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

EMERGENCY: Car won't accelerate uphill!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by J Moberly, Oct 25, 2013.

  1. J Moberly

    J Moberly New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2013
    14
    3
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    I just bought this car last night from a guy with a dealer license. The car was used, so he sold it with an "as-is" statement. I've read there is a 2 day law to return used cars, but he never gave me this option. See link.

    I test drove the car but nothing appeared wrong except the heater did not blow hot, thought the car wasn't warmed up. May be unrelated. Anyways, driving on the interstate I noticed he pulled the battery before selling it to clear the trip memory, and all of that information. So I asked him and he said it was for a small part he installed (he showed me, it looks like a thermostat of some kind with a hose coming off of it, he did not know the name).

    Anyways, I get a warning while driving to work today "PROBLEM" with a warning symbol on the heads up display. The car keeps running the same, but I'm a little freaked out anyway. Well as soon as I hit the first hill my car was FLOORED and it was slowing down from 60mph to 50mph. Is the battery going out on this car? I'm having the codes pulled (no check engine light) in the next hour or two.
     
  2. Eclipse1701d

    Eclipse1701d Prius Enthusiast

    Joined:
    May 12, 2011
    645
    224
    0
    Location:
    Nature coast, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    There are many different questions that need to be answered... The codes will shed more light on the situation. One thing you could check, with the car in ready mode, is to remove the cap from the inverter coolant tank and check for turbulence. If there is no movement, you have a failed or failing inverter pump. This would cause the hybrid system to over-heat, thus the loss in power. I know it will also shut off your A/C, but I live in Florida, so I don't know about the heat. Good luck and post the codes.

    On, a side note, if you have a law in your state that allows you to return a vehicle with 48 hours, I would be at his doorstep with the keys and the title and would document that you attempted to do this within the time period. Good time for a dash cam...
     
  3. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    3,159
    989
    0
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    That sounds like low or no oil in the car. Check your oil. Those are def not the symptoms for a battery problem.
     
  4. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 14, 2009
    6,722
    2,121
    45
    Location:
    North Yorkshire, UK
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    If you're knowledgeable and confident about cars, purchase from a trade dealer and save money. If you're not, pay more from a main dealer for peace of mind.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    109,768
    49,871
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    how many miles on her? what state are you in? tell us more about the little dohickey he installed and it's purpose. you might be covered under factory warranty, is it at a dealership for service?
     
  6. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,201
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Post the codes when you get them. It could be the inverter coolant pump. That's an easy visual inspection btw, just look into the top of the inverter coolant reservoir while the car is in ready. You'll see some fluid motion and turbulence if it's running properly.

    Alternatively it could be a weak traction battery. Please take note of the state of charge (the 8 line multicolored battery display) as you drive. If it drops down into the pink/red area (two bars or less) then you can experience hill climbing difficulties.

    Try to avoid hill climbing until the engine has been running for more than one minute. Let the engine warm if necessary.
     
  7. J Moberly

    J Moberly New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2013
    14
    3
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    So he went to the dealer to pull codes, there were no codes pulled by them. Weird because I got a red icon with an exclamation point like 4 times. I will have the car back in a few days and will talk to you guys then. I will ALSO try all the methods you guys stated like checking the inverter pump operation, and oil (if low oil, it should alert you of a low oil pressure condition I would think). I am mechanically inclined so any other checks I should do, just let me know.

    Also, the engine does fall to 1 or 2 bars by the end of the hill, and it's been driving for 5 minutes prior to ascending that hill. It takes about 5 minutes into the hill climb for it to lose the power. It seems to lose power right as the battery drops to 1 bar, I'll double check that next time I have the car up this pass.

    Whatever the case may be, it appears not to cause the car to throw codes, huge sad face here...

    The guy will not take back the car. He says he cannot duplicate the problem, and it's past the 48 hours. I live in California so I believe that law would have applied here too :(

    The car:

    2007 Package 6 Prius, 105k miles.
     
  8. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

    Joined:
    Mar 24, 2008
    4,003
    945
    118
    Location:
    Los Angeles Foothills
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    As of 1 year ago, when my wife bought her HyCam, California does NOT has a buyers remorse clause. You bought it, you bought it!
    Good luck, let us know hoe you make out!
    Have all the TSB's been addressed, you can log into Toyota, register the car, and you can read the service that car has had at the dealer! If there are outstanding TSB's, that may help you after they are addressed!
     
  9. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    3,159
    989
    0
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Its sounds like your simply running the battery dead by going up a long grade. The first 5 min, the car uses lots of battery. If yer going up a long mountain right after that, and pushing it, the battery will run dry and the car will go into turtle mode to protect the battery.

    Most cars, including this one, won't give you a low oil warning until its too late or nearly too late. This car will indicate low oil by displaying the word "PROBLEM" on the MFD just as yours did.
     
  10. J Moberly

    J Moberly New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2013
    14
    3
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    GREAT. I'll definitely check that out. I thought the turtle mode had a visual indicator when it went into it? Should have the car back tomorrow morning.
     
  11. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2011
    3,159
    989
    0
    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    You are correct, there is a visual indicator for the turtle mode.
     
  12. J Moberly

    J Moberly New Member

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2013
    14
    3
    0
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    Refilling the coolant DIRECTLY IN THE RADIATOR (this is important, reservoir's were all showing FULL, incorrect) and bleeding the coolant is what immediately fixed this. Hope this helps someone else. Heater instantly worked and so did going uphill, now the car revs while going up hills. Thanks so much for your help priuschat. Also, had a really difficult time finding a good guide on how to bleed the coolant so I just used a general one on youtube. Would help if someone put out a better guide than whats available on how to bleed the coolant system in the prius.
     
    Data Daedalus, dorunron and JMD like this.
  13. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,201
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Thanks for the info J Moberly. So it turned out as simple as low coolant in the radiator. This is where a simple temperature gauge, like every other car has, would *really* help in the Prius!

    Remember that the reservoir for the engine coolant is really only an expansion tank or "overflow", you can't refill a significantly empty radiator from here!

    If the whole (internal) cooling system is full and there's only a gradual loss of coolant, then each time the engine stops and cools down there is a little more of the expansion tank coolant drawn back into the system via the pressure difference. So you'll notice the expansion tank level dropping and know that you have coolant loss somewhere. If however you have a situation like this, where someone has drained a significant amount of coolant and not refilled it correctly, then you just can't rely on the expansion tank to help you.
     
  14. JMD

    JMD 2012 Prius 4 Solar Roof

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2012
    3,779
    1,282
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Congrats problem solved !
     
  15. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 17, 2011
    3,318
    1,104
    0
    Location:
    Houston, TX
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Glad to hear you got if figured out and problem solved. Exactly how did you determine that the cause of the problem was the coolant (air pocket). Or to put it another way, what prompted you to check the radiator, refill and bleed the system?

    It might be a good idea to check the fluid level in the radiator over the next few days and replenish if needed. There is a chance that small amounts of air will work its way back into the radiator. It should normally be full to the neck when the system is cold.

    I am also wondering if there is a coolant leak somewhere. Normally, the system stays full unless it is leaking.

    Anyway, again glad to hear you got it figured out. The info you posted is very helpful to the community here at Prius Chat.