2018 Prius fault P05A0 Active Grille Shutter - How check?

Hi ALL, How do you check if the shutter is working? I got the P05A0 code but can't see anything wrong. Is there a way to force it to move using sensor, electric something? thanks walt

 

Hi bisco, yeah warning light came on so I got out my Harbor Freight code tester and it said the P05a0 thing. So I came here and it said that it should mean the shutter not working right for the wife's 2018 Prius. I canceled the code and so far it hasn't come back but I'm just worried. It is raining here in Tennessee so I'm not about to go out there and lay on the ground anytime soon to see if the shutters are working or not. I just thought to get ready if I need to move them via some electric switch or by-pass some sensor I would find something here to do it. The Toyota PDF looks like it is pretty involved and expensive. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, Walt

 

So, looked under the car and at the louvers. They are open and stay that way through the first button Accessories then hold down button through engine start. No change. I might her something gear like trying to move but not seeing anything. The louvers appear to be able to move just a little on their own but they are being controlled by the electric motor? How can I tell if they should be open or closed and when. On start-up or when car moving or what? any help would be appreciated. It is really tight in there and not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing. thanks Walt

 

Sorry to hear that. No, unfortunately, I don't know that I can help you. Mine seemed to clear itself after I reset the initial error code. I couldn't find a schematic to figure out how to force it to move. probably a good thing. Might have triggered it to go the wrong way and broke something.

Do you mean the undercarriage support? Bent something there? That is some serious metal! If it is accessible I would check the connections first might just have been disturbed and now doesn't have good contact. I just remember it was pretty tight down there to try and work.

If you are mechanically inclined they by all means try and find a way to get the louvers to move. If they aren't jammed then go to the next step of trying to get the motor to rotate while it isn't hooked up to the louvers. Might trigger another error code causes the sensor will see it trying to move but the louvers aren't. Or if you aren't able to figure it out you might have to fork over some serious coin to get it fixed. But if it is locked open I would just ignore it until inspection time. The open position should just compromise a little gas milage is all. Not as aerodynamic. Get a cheapo Harbor Freight code checker or a similar one from any auto parts place or I'm guessing ever Amazon or Walmart should have them, that lets you remove error code faults. Just make sure it is the same fault each time and nothing else that could be more serious. I have one of those gizmo's that plug into the car's computer and then I use an app on the phone that can do a bunch of diagnostic stuff. Don't see how it would hurt anything else to just delete that code but better check with other people on the forum to be sure. I don't do a lot of my own repair work anymore. The thought of all those magical electric pixies just sitting the waiting to bite scares me. So I'm probably not a good resource.

good luck.