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Ignition/ICA/Hybrid Issues

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Barracudamuscle, Nov 2, 2022.

  1. Barracudamuscle

    Barracudamuscle Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Hello,

    I’m the original owner of a 2016 Four Touring with 106K on it. Short history: 12V battery changed with Toyota OEM 5ish months ago.

    Hit tire skin on highway causing cosmetic damage and replaced front bumper cover, new Toyota emblem (radar one), radiator air shutter, various ground cover items. Car operated without issue after these repairs for the past 2ish months.

    Problem first occurred when turning off the car. It was like I double tapped the ignition switch and it switched to ignition mode or something. Hit it again and it turned off the car.

    Next day get in, my drive mode changed from eco mode to normal (different dash colors). Drive it and change it, sometimes it holds for a day or two, others I try to turn car off/on to verify and it resets drive mode.

    Add in issue with precollision system stating it’s unavailable. I drive it the 5 seconds over 22 and it clears.

    Problem free a few days, then I get the mode reset and the pre collision unavailable shows up.

    Weird issue maybe randomly noticed yesterday my driver side window doesn’t auto close/open even though the rest work. I follow the reset instructions and it works again.

    Today when shutting it off it turns off the screen but resets drive mode, pre collision unavailable, and now a hybrid system malfunction message.

    I drive it 3 miles and the pre collision doesn’t reset, the hybrid message is still there, but my mode stores.

    I park the car for 6 hours and go to drive it, mode is still set to eco but I still have hybrid malfunction and pre collision unavailable. On a 60 mile drive home I try turning it off and on along the way to see if anything resets and nothing.

    I checked the 12v battery connections, negative I could barely move with strong force, positive tight. I’ll tighten the negative tomorrow but looking for ideas.

    Any thoughts? Thanks for your time!
    Pat
     
  2. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    Besides double-checking the auxiliary (12 V) battery connections, I’d suggest using a Toyota Techstream diagnostic system, or equivalent, to scan for diagnostic trouble codes and to retrieve any stored vehicle control history events.

    As you’ve discovered, the messages on the multi-information display, such as “Hybrid System Malfunction,” tell you that there is a problem, but not what the problem might be or how to correct it.
     
    alanclarkeau likes this.
  3. CooCooCaChoo

    CooCooCaChoo Active Member

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    Who did the repair work on the car? Maybe they did the job incorrectly?
     
  4. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    Since it worked fine for 2ish months after the repair, the problem is likely the 12V battery being too low. You should still be under warranty for the new OEM battery replaced 5ish months ago. Take it back to dealer for thorough battery analysis.
     
    Doug McC likes this.
  5. Barracudamuscle

    Barracudamuscle Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Thank you for all the tips and ideas. To answer some questions, I performed the work on the bumper replacement and utilized new sensor attachment stickers, cleaned connections, etc. I’m mechanically inclined as my previous trade was an aircraft mechanic. I don’t see any issues I’m encountering related to the last repair. If it was just a pre collision issue I’d agree.

    I tightened the 12V battery lead today. It measured 12.16 Volts after sitting at night. I’ve got a dash cam but have it set at the highest setting to turn off power to it and have the camera disabled ignition off (park mode off). I’ve had the dash cam for over a year without issues(even with the older 12V battery).

    I don’t have a tech stream reader but ordered one online set to be at my house in a day so that should help. My reader didn’t show any codes which is no surprise due to its age.

    At this point my fingers are crossed for the culprit being a bad 12V battery causing all these issues. Under voltage can cause all kinds of problems. I’ve placed the battery on a charger and will see if that changes any behavior I’ve seen and hope to read the codes tomorrow once I get the tech stream.

    Do you know if the hybrid message is a latching code or will it reset on its own if the parameters pass? I’ll keep everyone updated that way a future owner with similar issues knows what my fix was.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    get a smart charger for the battery, then keep an eye on it. dash cam might be an issue if it runs with car off

    did you check the negative to body ground connection?
     
  7. Elektroingenieur

    Elektroingenieur Senior Member

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    For both the hybrid system and the pre-collision system, the stored diagnostic trouble codes should be retained in memory for a while, but they could be cleared if power from the auxiliary (12 V) battery were lost while the car was parked. If this were happening, you might also find events related to the auxiliary battery in the vehicle control history, in Techstream under Powertrain > Hybrid Control > Utility.
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Check the 12 volt battery with an electronic load tester. Solar BA9 is good choice for DIY.
     
  9. Barracudamuscle

    Barracudamuscle Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    I’ll work on getting that load tester mentioned. So far I haven’t experienced any further issues and the only thing I did was charge the battery(my smart charger kicked off after 10 mins saying it was good), and tightening the negative post connection.

    I have the Toyota code reader now and will check the body ground also mentioned. Any changes I’ll let you know, thanks for the support!