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triple beep--but not in EV?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by betshsu, Jan 5, 2005.

  1. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    Hi folks,
    On Monday, I sucessfully installed the Costal Tech EV CC switch.

    Today, making a left onto my street, I accelerated hard and heard the triple beep--but I wasn't in EV mode. Curious, I tried to activate EV, but the car didn't go into EV (no switching from consumption to energy screen) or give me the triple beep denial (the car conceivably may not have been warm enough to go into EV since it's less than a 5 min drive from my gym to my house). Does anything else cause the triple beep? Is it possible my EV switch suddenly stopped working?

    Incidentally, this morning, I tried to activate EV at the end of my drive into my parking garage. I'm not sure if it activated or not because I was already on the engery screen (so no beep). The ICE never went on (I don't think), but I don't know if it's because I was driving slowly or because I was in EV. The car was driven and powered off once between trying to activate EV this morning and the triple beep incident.

    Tomorrow morning, I will try to activate EV when I start up my car to see if it is still working... but curious if anyone else has ever heard the triple beep when not in EV.
     
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I've heard this story once before and it turned out to be an incomplete connection 'somewhere' that was exacerbated by the cold. If your ground connection gets loose then closes again that might even be enough to activate EV.

    The only other thing I can think of is if it was actually the VSC that kicked in.
     
  3. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    Hm, temp might have something to do with it. It was 75 when I drove in this morning, but 50 when I left the gym and this occurred. Do you think I need to go in and check my taps and pin again? I closed the wire taps with pliers, and had some difficulty getting the pin far enough in (my roommate ended up fiddling with it for a while before we got the pin in far enough to work). I don't think it was VSC; I've seen the VSC kick in before, but there was just the light on the dash, no sound.
     
  4. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    Following is derived from Japanese Owner's manual.

    You can't enter EV mode when...
    - Hybrid System is too hot.
    - Hybrid System is too cold.
    - ICE is warming up.(Warming up starts in 6 second after powering on.)
    - Battery level is 3 or lower.
    - Vehicle is running more than 55km/h(34MPH).
    - Hard accelerating or running uphill.
    - using defroster.

    The EV mode will be canceled when...
    - Battery level is becoming 2.
    - Vehicle has reached more than 55km/h(34MPH).
    - Hard accelerating or running uphill.

    Regards,
    Ken@Japan
     
  5. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Ken,
    I think her point is that the car seems to have gone into EV mode, then cancelled it, all by itself.

    And yes, I think you need to check the contacts again. I bet that pin is the problem and is making intermittent contact....use a skinny jeweler's screw driver to really drive it in there while the retaining thingy is up.
     
  6. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    Yup, the point was that I was NOT in EV and I got the triple beep. I don't know if the car had chosen to go into EV by itself or not before I got the triple beep--can't recall if ICE was running right before the turn (or right before I stopped to make the turn, since I had to wait for a bit to make the turn)--but I know I didn't manually activate EV. And after the turn, I could not manually activate EV or get the car to give me the triple beep denial.

    Manually activating EV this morning worked no problem. Yesterday's incident may have been temp related. If the EV switch continues to act funny, then I'll pull apart the dash again and check the pin (taking apart the dash is the hardest part for me).
     
  7. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    You were hearing the triple beep, so I believe the connection is tight and the ECU just refused to enter the EV mode.

    Regards,
    Ken@Japan
     
  8. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    But... I didn't ask it to enter EV. I was in the middle of turning when it happened, and I don't think I could have accidentally been holding the cruise contral cancel for 2 secs. And after the fact, I couldn't get it to enter EV or give me the triple beep denial to enter EV. I am wondering if the beeps might have been the VSC--on the Y2G group, someone said something about chimes on the passenger side when VSC kicks in. Does the car beep when VSC enables? I know I've seen the VSC light and not heard any beeps. Anyhow, I'm not going to worry about redoing the pin connection unless it continues to be a problem. Thanks for the input.
     
  9. ken1784

    ken1784 SuperMID designer

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    Now, I see the problem. Sorry for my poor understanding.

    The three beep means ECU refuses to engage the EV mode, therefore it looks something was trying to ask to enter the EV mode.
    I bet you need to check the connections.

    Regards,
    Ken@Japan
     
  10. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    repeatedly :)
     
  11. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    Huh--really? I guess maybe it was my VSC then (I did go from a stand still into my turn and had to accelerate pretty hard to beat traffic). Yesterday, I forced the EV to give me the triple beep denial and I thought it sounded different than what I heard, but I could be imagining things. I guess the other times I saw VSC engage, it didn't really engage or didn't engage long enough to beep (I think both times, I was making a turn from one road surface to another).

    Thanks for the input Ken. When it warms up again, I'll try checking the connections.
     
  12. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    I think that VSC comes on not only for true VSC, but traction control. I have seen it light briefly on takeoff. Once or twice I heard a chime with the VSC lit.
     
  13. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I've never head a beep with TRAC kicking in.
     
  14. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    I meant the light. The chime I believe is strictly VSC, but the the light I believe comes on for traction as well.
     
  15. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Yes, the "slippery road" icon is used for trac, ABS and VSC. The chimes only sound for VSC. If I recall, the VSC tone is distinctly a chime, different from the normal car beeps. Probably to get your attention.
     
  16. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    Yes, I think the beeps I heard when making my turn were the VSC and the previous times I had seen the light, it was from TRAC. I still think it's weird that EV wouldn't engage after the turn or give me the triple beep denial. Yesterday when driving, my car spontaneously switched from consumption to energy screen when I stopped at a light (I'm pretty positive I didn't accidentally brush the toggle button on the steering wheel--I don't think brushing against the button would cause a toggle, I think you really need to press on the button). I don't know if it was just switching the screens or engaging EV--I accelerated out of the light enough to engage ICE (on purpose) but didn't hear the triple beep. I could engage EV manually after that and get it to give me the triple beep by accelerating. So I decided to take apart the dash and recheck my connections (much easier to do the second time around). I don't know if I improved anything--just used pliers again to clamp down the wire taps, and shoved a screwdriver into the pin.
     
  17. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    I have seen the car do wierd things on really rough bumps, as if I had randomly punched buttons on the steering wheel. Perhaps that's what you experienced when it went to the energy screen?
    Just a thought.
     
  18. betshsu

    betshsu Member

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    Good thought.... but it was a really smooth road and I was just normally deccelerating at a light. I did move my hands from the steering wheel to push back my hair at about the same time the screen switch happened, so I could have brushed the button, but I don't think that would have been enough to toggle the screen. Anyhow, these weird behaviors are better than any ! sign :D.