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Sudden loss of power, Red Triangle, Won't Start + P3190

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Bgustafson, Dec 22, 2017.

  1. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    Hello everyone, there have been many threads in the past about this issue, but I haven't been able to glean any answers from them.

    2006 Prius - 175k

    Part A) I was driving home last night; I had just gotten off the highway. I had been driving the car pretty hard; going about 80mph..I usually don't even go that fast. :rolleyes: I had 1 dot of gas left but it had just gone down from 2 (not even blinking yet); should be plenty to get me 2-3 miles home. Suddenly lost power, all dash lights came on (red triangle, check engine, ABS) and had to coast into a parking lot. Tried multiple times to start, but no luck.

    Part B) I came back the next day to try and troubleshoot: I put about 3 gallons in the tank just to be sure. The indicator moved from 1 dot to 2. No luck. Could only switch it to N. I tried starting, then pulling the power on the 12v battery and waiting a minute, then plugging back in. This allowed me to start the car, however it would only stay on for 5-6 seconds. It would seem to rev a little, then stop and all the lights would come on again.

    Part C) I purchased a mid-range code reader from a local auto store. Pulled the code P3190. When I reset the codes, it allows me to start but does the same thing as above. I'm stumped.

    Before I get it towed, I'd like to try anything I can to save some $. I'm limited to what I can do since I'm in a farily busy public parking lot. Any thoughts?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This loss of power would probably be a bad fuel pump (wild guess). Your engine actually never started, it's your hv battery turning your engine over.
     
  3. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    Ok, thanks. There was no lurching or anything to indicate I had run out of fuel. It just quit. My fuel had been decreasing faster than usual on this trip, but I'm fairly certain I had enough to get home. I know the bladder tank gets weird, but I'm usually pretty good about preventive fill ups.
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Try putting another 2 gallons in and then do a reset of the 12v battery again. I think it's either an injector issue or a bad fuel pump.

    To run down this problem, you'll need to get a code reader that can read all the prius codes and sub codes
     
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  5. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    Ok - I will try that tomorrow morning and see what happens.
     
  6. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    I had a PM conversation recently with another member about P3190.

    He felt that he was good and didn’t run out of gas. Checked the Tripp meter and was surprised at the distance traveled, the tried to fill it with gas again and was able to fit in something like 7 gallons.

    My guess is the bladder and the “guess gauge” incorrectly reporting the true state of affairs.

    Add some more gas to the tank. Hope you didn’t get the HV battery too low though. Gen2’s aren’t good at protecting the battery.
     
  7. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    Interesting. I agree it’s very possible the gas ‘guess’ meter was off.

    I’m just confused because today it said I had 2 pips of gas, but that’s still not enough to even start it?

    My HV battery is still in upper blue zone, so I’m ok. So did the other user resolve the issue by adding 7 gallons?
     
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  8. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    5 gallons should be enough if it's an out of fuel issue. That's why I suggested 2 more gallons, 3 gallons many times won't register on the prius.

    Very uncharacteristic for a prius to have problems before 200k miles
     
  9. Texas Hybrid Batteries

    Texas Hybrid Batteries Senior Member

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    Clean the MAF sensor and throttle body before you try to restart it again. Every time you disconnect the 12 Volt battery it will reset the HV Battery SOC to 60% (upper blue). This does not mean the battery is at 60%, it means the ecu doesn't know where it is. Very likely that the loss of engine power and coasting on the battery followed by numerous failed attempts to start the ICE have run your hybrid battery very low. Once you run your pack down all the way it becomes a very big PITA to get it going again.
     
  10. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Recently while driving the city streets a bunch of lights appeared on the dash, didn't pull over right away and after a block or so noticed that my HV battery was drained and or draining quickly (was down to or near the last bar) so I pulled over and Torque audibly offered up P3193 (gas gauge showed 6 pips, wtfo).

