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

2012 Prius Won't Go Into Park in the Extreme Cold

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by bresna, Jan 22, 2019.

  1. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    After the storm Sunday here in Maine, it got very cold (~0 F) and we had to shuffle the cars to clear the driveway. After she moved it a little, my daughter's 2012 Prius would not go back into Park. A warning message came on the upper display saying that we needed to move the car to a flat surface (there's a very slight incline on my driveway) and engage the parking brake to press the P button. Well, you can't shift the car in this state either, so I don't know how they expected us to move it anywhere.

    I finally attempted to lock the car as if exiting to see if I could trick the car to shut down and then it started working again.

    It seems like the parking pawl was not engaging/disengaging. Any ideas or should I just bring it into a dealer?
     
  2. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Adding new info... today (still frigid - ~7 F) when she starts the car, it makes a rapid, loud knocking sound and won't start. Is this the pawl pin going in & out? Are we talking a transmission problem?
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    start with the 12v health, that kind of cold requires a strong battery
     
  4. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    What's the best 12V battery these days? I remember for my old 2004 Prius, Optima was the recommended battery. I did buy one of them and it worked well. Are they still the best? $220 though... Ouch.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    nothing objective. whatever has worked best personally is what each user recommends.

    i don't think you can go wrong with the best deal available, haven't heard of any major problems.
     
    #5 bisco, Jan 22, 2019
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2019
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    just thinking, if the car is starting, it may not be the 12v. i wonder if ice can form somewhere causing a binding problem
     
  7. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    It's not starting at all now. Just making a fast clunking noise when she presses the start button. It sounds like her 7 year old battery is wreaking havoc with her electronics.

    I think I'm going to pick up an O'Reilly Super Start Platinum on the ride home. They have it in stock and I'd really like to install it this weekend.

    I might add that I've read quite a few negative reviews on Amazon for the Optima. Have they gone downhill?
     
    bisco likes this.
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    unfortunately, they've had the ups and downs, some have great experiences, others don't
     
  9. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  10. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,103
    4,032
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thought the 12v hands the engine start up to the Hv bat?
     
    bisco and Johnny Cakes like this.
  11. stephensprius

    stephensprius Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2012
    670
    226
    0
    Location:
    Minneapolis, Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Persona
    we are in minneapolis. never had this issue. interesting to follow.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    agreed, see my post #6, then o/p's post #7
     
    Johnny Cakes likes this.
  14. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,103
    4,032
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Nope, I need data. Impression of bill norton.
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  15. padroo

    padroo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 11, 2008
    2,763
    2,250
    13
    Location:
    Chesterton, Indiana Another third world country.
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    The battery may or may not have issues and that needs to be sorted out but cold weather along with snow and ice on metal and moving surfaces may be a problem. I'm thinking condensation, get the car into a heated garage for 24 hours and I bet the parking paw problem goes away.

    If you have never lived up north you wouldn't understand how things just start acting weird on your car below zero.
     
  16. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,103
    4,032
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Frozen parking paw
     
  17. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Picked up the Bosch 12V battery from Pep Boys and swapped it in. It only took about 15 minutes. Hardest part was getting the vent tube off the old battery. Car boots up fine and everything seems back to normal. We're expecting another cold snap Thursday, so we'll see if this problem comes back.

    Thanks for the reminder about the 12V battery causing problems. I seem to remember that when it failed in my '04 Prius, all kinds of weird stuff started happening.
     
    fuzzy1, padroo and Mendel Leisk like this.
  18. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2018
    5,837
    3,137
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Just make sure the battery has a full charge. Do you have an AGM charger? Or trickle charger?
     
    Wolverine88 likes this.
  19. bresna

    bresna Active Member

    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2004
    193
    144
    0
    Location:
    Southern Maine
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I trickle-charged it before I installed it.
     
    ASRDogman likes this.
  20. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 29, 2018
    5,837
    3,137
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Then you should be good to go! :)
    The man had replaced the battery in the Prius I bought 2 or 3 months before I purchased it.
    So I should be good for at least 4-5 more years. It was a Toyota one and haven't had
    any problems with it.