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Door Ajar - "D" not Allowed!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Denny_A, Jun 9, 2005.

  1. Denny_A

    Denny_A New Member

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    Location:
    Fox Valley, WI
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Backed my Pri out of the driveway, shifted to "D" and got the dreaded RED. The MFD instructed me to select the parking brake on, and warned that the battery would not be charged while in "N" (loosely paraphrasing). The eyebrow display indicated my selected position as "D".

    Selected "P" and all warnings reset. Reselected "D" - bingo, warnings repeated. Finally, I noticed the obscure RED light hiding directly in my line of vision. I closed the door, extinguished the light and all was well again.

    After perusing my Owner's Manual, and coming up empty, I wondered if I'm the only one who didn't know of this particular disabling fault. It may be in the manual. I just can't find it.

    Later it occurred to me that if I wanted to haul something that required the hatch to remain open, I might have to push the car or drive in reverse. So I opened the hatch, selected drive and -- ta-da, no warnings. Worked just fine.

    Final thought. IF a so-rigged door-closed sensor should fail in the "ajar" position, it seems to me that either a dealer's mechanic needs to make a house call or a tow truck will have to haul the car to the nearest qualified repair shop. Either way, not good. Minor problem - a major headache!

    Questions:
    a) is this Warning discussed in the Owner's Manual?
    B) if a sensor should fail is there a way to disable the warning and, hence, enable the "D" selection?

    Responses appreciated

    Denny_A
     
    #1 Denny_A, Jun 9, 2005
  2. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    you have nothing to worry about. i have hauled things that required the hatch to be open and it drives without a problem
     
    #2 DaveinOlyWA, Jun 9, 2005
  3. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    as the door switch is a ground contact to turn the light on most door switch failures are no contact so the warning will not appear. If you had a short to ground in the wire, the door could be closed and the car will not go into drive and the interior light would be on. Far less likely than a n/c switch and potentially more serious.
     
    #3 Frank Hudon, Jun 9, 2005
  4. KMO

    KMO Senior Member

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    It shows the wrong error message when the door is open - it seems to be a long-running bug.

    I suspect that message was intended for when the door was opened with the car in "N", prompting you to put it in "P" instead, lest the battery get drained while you were parked. But they re-used the same message for the "door open while in "D"" situation, where the text makes no sense.

    Still, it doesn't stop you driving it.
     
    #4 KMO, Jun 9, 2005
  5. Denny_A

    Denny_A New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Thanks for the replies folks.

    I used to make a living as a maintenace trouble shooter. Long time ago. Time to dust-up those skills a bit. :oops:

    Had I thought it through completely, I would have also tried to DRIVE the darn car with those "serious" warnings displayed. Just went out and did so - moves forward under its own power just fine. DUH! As a new owner, I may be overcautious.

    Denny_A
     
    #5 Denny_A, Jun 9, 2005
  6. KTPhil

    KTPhil Active Member

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    When this happened to me, the buzzer was going continuously, too.

    Not knowing any better, I drove it to the dealer. Of course, getting out, getting in, and restarting before heading to the dealer made the problem go away, since I closed the door! But I wanted it checked out, since we were heading out on a 200 mile trip that day.

    Dealer didn't know, either. They fetched codes relating to SKS (I wash the car with the fob in my pocket, which stores codes galore), but had no other ideas other than "drive it and let us know if it recurs."

    Then I cheked here... bingo!
    I agree, it's the wrong message! I'm surprised they haven't changed that. A lot of time and money wasted by dealers chasing ghosts.
     
    #6 KTPhil, Jun 9, 2005
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