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Hybrid system failure

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by chrisasst, Jan 22, 2014.

  1. chrisasst

    chrisasst Junior Member

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    First off, I have been researching this all day.
    My wife was driving our 2009 prius this morning. she said the red triangle, this other yellow circled, light with an ! came on plus in the display window the car icon with the ! came on. Manual states that this is a hybrid system failure.
    On very cold mornings the car smells very hot for a period of time. She said this happened again.
    I tried to do a reset (turning it off and on atleast 4 times) did not work. So I had it towed to a dealer tonight and I started it again and this time very hot smelling and a whole lot more lights were on, ( brakes lights, almost all of the lights I would say.)
    Any ideas from what I just listed as what is wrong in any of your expertise opinion? I really don't have a penny to my name.
     
    #1 chrisasst, Jan 22, 2014
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    "I really don't have a penny to my name."
    In that case I hope your hybrid system warranty is still in effect as it sounds like the traction battery has failed and a module is severely overheating.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Jan 22, 2014
  3. chrisasst

    chrisasst Junior Member

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    They have 8 year 100k mile warranty correct?
    It was able to start and be put in drive and reserve. and they battery bars were normal..
     
    #3 chrisasst, Jan 22, 2014
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome to priuschat! might be your 12 volt battery, might be the hybrid battery cooling fan. how many miles on her? i think new york has the 10 year 150k warranty. all the best!(y)
     
    #4 bisco, Jan 22, 2014
  5. chrisasst

    chrisasst Junior Member

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    I did the hidden diagnosis test for the 12v battery and that appeared good. it has around 90k miles.
     
    #5 chrisasst, Jan 22, 2014
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    hopefully, you're covered.
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 22, 2014
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Sounds like somethings burning. To confirm Patricks post sniff the Hybrid Battery vent when it smells "hot."
    There's a grill in the rear on the passenger side about elbow high between the passenger and the door. Rectangular grill. When you think it smells sniff that grill. If its stinks in there that's the Hybrid Battery modules overheating for whatever reason. May be excessive load on the Hybrid Battery from a failing transmission.
    Then to confirm take the back cargo area apart an check the 12 volt battery in the trunk. Sniff around.

    Does your car see alot of hills and was the Inverter Coolant pump replaced under the TSB warranty at the dealer for free? Also whats the back story? Bought new or bought used maybe in an accident?

    No matter what happens make sure if the dealer gets there hands on it they give you a complete printed readout of all the codes the car has thrown. There will be many. The codes will have 7 places with the code subsets: XXXX:XXX
    Post them here and we can tell you real close whats wrong with the car. Most times more accurate then the dealer.
     
    #7 edthefox5, Jan 22, 2014
  8. chrisasst

    chrisasst Junior Member

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    ok.. here is an update.
    On friday the dealer said that my failure was due to a bad hybrid cooling fan. They said thats not covered in any warranty. It is going to cost around $420 to fix. ok, just do it I guess. I asked if that was the only problem. Yes they said..

    They called this morning and said that my drive belt is cracked and my transaxle is leaking oil.. To fix those would cost $500 more..:eek:
    I don't have that money right now. My father in law changed the transaxle because we had to change the wheelbearings a few months ago.

    I have not seen the belt yet, so not really sure what it looks like. How much of a concern is this to drive until I can fix it?
    How easily can a drive belt be changed? Any special tools?
     
    #8 chrisasst, Jan 27, 2014
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The serpentine drive belt is not very difficult to change but you need a good set of metric tools. See my post #18 here:
    Service Schedule on Serpentine Belt | PriusChat

    I understand the concept of having to replace wheel bearings, but do not understand your suggestion that the transaxle was changed. That is a very major repair. Is it possible that you are mistaken about that?

    I think it is more likely that when the wheel bearings were replaced, that the two driveshafts were removed and then reinstalled into the transaxle. It is possible that this process damaged the oil seals within the transaxle, which is why the transaxle is leaking oil now. The oil seals should have been replaced before the driveshafts were reinstalled.

    How many miles on the odometer?
     
    #9 Patrick Wong, Jan 27, 2014
  10. chrisasst

    chrisasst Junior Member

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    Yeah I think that's what it was.
    I don't understand though because I have not noticed any oil in the snow where I park it at home. I did have it towed. What is the possibility that some thing happened when they released the car?
     
    #10 chrisasst, Jan 27, 2014
  11. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I think you need to get under the car to see the transaxle oil leak. If it is just leaking around the driveshaft openings, then the problem has nothing to do with the car being towed.
     
    #11 Patrick Wong, Jan 27, 2014
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