    After finding the code online, a feeling of doom was upon me (didn't make sense when I had 6 pips). Not wanting to have the vehicle towed I went in search of gas, came back with a couple of gallons and was able to start it again.. afterwards I put another 7.5 gallons in the tank (quit filling once the pump stopped), for a total of 9.5+ gallons.

    Found it interesting that torque reported the stored code one more time later on.

    Still thinking about setting up a gas level warning within Torque, not sure if that would be possible or even accurate.
     
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  11. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Yes adding gas solved the problem and I see that @SFO chimed in:).

    Thanks for the support (y).
     
  12. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    Update... This morning I filled it up with 5 more gallons. Did the 12v battery pull multiple times, but car still stalls out after running for 5-6 seconds. Gas gauge now shows 1 below full.

    I don't want to attempt any more starts for fear of completely draining my HV batt as Texas mentioned. It's extremely cold out here right now, so I think I'm just going to have it towed and not fiddle with it any more.
     
  13. Texas Hybrid Batteries

    Texas Hybrid Batteries Senior Member

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    Did you inspect/clean the MAF sensor and intake? There is a very good chance that's the issue.
     
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  14. Texas Hybrid Batteries

    Texas Hybrid Batteries Senior Member

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    Here's how this works, I've seen it many many times.

    As you drive the car and the MAF and intake slowly get dirty it causes the fuel trim to change in the car. Basically the computer starts compensating for the dirty sensors on the front end using the air fuel ratio sensor on the back end (the upstream oxygen sensor). Once you disconnect the 12 volt battery all of those trim compensations go away and the ecu starts over fresh. If your intake and MAF are dirty enough (which results in inaccurate measurements) the ecu will think no air is entering and it therefore will not add any fuel.

    Almost every car that I've ever changed a 12 Volt battery on (or disconnected for any reason) ran like crap when it was restarted. In some cases the car will just refuse to start at all (like in your case). To eliminate this problem we have a policy that every car that comes in gets a thorough intake and MAF cleaning. Solved all the problems.
     
  15. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    I wish I did. My mechanic is super nice so I'll explain the situation after Christmas and maybe they'll just clean it for me. I'm all for doing repairs myself if I can watch a youtube video and follow along: I just got fed up trying to resolve this in a busy, freezing parking lot. But if they quote me hundreds of dollars for a fix, I would question that.
     
  16. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This takes 5 minutes, with a can of throttle body cleaner. You'll need a 10mm socket to loosen a clamp, and that's it. Spray throttle body cleaner and wipe throttle body clean.

    There are tons of videos on this
     
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  17. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    Wow, yeah I just watched a video and I'm definitely going to head over to the mechanic's lot and try that myself. Thanks!
     
  18. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Be sure to use something like this when cleaning the MAF, it has been said that the manifold throttle body cleaner leaves behind an oil/lube residue that could contaminate the MAF sensor.

    CRC MAF & Throttle Body Single-Use Twin Pack, 1 Kit - Walmart.com

    Removing the MAF requires a small/short phillips head screwdriver. I ended up grabbing a ratcheting setup at Harbour Freight (< $4). Be careful with the screws when removing, and I doubt there is a need to torque them upon reassembly.

    8 Piece Right Angle Screwdriver

    I would removing the MAF before cleaning the throttle body or intake/butterfly (less chance for contamination), then replace the cleaned MAF sensor afterwards. Or just clean the MAF and do the TB and intake at a later time.

    Question: Is that "mid-range code reader" compatible with Toyota Hybrids?
     
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  19. Bgustafson

    Bgustafson Active Member

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    My mechanic said an ignition coil is bad - they want to charge me $100 for the part + $100 for labor. That's hilarious. I can do that myself in five minutes and buy a set for 4 for probably under $60. I highly doubt that is the actual cause anyway!

    Anyway, I would like to invest in a solid code reader so I can obtain all these codes myself in the future. I would've just done that myself if I had known it was bad. Which unit should I purchase?
     
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  20. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Well just think if you would've gone to the dealer, it would be double that charge