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Reverse polarity leading to CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Marioaz, Dec 5, 2019.

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  1. Marioaz

    Marioaz Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    THE PROBLEM: Our 2014 Prius has been in the body shop for couple of weeks waiting for repair - replace the RH fender. Meanwhile, 12V aux battery has died and has been jump started couple of times. Yesterday, I have pickup the car, but the dash showing the check orange exclamation mark, CHECK HYBRID SYSTEM warning and the air bag light on. The engine starts and apparently drives fine, but could not switch to PW mode. I'm afraid that the polarity got swapped during the jump start process. I went out and install a health 12V aux battery and tried to reset with stop/start, but no luck. All the electric components seem to work, and both V12V and HV battery are being changed.

    TROUBLESHOOTING that I've tried:
    1. Checked the big fuse right on the positive + terminal. Visibly looked good.
    2. Checked all the fuses by the drivers left knee. All tested good with resistance + visible checks.
    3. It's testing about 13V with everything off.
    4. Get the car READY, measure the voltage across the 12V battery. It was ~14.7V.

    Is this an indication the inverter has been toasted?
    Any eBay scanner I can buy to be able to read Prius ECUs and Reset SRS module?Thanks much!
     
    #1 Marioaz, Dec 5, 2019
  2. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Welcome! What a bummer. :(

    It could be that they did damage something. Hopefully, they just blew a fuse. You didn't mention checking the main fuse box under the hood.

    There are a gazillion threads here about OBDII scanners so I won't repeat that info here. It's nice to have one of them, but this event should not cost you a dime. If the body shop broke your car, they need to make sure it's right. It would have been best to insist on that and not even driven it out of the shop when you saw those lights.
     
    #2 jerrymildred, Dec 5, 2019
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  3. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Does it give you a check engine light code? Reversing the polarity will blow the main big fuse and you won’t be able to drive it. It could be something else on the hybrid side of the system...
     
    #3 NutzAboutBolts, Dec 5, 2019
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  4. Marioaz

    Marioaz Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Thanks much for you reply and kind advice. The fact is my wife pickup the car and they insisted the V12 battery is the problem.
    Anyway, meanwhile I have drop it for 50k service and diagnose the hybrid service light.
    The good news is the red triangle, the check hybrid light, and airbag light were caused by a SRS sensor not connected on passenger side. The Dealer charged me $70 as diagnostic fee and suggested $425 for repair. I have declined and return the body shop asking them to connect the SRS sensor. As soon as the sensor was connected, all the fault lights when away without the need to reset the SRS module. Anyway, it was a stressful situation to drive around with such warning light and spent numerous hours to research for a decent solution. We have owned 4 Priuses over the years since 2012, and still have high regards for reliability and cost of owneship.
     
    #4 Marioaz, Dec 6, 2019
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  5. Marioaz

    Marioaz Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    No fault code stored in ECU according to Autozone. I am glad the issue has been resolved by ensuring the SRS sensor was connected properly.
     
    #5 Marioaz, Dec 6, 2019
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