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Prius wont "ready"

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Gino Veltri, Jul 20, 2022.

  1. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    so i have two pri, 2005, the one with 299,999 miles on it, i just took to arizona and was super impressed that it made it round trip. The thing has had electrical problems since I found it with an exploded HV battery and the positive terminal block thing (on the AUX battery) cut off and brake accumulator completely shot (I also added an aux port to the radio and wired a resistor between two wires),

    So during my road trip, i noticed the HV battery fan wasnt working properly and thus had to override it to keep the fan constantly on (using OBD and dr prius). Still in the AZ desert and crossing the rockies , it got to 130 degrees. The battery (which is 5 years old tops, straight from toyota) also had a hell of a time coming back across the rockies, draining down to 23% before i could pull over and charge/let it cool down. i thought id found the defective corroded wire and cleaned it but didnt get time to test it out (or plug it back in!) before my wife took the car to get groceries it died very quickly...now ive never had a prius die on me, and ive done everything to my pri, so having the battery fan unplugged doesnt seem like it would kill the whole car so fast. She got it pushed to a bar and 6 hours later I tried to start it, and it did start but it sounded terrible, like the engine was just struggling. So in a panic i turned it off , noticed the unplugged fan and plugged it back in, and reset the 12 volt. Now i cant get it back into ready mode. one click, only. Ive tried jumping the weak 12 volt. plugging and unplugging the fan wire. Im getting Codes P3190, P3191, P0A0F, (and 0420 , which it has always had).
    So engine failed to start, matches with the noise it was making when i did start it. The battery is at 23% SOC , so ive for sure done damage on the road trip but why wont the engine start?

    Which leads me to investigate my other Prt battery fan. Turns out, it also doesnt operate correctly. It can read at a speed of 4 but i hear nothing from the fan itself. It can be 130 degrees in the battery and the fan wont turn on at all. I cant drive my cars with a forced OBD fan always on. This has probably been the cause of many of my HV battery issues but how do i fix it?
     
  2. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Did you clean the ICE throttle body and MAF? Does the car have enough gas in the tank? Does the fuel pump run when commanded and does it produce the specified pressure? At some point, you need to confirm that engine compression is within spec.

    But, you need to somehow charge up the HV battery.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I found out in my Prius that if you mess with the battery fan the car won't ready it needs to be plugged in even if it doesn't work I do believe that's correct I tried this a bunch of times when my HV battery was bad and the fan was running full-time I unplugged the fan once or twice and tried to drive 30 miles and in a few miles the car cut off once I plug the battery fan back up and I think made sure my 12 volt was good the car would start and run although it was ice engine only 37 mi to the gallon until I replace the HV battery
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    check the fan connector for corrosion
     
  5. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    Really? that is very interesting because mine started with the fan unplugged, engine sounded rough so i shut her down and plugged the fan back in and now it wont ready. On my other pri, if i unplug the fan while in ready i get a red triangle. Anyone know if 23% SOC is too low to start the engine?
     
  6. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    That's what i was doing in the first place, cleaned with alcohol , then forgot to plug it back in.
     
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  7. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Yes I think if I unplug my battery fan the one that's connected to the big HV battery in the back and sits up there in the under the back window kind of blowing through the vents if I unplug that bad boy I think it will get the red triangle or something like that I'll go out and do it in a minute I have it all unplugged
     
  8. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    Awesome thank you, but why would i be getting poor engine power and engine wont start codes? i cleaned the MAF sensor and changed out the hybrid battery but still no second click on start up. just the one click (like it does with the service plug not installed)
     
  9. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Was your fan running all the time before all this started I would think there might be a hybrid battery problem because usually when that fan starts running continuously things are happening with hybrid charging and discharging or something The cars being told that there's something going on back there that might needs to be being cool or something like too much charging and discharging or cycling or something I know when my battery was bad and I was driving on the ice engine. Getting 37 mi to the gallon that fan ran all the time
     
  10. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    No the problems was my fan shouldve been running, it is happening on both my cars, so i literally have to drive with an obd2 scanner to force the fan on all the time
     
  11. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    DTC P0A0F has INFs or subcodes (helps further diagnose), which OBD2 scanner are you using that isn't offering INFs ?

    Have you searched here on Pchat for the step-by-step workups for the above posted DTCs, or will you need help with that?
    Locate a can of starting fluid and see if that helps get things started.

    Do you have any rodent remnants nearby, either inside or outside of the vehicle?
     
  12. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    I have searched those codes, they are notoriously vague and non specific but my engine isnt starting is the basic gist of it. Im using a OBD2 with some Asian sounding knockoff name, and an app called Car Scanner and Dr. Prius. I just cant get miniVLC and techstream to work , not being a computer person. So no subcodes, tho i think that may be my only hope to narrowing down stuff without replacing one thing at a time.

    However I have freeze frame data below

    Starter fluid? like seafoam? in the oil or gas tank?
     

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  13. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Have you tried this version : https://blog.obdii365.com/2019/11/04/download-techstream-v12-vmware-for-vxdiag-toyota/
    Like ethyl ether; you spray it into the intake or air box as needed to start or keep an engine running : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starting_fluid

    If the engine continues to run while spraying the starter fluid, then you know you're having a fuel related issue.
     
  14. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    Huh never heard of that. Like directly into the airbox? Isnt that supposed to clean the air used by the engine?
    How do i clean the throttle body so quickly?

    I havent tried the techstream thing in a while, i dont even have my minivlc anymore because i gave up when i found an obd2 that would at least work with prius.

    Does that freeze frame data tell you anything?
     
  15. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    Interesting development that I know is related. When I go to jump the car with a known good 12 volt aux battery I get no spark from the jump points. The jump process still works, and I get a reading on a voltmeter, but there’s no little spark to let you know you’ve successfully connected to a ground. I know that is of significance because I noticed it the day that it died. Like I said i used to have to jump the car every time I started it so very familiar with the whole procedure and this stands out to me . Thoughts? I feel it is a fuse or relay that is preventing the engine from starting (also the one click instead of two )
     
  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    try taking the bad 12v out of the circuit
     
  17. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    A toothbrush with multiple drops of vodka on it, but you could also use rubbing alcohol as well. Some will use "throttle body cleaner".
     
  18. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    It makes me really uneasy that I don’t know how I fixed this but all has been well since I swapped the battery pack for a more “ balanced one”. Still a voltage difference of .2-.3 but no codes.
     
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