up to a OBD2 and it shows no codes but it still won’t give me a ready. I’m completely baffled and trying to avoid having it towed to a dealer so they can charge me an arm and a leg for something that is probably an easy fix.
    Thanks for tour help
     
  10. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    I left the positive battery lead off overnight and still no change. Can’t for the life of me figure out what can be causing this.

    Any ideas?

    I feel like I need to do a reset on the ECU but I can’t find out how to do that.
     
  11. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Sent Private Message via this forum. Read and respond.
     
  12. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    Thank you for your message.
    This is a daily driver and the battery I disconnected was in the right side of the trunk. The battery was never removed from the car.
    I have tried several times to start the car/get it to go to ready and the same result each time. I've also left the ignition on for 10 minutes and still no change.
    The battery is showing 12.05v under no load and it is the original battery, 6 years/52k miles.
    I did remove the HV plug by mistake before I disconnected the battery and again just to check it while the battery was disconnected.
    I had the negative (black) wire off the 12v battery while I was working on it and not the positive (red) wire. I did disconnect the red and the black for a while to see if that made a difference and it didn't.
    Here is a screenshot of what I'm showing on the dash.
    When I try to put it in drive or reverse, it tells me to put it back in park, this is probably because it has not gone into ready. This car has never given me a moments problem so I'm stumped.
    I've worked on cars all my life so I'm pretty good at working on them but I've never worked on a hybrid.
    As a side note, my 100k/72 month warranty expired 3 months ago and I had 2 months after expiry to get my money back.
    Thanks for any advice.
     

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  13. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    Few things to try.

    1. Make sure your orange safety plug is in all the way. A very common mistake is to not re-install it right. Then you are basically trying to start a Prius without the traction battery. I think that's where your trouble is.

    2. If #1 does not help, try to get a jump start from another car or from a boost pack. Your 12V battery may be dying.
     
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  14. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    Thanks. I feel good about the orange safety plug being in all the way but I'm beginning to wonder if the original factory 12v battery may need replacing.
     
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  15. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    As an aside, I think your seat heater install is most likely fine and has nothing to do with your troubles except that you may have pushed the 12V battery over the edge during the project.

    When I installed my seat heaters I wired a new line from under the hood "+" terminal with an inline fuse for the heaters. It made me feel better knowing I am not adding a significant load to a piece of wire that was not meant to carry it (if I spliced into another circuit). For the switch relays I tapped into the "cigarette lighter" since that draws next to nothing.

    Good luck and keep us posted.
     
    #15 VFerdman, Sep 10, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2018
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  16. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    BTW, there is a list of Prius specific acronyms available here on this site.
     
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  17. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    That's very low. Six years old, I'd replace it.

    Not necessarily the crux of your problems, but "low hanging fruit".
     
    #17 Mendel Leisk, Sep 10, 2018
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2018
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  18. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Agree. All of what you see is symptomatic of a failing 12V aux battery.
     
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  19. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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  20. Stephen Naylor

    Stephen Naylor New Member

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    I just remembered, I think I ran the seat heater for several minutes to test it before starting the car and after I had it disconnected for 6 hours. I bet I killed it.
    Buying a new Toyota brand battery, made by interstate.
     
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