car won't start

Maybe grumpiness isn't necessary, but it really is helpful to be sure to answer the exact question asked when someone is trying to help from a distance ... the other person is making an effort to figure something out based only on what you say.

My best example came from the workplace years ago. Somebody swore up and down there was no message showing up on the monitor to read to me over the phone. I asked what was showing on the monitor. "Nothing at all." I asked "if you find the brightness knob, turn it all the way down and then back up, does anything you see on the monitor change?" Got my ear snarled off for being condescending. "OK", says I, "I'll be down to your office in a few."

When I got there I looked at the monitor and said "next time this happens, if you read me that message there, I can fix it right away" and the person said "oh that? I didn't think that was what you meant, that line is always there."

 

Sure, it can take a little bit of extra effort to say "let me look at my dash through fresh eyes and make sure I'm answering exactly the question the person hundreds of miles away has asked."

It's fair to expend that extra effort, because the other person is expending effort trying to ask clear questions from a distance.

 

I'll give you that TMR was grumpy. I'm making an effort to be straightforward, non-grumpy, and non-snarky.

To me, what has already happened is not a big enough deal to spend much time on. What matters more is that PriusChat is a forum, this thread will be here for future others to read, and ideally, we help them get the point that's being made. They'll get better help, and fewer grumpy responses, that way.

 

I would get a dealer diagnosis first and look for cost effective solutions second, especially without a robust code reader and some experience to filter out the noise of extraneous codes. However I have attached some of the basics of the blink method.

If it makes you feel any better, those guys are equal opportunity snarkers.

2008 Brake warning lights (I KNOW) | PriusChat


Some codes in pdf attached.

Clearing codes with the odb2 jumper:
Try to clear the code by jumpering pins 4 and 13 and tap the brake pedal at least 8 times in 4 seconds. Then turn off.

 

You already have your probable answer. It's in post 4. There's a search button in the upper right corner. Type in P0AA6, thats a zero, not an oh. There's a thousand threads that explain what it is. I've probably posted in half of them.

grumpy? Maybe, but it is aggravating when I waste my time trying to see what electrical failure would cause ALL those lights (because they're all new, right). The prius is a computer with wheels. Your car probably has 16 different ecus. The possibility exists that something could fail and cause unrelated warning lamps to turn on. That was why I was specifically mentioning about the TPMS, even in post 4. If we disregard the tpms, then you had your answer in the rest of post 4. All this ICWP stuff is chasing your tail, since if the car coded due to the inverter being hot, it would allow you to restart again once it cooled off, and a failed inverter would not cause a tpms. troubleshooting involves not only what can be, but also what can't be.

The P0AA6 can be reset just by disconnecting or unplugging the 12v battery in the trunk. It will allow you to drive the car normally, even if the code appears again while driving. It just won't let you start it back up after shutting it off, unless you disconnect or reset the code again. All this info is in the forum dozens of dozens of times, if you search P0AA6. Then you can drive it to be diagnosed. When you get or find someone with techstream, look under the hybrid control tab for "shortwave highest value". It should be 4.99v if the HV isolation is as good as it should be. Anything less means there's something going on. Once it starts getting into the 3s, it starts coding.

This code is unfortunately very common for the Gen 2 and 90+% of the time is due to a module in the battery pack finding a leakage path to the battery case. Usually due to electrolyte seepage.

 

Many here assume everyone is advanced diy

 

People too often sneak the word "battery" into that explanation. P0AA6 is a code about degraded insulation somewhere in the high-voltage system, but whether that's in the battery or not is one of the things you don't know before reading the INF code. It's only the battery if the INF code is 612. (The 614 area also includes a few small bits inside one end of the battery case.)



There are some simple ways you can manually gather the same kind of data the car uses to decide which INF code to set (there are posts about that). But asking the car for the INF code is hard to beat.

 

If you can get the detail code (it's in the freezeframe data- the snowflake icon next to the main code), that will help focus where you should check next.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

bad thing about this forum is that we have lots of useless sticky threads, there's no sticky thread for this particular issue "No Start",

I think the GEN2 Forum is just badly maintained, I don't know if there's a moderator or owner. Lots of useless "sticky threads" some of those should be removed and replaced with common issues or questions. Most of the senior members here prefer to respond to new threads about the same topic over and over instead of compiling or creating a sticky thread explaining things in 1 area. Other forums that I belong to has this sticky thread and most respond to just simply post the link.

 

The "owner" seems to have lost interest in maintaining the forum, note the lack of being able to "PM" for newer members. Not sure why, maybe the forum was a vehicle to gain some revenue by having a marketplace, although that seems to be hit and miss, mostly miss. Maybe you can start by picking an area of interest and adding to the wiki.

Have at it.
Prius Wiki | PriusChat

 

i can't look at my dash. the car is not in my possession. it crapped out in a strip mall parking lot.

Since the car has been left in a strip mall parking lot, I would expect you're going to be in for more repairs than you expect. There are times when you need to get your car to a safe place. This was probably one of those times. Look up catalytic converter theft. Your car, if original, is the highest available prize in the catalytic converter theft category. This can easily turn into a major shtstorm for you. I would get the car out of there ASAP. May want to look under the car to see if the cats are still there or not.

If they're gone, and you are not DIY, the combo of a hybrid battery (~$2500) and cats (~$2800) at a dealer are going to be more than the car is worth.