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P Lock Malfunction

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Jimi1976, Dec 24, 2020.

  1. Jimi1976

    Jimi1976 Active Member

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    Got this today...3 week old battery, but I swapped it anyway....no luck. Tried everything found on the forum, not much else I could as I was in a Home Depot lot, on Christmas Eve. Had it towed to dealer so they can diagnose....we shall see on Monday
     
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    You mean you swapped the 12v? What brand of batteries did you buy?

    Main problem with taking it to a Toyota Stealership is that car is a decade old and they don't do repairs to keep costs down, they do repairs to maximize costs because that's how warranty car repair biz works. So be prepared for them to come up with an estimate that's equal to the value of the car and then they'll try to sell you a new one with your car as a fake discount on price as trade in.

    Main thing you want to get from them is to give you the primary error codes and the subcodes and we can help you with repair options and hopefully a Prius expert in Denver area will be able to help you with an inexpensive fix.

    In the meantime make it as clear as possible with stealership that you're paying for error code diagnosis and no exploratory investigations. They're too often eager to turn $100 diagnostic jobs into $500 exploration jobs that won't fix anythign, just take more money from you for doing works that the error codes have already done.
     
  3. Jimi1976

    Jimi1976 Active Member

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    I understand what a dealership shop is for.
    I’m only having them diagnose, as I’ve been maintaining my vehicles since high school (almost 30 year ago, lol).

    Battery I installed 3 weeks ago was a Super Start Platinum from O’Reilly. It fired right up after install 3 weeks ago, and has run fine ever since - until today.
     
  4. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Oh good... Always enjoyable to a help experienced mechanics with hybrid repairs... A key tool you may already have or want to get is an OBD2 bluetooth reader. Having one in the glove box allows you to use phone apps, especially Dr. Prius app, which will read error codes and most importantly the hybrid system subcodes. Here's buyer's guide: Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus

    You can also buy a similar cable that will run Toyota Techstream on a windows laptop, but that's a little more challenging of an install.
     
  5. Jimi1976

    Jimi1976 Active Member

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    Yeah, I should have had that already. My bad. I have cable/laptop scanner for my Subaru.

    With that being said.....any idea what could be the problem with this?
     
  6. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I usually just start googling for answers. Here's a Youtube video on a quick fix for it:



    And below is a screenshot / pic of title of threads to read when you type in "P Lock Malfunction prius" in Google because google knows I like Priuschat.

    Screenshot from 2020-12-24 17-56-53.png
     
  7. Jimi1976

    Jimi1976 Active Member

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    Yeah, saw that video while trying other videos. Of course I searched and tried all suggestions posted.
    Also, that video is for previous gen Prius
     
    #7 Jimi1976, Dec 25, 2020
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2020
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  8. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    It could be as simple as a bad ground connection from the battery negative post to the frame under the hatch lip near the right rear corner. Inspect for corrosion/arcing and loosen, spin, and tighten for good luck. See what the dealer says on Monday after they inspect and take a load test. They should provide you with a state of charge figure and recommendations. Maybe new battery is defective. Maybe charging circuit is to blame. +1 on recommendations for your own set of diagnostic tools, one time purchase price near what a dealer will charge for their diagnostic. Good luck.
     
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