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No acceleration and battery not keeping charge 2006 prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Alina84, Jul 1, 2019.

  1. Alina84

    Alina84 New Member

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    Other Hybrid
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    So 3 weeks ago I bought a 2006 prius. Before purchasing I took it to Toyota and had them check it out to make sure I wasnt getting ripped off. They ran diagnostics charged me $200 and said everything came back ok.

    2 weeks later check engine light comes on and P0420 comes up which concerns catalytic converter. Car passed smog so Im thinking it is o2 sensor after some research.

    BUT, my biggest concern is now the red triangle and other warning lights are on and the car is not accelerating. The battery has no charge only one bar. I can drive for 10-15 miles fine but after that the car barely goes. You can hear it revving but it wont go over 20 mph. I feel so dumb for buying the car and so frustrated that the dealership wouldnt have seen this issue.

    Thank you for your time and help in advance.
     

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    bisco likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    Plug-in Base
    how did you read the first code? you really need to read them again
     
    Alina84 likes this.
  3. Alina84

    Alina84 New Member

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    My dad has a code reader. Weve tried several times and that is the only one that comes up.
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    2008 Prius
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    II
    I'm sorry to hear about your recent purchase. The car seems to have a catalytic converter problem. Unfortunately in CA, that's a $2000 repair at the dealer to replace.

    Also the battery going down to 1 bar and showing red triangle, seems to indicate a bad hybrid battery. Both problems are not surprising for a 2006, 13 year old car. Hopefully there's a 30 days warranty on your car? Some dealers offer that
     
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  5. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    His code reader is too old and obsolete. Drop it off at Goodwill.

    Get Techstream. It is the OFFICIAL diagnostic and maintenance software, written for Toyota/Lexus, and used at all Toyota/Lexus dealerships. Techstream or other EXPENSIVE professional commercial code readers are able to read ALL CODES and perform maintenance procedures. Toy bluetooth OBD2 readers can NOT read all codes and can NOT do any maintenance.

    Don't blame the dealer. The various ECUs in the car told the dealership everything is ok, and that is what the dealership told you: The car is not reporting any problems. The dealership probably did a quicl visual inspection looking for anything obvious too.

    As you found out, a lot can happen in 2 weeks, esp w/ a 13y/o car. Pretend you had a physical performed two weeks ago w/ blood work. Your doctor gives you a clean bill of health. You could still drop dead the next second for a multitude of things that the doctor and lab tests won't pick-up. No test or physical will detect/predict a loose arterial plaque breaking off causing pulmonary embolism, aneurysm, fatal heart attack, etc. Shite happens.

    If someone were to ask me what to look for in a >10yr old Prius, I would say run techstream, inspect the car inside and out, and inspect the serial numbers on the modules in the HV battery to see if someone performed a module swap.

    If you bought this Prius private party, I would not be surprised if the seller performed a module swap, to make the car functional, long enough to unload onto the next unsuspecting victim.
     
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Two
    Based on what I see here bad hybrid battery is usually the reason people sell there G2. That and high mileage and the car needs lots of work.
    As you can see the car is a huge go kart without the hybrid battery participating.

    To any prospective buyers lurking here you can get a good idea of the health of the hybrid battery by a simple test ride:

    Find a flat and straight piece of highway about 4 miles long. Get the car up to 60 miles an hour. Zero out the consumption meter mileage indicator. Turn on cruise control. No ac on no lights on no radio let the car drive for about 4 miles. Check the tire pressure all around should be at least 35 lbs. Don't touch the accelerator and don't brake. let the car drive itself with CC.

    A healthy G2 should show at least 55 mpgs on the meter at the end of the 4 mile drive. Mine shows 59. A G2 with a bad hybrid battery will show much less like 34 mpgs. Anything below 50 mpgs is suspect. Before I Prolonged my hybrid battery mine was getting 39 mpgs and noticeable lack of power.

    A seller cannot mask the performance of a failing hybrid battery with this performance test.
     
    tai_prius05, Skibob and jerrymildred like this.
  7. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    You did the right thing by having the car inspected but bad people can hide problems long enough to cheat people. That’s my guess here. Where did you find the car?