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Prius won't go into drive...

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by R-P, Dec 16, 2011.

  1. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Gen II 2009 model.
    Quick search revealed someone having similar issue where the shiftlever got replaced.
    I noticed this once during testdrive and had it put on the 'warranty' list in case it is the switch on the brake-pedal (that turned up in a search before buying it).

    Haven't had it happen again until today when the wife called: she stopped for an open bridge and couldn't get it back into drive :eek:

    Specifics she remembers:
    - She turned the car off by pushing the 'Start' button and switched it ON again, (she's pretty sure she did this: ) without pressing the brakepedal. Because the radio obviously stopped playing...
    - It did shift into neutral, she thinks (but is not 100% sure) it didn't go through to drive and pop out again like on here:

    - The red exclamation mark was lit up despite the wife not even knowing there was a foot-handbrake, but pressing this twice did not change anything. This being ON without the footbrake being pressed must give some clue I hope?

    She solved it by pulling the key out (no keyless entry), opening the door, pushing the startbutton several times with and without pedal depressed, etc. No specific action is remembered as being the solution, it just happened to engage drive after trying all that stuff several times.
    This is in line with what I experienced and how I 'solved' it during the testdrive.

    Help please?
     
  2. firepa63

    firepa63 Former Prius Owner

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    Sounds like she wasn't pressing hard enough on the brake pedal when she pushed the Start button. Common problem for some...
     
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  3. Hal W

    Hal W New Member

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    If you noticed in u-tub your ready light did not come on in the dash and the red light was on the start button! Green light will show on the start button when the ready light is on, Probably need a new 12V battery, Hal
     
  4. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    With all due respect to your wife, if you can't reproduce the problem it was most likely operator error. Simple solution: *don't* shut the car OFF when waiting in it. Just leave it ON. If she/you tire of pressing the brake pedal, shift it to Park.

    It would be prudent to check the 12V battery eliminate it as a contributor; it's easy and needs no tools:
    http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html

    Otherwise as noted above the brake pedal position sensor may be faulty or need adjusting.
     
  5. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Thanks for the multiple and swift replies.:cheer2:

    As said, it happened both to me and to my wife and we're both new to the Prius.

    But... our last two cars were also automatics, so unlike the rest of our country [​IMG], we are used to pressing the brake-pedal for getting the car moving.

    If it happens again, we will be prepared and film it with our phones, but reading that someone had it dropping into neutral on the highway does make me anxious...

    Will test the battery! May do it right now... (1:30AM local time)

    *wanders off outside after just having watched a zombie movie*

    The result of the selfdiagnostics, read and photographed from the screen:
    12.1
    11.7V (with load)
    14.2V(ready)

    So is this a clear: that caused it, or is this a 'you may want to get a new battery within a month or two'?

    I will try to get it out and check the waterlevel as a first step tomorrow (have plenty demineralised water)

    It started and went into D without a hitch, so couldn't reproduce the fault.

    So what amphour rating is the battery? (I have a new, not even filled 14Ah battery+acidpack for my motorcycle in the closet)
     
  6. Hal W

    Hal W New Member

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    I believe it is 51 AH if you have Smart key and 48AH with normal. H
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Unintended dropping into neutral is disconcerting but alot of us do that routinely to clean the brake pads. Since Prius uses regen braking there's not alot of brake pressure used by the driver to stop the car hence the brake rotors up front tend to get rusted from lack of use. Look at yours and you'll see what I mean. Easy solution for cleaning is to get up to highway speed.....put the shifter into neutral which releases regen and apply steady and fairly firm repeated pressure to the brakes. Pump your brakes. Make sure no ones in front of you though as you'll be surprised how poor the brakes are without regen assist. And no one behind you as they'll think your crazy braking for nothing. When your done put the shifter back into D. I do it all the time at 60-70 miles an hour.
    Like any other car you own its good to become familiar with shifting effortlessly into neutral to prevent any kind of engine runaway situation. Its very very easy.
    This procedure can be done safely at any speed.
     
  8. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Thanks. My rear brakes are 30% rusted (~30% of the surface). 50% rusted means it fails the 2-yearly test all cars older than 4 years must take. The Toyota garage where I had it checked before buying it told me this. They did NOT tell me your trick of cleaning the brakes :) They did tell me you can remove them, mill them down and put them back with new brakepads and thus be ready for another 4 years or so.

