Red Triangle 200 Miles After Oil Change

Been researching this for a week, but haven't been able to fix the problem, so sorry for the repetition.

Took our 2005 Prius to an oil change shop when the maintenance light popped at around 201,000 miles and had the oil changed, standard 5w30 stuff. Afterward I found they had uncovered the 12V battery in the back and didn't put the cover on. Cables were on tight. Drove it a little then left it parked for a week while on vacation. Came back, drove it a bit, then my wife took it to work where it sat for 3 days.

When she got back and started it, the display had Red Triangle, Check Engine, ABS, VSC. To be safe we had the car towed home even though it sounded and drove normal onto the flatbed. After a week of researching, I checked the oil level and it was half an inch or so over the max dot. Popped the MAF sensor out, it was caked, then looked down the throttle body to see oil in the intake. Residue on the butterfly valve doesn't looks built up over time. At that time I used my OBDII reader and pulled codes P0A80 and P3000.

Fearing the overfill was the trigger, I took it back to the same shop, acted dumb, and said they listed 5 quarts on my invoice and the manual says 3.9qt, to which he replied Prius' need 4.5qt and he proceeded to pull the fault codes, then said our hybrid battery needs to be replaced. It could be a coincidence, but it just seems odd. Being a bit peeved at his deflecting response, I drove the car home and drained close to a quart of oil to get it just under the max fill dot. Then got MAF cleaner and shined up the MAF sensor and cleaned out the butterfly valve and intake. I reset the codes with my OBDII reader but after starting the car again, they quickly came up, and now I have two more. In total I am getting codes P0102, P0113, P0A80, P3000.

I had to go to work so I left the car in that state. 1) I didn't drive the car anywhere after resetting the codes. Turned it off, then on, and codes showed again. Should I pull the battery cable to reset it? Is it possible they would have tried to disconnect the hybrid battery instead to reset the maintenance light? 2) Should I drive the car a bit and THEN reset the codes?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Thanks for the input! I’ll double check around the intake to make sure I put everything back correctly. Check with Toyota for pricing. Thought I assume now it’s at peak price for anything car related. Had been looking to trade in and get a new car anyway, but the timing is, of course, not ideal.

 

Very interesting! Thanks for this solution. If I can get this thing to last until the summer at least it would help a lot.

I have an alternate car fortunately so I will take some time this weekend to deep cycle the battery and see if I can’t get things back to moderate working order. The engine itself doesn’t have any serious issues so endgame would be to get it ready for sale.

Did this come about as a solution for your car or just by popular demand? It’s the first I’ve heard of doing maintenance on Prius batteries, but I’m glad to see there is something else besides R&R.

 

Thanks for sharing this. Interesting that this is why it gets mixed up. Reminds me of the dangers of complacency. When I used to work at shops we always referenced our computer software to get the oil and filter specs. It doesn't surprise me some shops don't. I will be giving that shop a call about it, even though I'm sure the guy will be arrogant.

Now after all this, if I do keep the car, I'll make sure overfilling doesn't happen again. All the poor Prius' out there drowning in oil!