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Master warning when driving uphill

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by sir_isaaclime, Aug 17, 2021.

  1. sir_isaaclime

    sir_isaaclime New Member

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    2008 Prius
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    II
    I was driving my 2009 Prius on a road trip going up a hill in 120 degree heat. The master warning light (red triangle) appeared and a buzzing sound came on, but the car was driving fine and the AC was still blowing cool air. I turned the car around and coasted down the hill. A couple of minutes later, the light turned off. I figured the car was probably over heating, so I drove it a few more minutes down to the coast, parked, and let it sit off for about 15 minutes. After that, I was able to drive the rest of the 170 miles home (including some hills, although the temperature outside was more like 85 degrees) without issue.

    About two weeks later (with plenty of in-town driving in-between), I was driving up a hill on a freeway for about 10 minutes in 85 degree weather and the master warning light and buzzer came on again. I got off the freeway and parked about 5 minutes later, and let the car sit off for 10 more minutes. When I turned the car back on, the light was gone.

    I took the car into my normal mechanic and the Toyota dealer and they both said there were no codes present, so they couldn't help me. What could be causing this and how can I fix it?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Did you check your oil and coolant level? Open up the radiator cap to see if it’s full?
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I am surprised that there were no codes in the history column. But dealers say weird stuff sometimes.

    As a hedge against the saying of weird stuff, it can be handy to have your own means of reading the trouble codes, and do so when the warnings are present.
     
    ydpplqbd likes this.
  4. ydpplqbd

    ydpplqbd Active Member

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    My best guess is inverter coolant pump is on the way out. My 2006 acted similarly. In my case on two occasions over a year (both very hot days), I got the triangle of death. And, I let engine and inverter cool and read codes. This year on the first mildly warm day of spring, I got the triangle of death and inverter pump code. I then immediately changed out the inverter pump. Remember, you really need a code reader so that you can document your issues Guessing costs alot and wastes time.
     
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If the inverter pump was failing, the AC would not be cold
     
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Goes through all that and never even opened the hood. Going to get very expensive soon.
     
  7. sir_isaaclime

    sir_isaaclime New Member

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    The dealer eventually came back and said the oil level was slightly low, so when the car was on an incline, the oil in the pan was sloshing backwards and causing the low oil sensor to go off. I'm not entirely convinced because that seems like something that should be logged on the computer. They were also unable to replicate it on an incline in the shop or on the street. They topped off the oil and hopefully that solves it. I'll update here if it happens again.

    Thanks everybody for your help.
     
    bisco likes this.
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    put in a little extra so it won't get so low