    My brother did the shifting into neutral trick with his ex-ambulance to save some gas (diesel in his case, 7.2 liter V8 Ford Econoliner iirc) and accidently shifted through to 'R' at 60mph... Needless to say it did not save him any money... (It still drove, with lots of noise, but I think he has the transmission replaced with a second hand one)

    I guess our Prius is drive-by-wire so won't actually engage if you ever do this...

    I will try my OBD reader to see if there are any codes stored. I am somewhat reluctant as I read some stuff about a Sears version OBD reader on here... But I'll only read, not reset anything, so I think I should be safe then.
     
  9. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Those battery readings are OK, there's no need to replace it immediately. It is a sealed AGM so if you really want to check the water level you'll have to pry it open.
     
  10. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Hmmm, didn't know that... If I have the time, I may get it out and have a look (while keeping a small battery feeding the system). I've filled up about 10 batteries last half year (including sealed ones), an not one benefited from it, but then again, they were all given up on anyway...

    I do not have a fancy regenerating (desulfating) battery-charger.

    Tried reading out the OBD port, but it didn't work very well. Probably due to the crap 64-bit Windows 7 and my 32bit software. Grabbing my old laptop from work, I finally got through. No errorcodes (as far as my simple reader can see) and the last DTC-reset was 18000km (or miles) ago and 17000 timeunits ago (minutes? that would equate to the buying date or the day before when visiting the Toyota dealer, or hours: which is 2 years (doesn't add up, it drove more than 18000km or miles last year...)).

    The OBD software did ask me to select an ECU, I chose "1" but could have picked "4". What's this about?
     
  11. Maen_Khatib

    Maen_Khatib New Member

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    it just happend to my father's prius this morning, i dont know f i did stupid thing, but i moved the gear stick to D & hold it there with my hand, & start moving with the car, after 2-3 sec's i left the gear stick without any problems !!!
     
  12. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Thank you for sharing. That is yet another thing I may try if it happens (keeping the lever in the D-position for a while).
    This may indeed indicate some flaw in the switch itself???

    I have filled my 'maintenance free' battery with demineralised water today: a few plates were not fully submerged, so it needed doing. And I have made a tiny (4x2x2") but powerfull 14V aux. batterypack from out-of-date and obsolete Lithium cells from work. They are specifically chosen for being able to supply high peak current (>1A), so they *may* help out in getting the battery voltage up a little.

    Will update when needed (so hopefully NEVER...)
     
  13. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

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    R-P, I experienced the 'cannot shift into D' twice in one day over a year ago but the car has been trouble free since. I excluded the brake sensor and 12V as the problem, so if it recurs I plan to replace the shifter. It costs about $70 USD used + shipping, and is very easy to install DIY.
     
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  14. cjarabia

    cjarabia New Member

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    I have been dealing with the same issue for a few months now on my 2008. The Toyota guys have no idea but I see people writing about it all over the Internet. You turn on your car like usual and all the amber lights come on and you can only shift into Neutral and nowhere else. Sometimes you can turn the car off and then back on and it works, and sometimes there's nothing you can do. Sometimes I can't get the car to shut off. They've replaced a battery, and something else and every time I come in the guy says "Sounds like an electrical problem" well DUH - I need to find someone who actually knows this car and that person does not work at the Toyota Dealership (North Hollywood Toyota) where I have my car services. If anyone finds a solution, please tell me. I've spent a bunch of money and these guys don't know what the problem is.
     
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  15. cjarabia

    cjarabia New Member

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    Also for all the people blaming user error, they just haven't had this problem yet. It's not user error. The dealer got the car to replicate the problem and they know how to start a Prius and I've been driving this one since 2008 so I have truly figured out how to start my car in that time. It's not user error.
     
  16. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    My first guess would be that the brake light switch is faulty and needs to be replaced. Press HARD on the brake pedal when you are trying to make the Prius READY.
     
  17. Joe 26

    Joe 26 Member

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    The next time it does not start, have someone check for brake lights, or look for the reflection from them if you are in a position to do so.
     
  18. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    "The next time it does not start, have someone check for brake lights, or look for the reflection from them if you are in a position to do so."
    The Prius brake light switch actually is composed of two switches (one is normally open, the other is normally closed), and both must operate correctly for the car to become READY. The hybrid vehicle ECU expects to receive signals from both switches.

    So, if the brake lights turn on, that is evidence that the normally open switch is working but does not prove the other is operational.
     
  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I can't remember if I read the symptoms of a bad combination meter, would that prevent the car from shifting into drive? Someone pull up the TSB on the symptoms of bad combination meter.....
     
  20. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    A bad combination meter (which is evidenced by the speedometer not working) might prevent the car from moving from READY to IG-OFF.