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Plenty of Warning lights, car not starting... Hybrid battery failure?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Levistahl, Aug 13, 2016.

  1. Levistahl

    Levistahl New Member

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    Hi all, this is my first post here. Here's what's up.

    History: My wife's Gen 2 Prius, 195K miles, has a bad touch screen display and the fuel Gage doesn't work right. It has run out of gas twice in the past few years and several warning lights came on when that happened (red triangle etc and others). The dash display Also has malfunctioned last winter.

    My current big problem: the last couple days the warning lights have been on more frequently. Today it would not start. It would go into acc mode but would not go to ready mode and the LED on the power button wouldn't turn green with the brake depressed. So after looking through this site for so many hours, I tried pulling the negative wire from the battery for a few minutes, reconnected it, and it started right up. The warning lights were all gone and it was running pretty well and I drove it for about 10 miles and turned it off and on a handful of times with no problem. I stopped at the in-laws and halfway through my drive home the warning lights came back on (red triangle, check engine, brake warning, and red car with exclamation point on the display screen). The car also suddenly lost speed and would not accelerate properly. It would barely hit 35 mph with the pedal to the floor. I also noticed that the fan from the backseat seemed louder than usual. After a lot more research on this site I feel now like it may the the hybrid battery failing. Any confirmation on that or other ideas on what it may be would be greatly appreciated! I'm really hoping it's not the hybrid battery... I haven't had the best luck with Toyota dealerships accurately diagnosing the problem (they convinced my wife to get a new 12v battery installed once when she just needed gas and refused to refund it...) so that's why I haven't gone that route yet.

    Photos of the dash
     
    #1 Levistahl, Aug 13, 2016
  2. Levistahl

    Levistahl New Member

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    #2 Levistahl, Aug 13, 2016
  3. Levistahl

    Levistahl New Member

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    #3 Levistahl, Aug 13, 2016
  4. Levistahl

    Levistahl New Member

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    I accidentally double posted this thread... I'm sorry. Here are some photos of the dash though. 20160813_192158.jpg 20160813_192204.jpg
     
    #4 Levistahl, Aug 13, 2016
  5. Levistahl

    Levistahl New Member

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    #5 Levistahl, Aug 13, 2016
  6. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    You've been driving it with lots of warning lights for a good amount of time. You better have had codes read at some point.
    So what are they?

    The loss of power just means that the battery isn't being used to power the vehicle. This happens when it is too hot, when it is too low in SOC, when the inverter overheats, when the battery fails, or even just a computer ECU communication failure. The codes will tell you.

    The not going into READY can also be caused by a multitude of problems including a bad hybrid battery, a bad 12v battery, a bad transaxle, or even just a mouse chewed through some HV wiring insulation. Again, the codes will tell you.
     
    #6 2k1Toaster, Aug 13, 2016
  7. dorunron

    dorunron Senior Member

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    ^ ^ ^ What He said. ^ ^ ^

    You really need to get the codes pulled. Once that is done, then you will have an idea of where to start.

    It can be any number of things that have gone wrong, but without the codes you are surely guessing.
     
    #7 dorunron, Aug 13, 2016
  8. andrewclaus

    andrewclaus Active Member

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    In my owner's manual, there are severe warnings about running out of gas, saying hybrid drive train damage will result. I think you're seeing that now. (The Prius "guess gauge" is known to be inaccurate, so my wife uses the trip odometer to fill up every 400 miles or so, no matter what the gauge says.)

    The combination meter failure is a well documented problem and there's a warranty extension on it effective October 2012. You're past the expiration date now, but there are shops that will repair the meter for about $100 on eBay.

    It's good practice to replace the 12V battery every four or five years. Yours is twelve years old so maybe the dealer's replacement was needed anyway.
     
    #8 andrewclaus, Aug 14, 2016
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