ENGINE LIGHT AND RED TRIANGLE LIGHT ON...CAR STRUGGLING TO REVERSE OUT

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Bobby Schmurda, Mar 18, 2021.

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  1. Bobby Schmurda

    Bobby Schmurda New Member

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    2008 Prius
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    My 2008 Prius has been idle for weeks but has been getting turned on every few days. I came today to turn it on and drive away but I saw an orange engine light and the red triangle of death appear on my dashboard.

    My battery is only at 2-3 bars on the info area on the screen. When I go to reverse out of my bay, the car does not want to move out as if the brakes are still on (which they aren't) despite it being in reverse gear. Also, when the engine is on, it makes alot more noise than it used to do when I was regularly driving it around.

    I cannot get to a mechanic to get this checked out if my car does not want to move.

    Does anyone know any way to solve this? The car has been in one place for 2 months so it could be something to do with the brakes. I have no idea.

    Please help!?!
     
    #1 Bobby Schmurda, Mar 18, 2021
  2. 2010moneypit?

    2010moneypit? Active Member

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    Put the car in neutral and see if you could push it. It would be a lot safer to have someone else push it while you were in the vehicle. It should be easily to push. Sounds like you probably have a high voltage battery problem. But no way to tell without the codes
     
    #2 2010moneypit?, Nov 30, 2021
  3. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    In "car speak" this means, "Something's wrong. Get a code reader so we can talk and I'll tell you where to start looking."

    Also, as @2010moneypit? said, it should like your brake rusted up. But that's secondary to reading the codes. We have roughly 47,670,305 threads on PC about how to read the trouble codes, so I won't repeat that info here.
     
    #3 jerrymildred, Nov 30, 2021
    nancytheprius and 2010moneypit? like this.
  4. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    You could try putting it quickly into R then D then back to R a few times to see if you can rock the car a little back and forwards. Is it possible the rear brake pads haven't let go of the disc due to getting wet and dried from sitting? Rocking it might encourage it to free itself.
    That's a worry, look under the car and see if you still have your catalytic converter. I hope it's still there
     
    #4 dolj, Dec 1, 2021
    jerrymildred likes this.
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Sounds like the hybrid battery has failed like thousands of others on this site.
    There all dying or are going to die from sitting due to covid.

    Use the search forum link up top and search the posts about the failed Gen 2 hybrid battery mine included. Search:

    hybrid battery

    You are about to become a G2 Hybrid Battery expert.
     
    #5 edthefox5, Dec 3, 2021
    nancytheprius likes this.
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