Warning lights all over dash display, squeal noise, power went off

Tonight, my 2007 Prius with 76K miles on it was operating normally when i parked it at the market. When i came out, it started up and as i was driving out of the drive way i heard a steady high pitched squeal noise which i've never heard before, the seat belt noise was also going until i fastened the belt. I drove a short distance (50 yards?) and pulled into the Mall drive way, and all those lights were coming on on the display and squealing continued, ABS, check battery (i think), tires, and much more, yellow amber colored, and to the left of that was a large red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle, and the airbag image was on, kind of orange. The turquoise blue lights showing gas gauge, mileage, the transmission gear positions, were all on and flashing, this was happening as i pulled into a parking place. I noticed the brakes were weak or hard to press, though they worked reliably, just hard. As i was backing into the parking place turning the steering wheel, the steering seemed to jam, and it seems the power steering and power brakes had gone off. I got the car crookedly into the parking place.

I called the Toyota agency, it was 6:30pm, i knew they were closed but took a chance, sales rep answered and connected me to someone in service who didn't know anything but told me how i could have the car towed there and leave my key in a box, they'd call me tomorrow. while i was waiting for him to come to the phone, the squealing started to fade, it didn't abruptly stop, it began getting weaker and fading, until it did stop.

On the GPS display, a message came up that said something about 'transmission P...." and a bunch of other words i don't remember. It said to turn the car off and put the brake on and then start it up. But by the time i tried that, the power already seemed to be completely off on the car. no lights, except an orange image of something that looks familiar but i'm not not sure what it is, and under it is the word 'CHECK,' also in orange. it might be a little engine because it looks like it has a propeller on the left end of it, but maybe it's a battery with a fan? That was the only light left, everything else went off. When i tried to restart it with the brake on, no response to the power button.

Then i called Triple A for a tow, but remembering something about how this kind of car isn't supposed to be towed, it's supposed to be put on a flat truck, i have a thing about it in my glove compartment that explains it.

Triple A sent a truck and he looked at it and then under the hood and he got something he called 'jumper,' it didn't look like jumper cables i've seen before, it was smaller. He then started my car and it looked normal, the lights were normal, not warning lights. He turned it off and turned it back on. He turned off the external power (jumper) and the car was working normally without it.

He said i could drive it home and said i should take it in tomorrow. Can anyone give me ideas about what this sounds like it could be? i googled it and found stuff about the special battery that costs thousands of dollars and has to be routinely replaced after several years, and that my car is kind of overdue for that, it's 10 years old. Also there was something about a brake actuator (?) which had a recall and Toyota replaced the part, which cost $2000, but only up to December 2017 ? Are there only catastrophic things this can be (as it appeared from all those lights and squealing and no power and shutting off). i was relieved to be able to drive home, with my groceries. Thanks for any experience with this or info.

 

Steve, thanks for the hopefully good news!! i thought there was the under the hood battery, simple, i replaced it at least once before, i mean, i had it replaced (i'm not the least bit handy with cars). And then the "other battery," which i always heard costs thousands of dollars. Is that the one in the back you're talking about out or is there a third one? The expensive one is supposed to last a certain number of years and/or miles and then it will inevitably go. The last time i had someone out to charge my under hood battery (overhead light on overnight), we were talking about that other battery and he talked about the price range, and saying even the price of used ones is high, obtained at body shops, and those are hard to get, he said. So i'm confused because i thought i was looking at that.

i just googled it, lots of links on a "battery pack" costing $2900, after a couple of price reductions. what is that?

The video does have a lot of interesting info, like how to open the hatchback from inside. Once, i couldn't get it open and had to take it to the dealer, he said something wasn't right about the latch and might need replacing at some point.

 

Thanks for the feedback, i do sometimes talk that way under conditions of anxiety. Thanks for all the info. The noise sounded to me like it was coming from the general area of the front of the inside of the car, maybe under the dashboard, but hard to say. All the lights were coming on and the brakes weren't working, a lot going on.[/QUOTE]

 

thanks for perspective. i once replaced the under the hood battery and it was about $300, cheaper from the Auto Club's referral but i went to the dealer. i had a trusting long time relationship with the Toyota service advisor who always kept costs down and didn't try to sell stuff. Today i called about bringing the car in, i will be leaving shortly to do that, but sadly was told my guy isn't there anymore. So, i am definitely anxious about that too, but i'm sure i never had a battery in the back of the car replaced, only the front one. i will check for coupons.

