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I Finally Found One……and Some Dashboard Trouble Light Questions.

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by Michael Crestohl, Aug 25, 2022.

  1. Michael Crestohl

    Michael Crestohl Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2022
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    Location:
    Marblehead Massachusetts
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Hi All!

    HURRAY! I finally found one! I bought my Gen 2 Prius yesterday and after a couple sessions with the notorious Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) was able to drive it home without resorting to illegal measures. It is a very nice example loaded with many if not all of the options of the day and I am very pleased to have found it. It has been a long search.

    My poor Prius has been sitting unloved and unwanted for over six months, its original cat stolen, at a repair ship with an unsettled $3,800.00 repair bill. The shop owner was selling it under a mechanic’s lien so he could get paid. 122K miles on the clock, no accidents, Matador Red. It will be a very fine example of a Gen 2 when I’m done. But there’s a lot to do.

    On the way home a couple of the dashboard trouble lights came on….. I had to look them up; I have never seen so many indicator and warning lights in my fife! One read VSC, another one that what appears to be for the brakes, along with the infamous “Triangle of Death”. I pulled over and read the error codes with my trusty iPad and Bluetooth adapter. I reset them and they did not reappear so I cautiously continued home. I am aware of the CEL which is on because of a bad 02 sensor and the TPMS as well, but the others are a bit of a mystery. The brakes are working as they should so I kept going. The lights did not come on again. However since I am a newbie I am concerned and wonder why they came on in the first place,

    Also when I got home and shut down the engine I noticed another light flashing when I removed the key fob from the slot. It went away when I put the key fob back in the slot. Apparently it is the Hybrid Vehicle Immobilizer system. Is this flashing light going to drain my battery? Is there a way to turn this off?

    Some of the lights are not working, mainly the tail lights and the high mount brake light as well as the fog lights too. When I switch the headlights to high beam they seem to stay on low. I think these are HIDs and I have no experience with them.

    My deal with the garage owner is that the former owner will also cover the costs of any repairs needed to get an inspection sticker. Since the car is 15 years old it is exempt from emissions testing in MA. So the only problems seem to be the lights.

    Thanks all for the wisdom and experience….this is a truly awesome forum!

    Michael
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 Michael Crestohl, Aug 25, 2022
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2022
    bisco likes this.
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,316
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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Welcome to PriusChat! Now that you're a new initiate, you're allowed to call the ((!)) light the "ECB light" (that's for "electronically-controlled braking"), and the triangle by its official name, the Master Warning Light. (A lot of the warnings are for things much less fatal than death, so calling it the "triangle of death" has got a lot of people excited over the years without helping them any.)

    The MWL comes on when there are trouble codes, to assist you with diagnosis, stored in the hybrid vehicle control ECU or in the battery ECU. I notice you mentioned reading codes with your iPad and Bluetooth adapter, but you did not say what codes were read. Please don't tease us that way; there's only quite limited guessing we can do before you tell us the codes. There are hundreds of possibilities.

    Many people will find that whatever they are using to read codes will not read all of them from the car. You can review this thread here for suggested tools that will.

    You might have a tool that only shows you, for example, brake system codes (lots of cars have brakes, so lots of tools can read those). It turns out a Prius brake ECU will set certain codes, C1259 and C1310, any time there are other codes set in the hybrid vehicle control ECU. The brake system has to know about those, because in a Prius the brake system collaborates with the drivetrain.

    So those two codes by themselves would explain why you have the VSC and ECB lights, but if you saw only those codes and not the HV control ECU ones, that would mean your scan tool isn't showing you the codes that matter. Then you'd need to obtain or borrow one that does, or take the car somewhere that has one.

    You can also find many threads around here explaining how to get codes from a few of the car's systems, including the brakes, using a jumper wire and counting light blinks, with no need for a scan tool at all. Regrettably, though, you still can't get HV control ECU codes that way.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Aug 25, 2022
  3. Michael Crestohl

    Michael Crestohl Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 22, 2022
    59
    17
    0
    Location:
    Marblehead Massachusetts
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    I used CARSCANNER PRO. I use it with my Crown Vic and my Miata. I just downloaded DR PRIUS and will play with that one seeing it is specialized for the Prius.

    Thanks for the link to the different OBDII apps. I am limited to the IpadOS apps.

    Best regards,

    Michael
     
    #3 Michael Crestohl, Aug 25, 2022
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats, all the best! (y)
     
    #4 bisco, Aug 25, 2022
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