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Stuck in Park?

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by AnneLW, Apr 20, 2020.

  1. AnneLW

    AnneLW Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2017
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    Location:
    California desert
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    I have a 2014 Prius v with around 65K miles.

    For about the last week, I have been unable to get it going because it won't get out of "P" mode. At first the dashboard gave a message "Park lock problem" but that disappeared. The square that indicates which gear you ar ein does not appear on the display.

    Somebody advised me to open the cover over the shifc and push an invisible button below the "h"-shaped slot. This works, but at times it takes numerous tires and up to 20 minutes. Then I can drive the car as long as I don't turn it off.

    Today I took it the dealer (a 40-minute, 30-mile drive), and of course the problem did not occur, so they said they can't help me.

    DOES ANYBODY have a clue what could cause this problem and then make it go away, or be intermittent?
     
    #1 AnneLW, Apr 20, 2020
  2. AnneLW

    AnneLW Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2017
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    Location:
    California desert
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    I suppose I should ad that my wife (the actual AnneLW) had driven the car without problems two days earlier, but we have used it very little in the past month due to working from home and never going further than the electric range of my Prime.
     
    #2 AnneLW, Apr 20, 2020
  3. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2015
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    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Hello, my uneducated guess would be that your shifter is faulty and should be replaced. It may have been damaged by someone accidently hitting it while trying to store something, etc.
    The shifter can be purchased via online, or the dealer. That is my first suspicion, since you were told to remove the cover over the shift knob to fix the issue. But, I could be wrong as I don't own the "V" model.
    Good luck!
     
    #3 Montgomery, Apr 20, 2020
  4. ttou68

    ttou68 Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 9, 2017
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    Location:
    40509
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Have you checked 12V battery?
    Sometimes a low voltage battery will cause P Lock issue you're experience..

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #4 ttou68, Apr 20, 2020
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  5. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
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    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    See above....
    As ttou68 says, so do I. The 12v battery seems a bit suspicious in this case....

    Car sitting around, not being used very much....
    Finally get it to work after several attempts and then drive it to dealer where problem seems to be temporarily gone...(probably because battery charged up a little bit during the drive?)

    Charge up the 12v battery. If you don't have a low amperage charger, then just leave in ready for several hours, the inverter will charge the 12v battery (slowly, but it will do it)
     
    #5 TMR-JWAP, Apr 20, 2020
  6. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 26, 2009
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    Location:
    Western Washington
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    When this problem is happening, has the car made it to "READY"?

    This step must happen before the car can advance to shifting into any moving gear.
     
    #6 fuzzy1, Apr 20, 2020
  7. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    New Yawk
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    A typical soft 12v gremlin...
     
    #7 Air_Boss, Apr 21, 2020
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