 

i now realize that i thought the battery was under the hood because that's where AutoClub always went to charge it over the years and i didn't notice that there was no battery in there. when the battery was replaced, i wasn't there, i dropped the car off. so now i know the truth

I read about how the battery has to be adequately/correctly vented. Is that not always the case, and if not, why not?

i dropped the car off at Toyota and got a call from them--yes, it's the 12V battery, yay. They charge $410--i guess that includes the labor. i also got a basic maintenance, minor service/12 point inspection, $120. When he called, he said the hybrid/traction battery is "fine," but he said the fan for it is clogged up and needs to be removed and cleaned and it needs a new filter, $156. He said the engine was "filled with carbon gunk" and needed to be cleaned, $189 so the total with tax is $869. i expected to have some stuff needed because it hasn't been serviced since late 2015. The car has only been driven 4000 miles since then. I had planned to take it in now anyway, for service and whatever it needed. Unfortunately, a month or so ago, i lost my keys, i'm using my back up set. i know the keys are in my house but i've looked everywhere i can think of, went through the wastebaskets, i was hoping they'd turn up. Not yet. So i told them to make me a new key because if i lose the only set i now have, that would be poor. Another $300.

but after suffering the terror that it was the thousands of dollars battery, i alright, glad it's done.

thanks for the info

 

I really appreciate the referral to Avi, exstudent provided the address above. i thought about it. I'm in the Valley and i didn't want to drive that far in all the traffic, not knowing if my brakes were going to go out without warning like last night, or if the car would shut itself off in stop and go traffic on the freeway. I also had stuff to do today at home and didn't want to lose the whole day being over there waiting for the car. The Toyota dealer is walking distance from home, less than a mile.

I've always taken the Prius to the agency, Keyes, since i got it except when i lived in Santa Monica, i went to the dealer over there, always felt overcharged there but not so much at Keyes. i did have a supportive cost saving service advisor who kept expenses low. Now, he's suddenly gone.

i looked at my old service receipts today--just routine maintenance, most of them around $100 or less. The battery was replaced in 2014, $342 including tax. What i was charged there didn't seem out of line, though more than an independent mechanic. The service rep today told me the key fob was going to be $300. i was charged $357. I don't know why on the phone he told me the battery was $410 (including tax) but on receipt it says the battery was $334 (not including tax), which is the same as i paid in 2014. Anyway, the total the guy gave me on the phone was what i was charged. But the prices of the key fob and battery were both different from what he told me. Confusing. I'll call tomorrow and ask.

I will go to an independent mechanic in the future. It doesn't work for me though to have to travel from the Valley to LA to have my car worked on and to have to sit around there and wait for it. I need to find someone near me.

 

On the receipt it says the battery was $208 and labor was $125. i don't know why he said $410. It adds up to what he said it would. And the different numbers he gave me on the phone add up to the same total. On the phone he said the key fob was $300. On the receipt it's $357.

That's the kind of thing my previous service advisor since 2009 would have told me was optional. Since i haven't had it in since 2015, i figured it must need whatever. I could have trusted my other guy. Chalk that one up, and thanks, i'll remember that if it comes up again.

my sentiments exactly. Since i thought the seemingly catastrophic symptoms last night meant the several thousand dollar battery was going, i have the feeling of dodging a bullet, not bad , however illusory.

(i don't know if did the quotes right, no option to preview so it may come out weirder than ever. here goes nothing)

 

Thanks--i never knew that. I could drive it a little bit every day, i wonder if that would be enough. Like less than 5 minutes.

Ok, that sounds good.​

The service rep said there were no codes, except for something like 'low battery,' he said it as if it wasn't important. i don't see a charge on the receipt for it.

Thanks, i'll look at that. It sounds useful.

That's one thing i know how to do. when i was a kid, my first car was a Morris Minor 1000 with very high miles, i bought it for $50 and it burned oil, and i had to add oil as often as i got gas, keeping cans of oil in the trunk. i never have thought the Prius was burning oil though, with low miles. If i check it often and it doesn't go down, why would i keep checking it often? i guess they burn oil at some point. i haven't had a car that ever burned oil in decades, including the Accord i had that was at 165,000 miles and the dealer rep said it had 3 oil leaks, $1400, don't drive it, he lied. didn't believe him. i kept using it for work, but i started checking the oil regularly. It never went down at all. But that's what inspired me to get the Prius, time for a newer car because so much driving on my job. also it was the year that gas prices went to $5 per gallon, that was a big part of the inspiration.

thanks for the info/suggestions

 

lol -- so, when i looked at the receipt, it wasn't a filter for the fan. It says REPLACE HYBRID BATTERY FILTER. Is there not one of those either?