Warning lights (detailed description of problems, lengthy)

Desperately need help! I work weekends 4 hours away from home and live WAY out in the sticks, my Prius is my life line! I am not a mechanic but am extremely competent at fixing pretty much anything after exhaustive research. I have always fixed my own cars and am not afraid to tackle any job excepting those that have absolutely NO work around to using tools that are out of my price range. My weak point is often with diagnosing a problem, once I know whats wrong, I will fix it. It will take me ten times as long as a professional but the job will be done right when I'm done. I am patient, diligent, thorough and spend even more time researching than I do repairing. Below is as comprehensive of an explanation as I can give but feel free to ask for any additional information. I apologize for the length but I have noticed that questions like "my red triangle light is on. Whats wrong with my car and how do I fix it" are not able to be answered (obviously).

When it occurred: 25 minute trip through a lot of curves and up and down hills during an episode of DWPO (driving while pissed off). I wasn't squealing tires around corners or anything but definitely taking uphill climbs and corners much more aggressively than usual (I live in the mountainous country of south western VA and usually I take the uphills well below speed limit so as to not dog out my car). Definitely gave my motors, brakes, and suspension system a workout that it was not used to.

History: 2005 Prius gen II. I bought the car used 6 months ago (high mileage, 175,000 at purchase, nearing 200,000 now). It was obviously very well maintained, and going by the seller's word, it was dealership maintained. With a car this complex, I have no idea if the following issues relate to my current problem. 1) I have a wheel bearing that needs to be replaced (front driver side I believe, strong whine while steering right). 2) There is a noise that I assume is a normal operation. I would guess it is a pump of sorts but seems to pump in squirts as opposed to a steady pump. I have no idea what it is or how it is supposed to work but I would liken the action's noise to a rubber bulb type hand pump (think turkey baster). I have assumed this was a normal operation and only occurs here and there but occasionally this noise will continue nonstop for long periods, both while at idle and while driving. 3) I have kept up with oil changes but a current oil change is over due by about 500 miles. Only since my last oil change have I had to add additional oil before the next change. I have had to add almost two quarts over the course of roughly three months, which is odd because there is zero oil under the car when parked, zero oil visible on engine or anywhere, and it puts off no exhaust smoke. 5) There is often an electronical noise when I press the brake. I have assumed this was normal operation. I researched this noise when I first got the car and if memory serves me correct I believe I determined it was something to do with charging a brake booster (maybe?). I could be off on the appropriate terms here.

Indicators: No warning lights came on for the whole aggressive drive but when I got near my destination (local watering hole) I stopped for cigs. After restarting my car the following warning lights came on immediately. On dash: Red Triangle with exclamation point, amber check engine light, amber exclamation point within a circle within parentheses (brake system?). On display screen: when car first starts screen says "Problem" across the top then turns to a red car symbol with an exclamation point in the upper left hand corner of screen. All these warning lights have remained on full time since occurrence.

Resulting symptoms: 1) Idling at stop lights the gas engine will cut on and off very frequently (run for a few seconds, cut off for a few seconds and repeat indefinitely). This may have only occurred right after the lights came on. I have not idled it for more than a couple seconds since (stop lights aren't really a thing around here) 2) For the first time ever I heard the hybrid battery cooling fan. It appears to run constantly at what I would guess is full speed as soon as I turn the car on, even after sitting overnight at just above freezing temps. 3) The noise I always hear when I start and stop the car (which I have been led to believe is the coolant pump pumping fluid in and out of a heat retaining reservoir) was audible the entire drive home. could be that, could be something that sounds just like it. 4) the same noise just described now sounds a lot rougher, like with a little knocking noise added in. Although this pump noise is constant while driving, I believe this rough knocking sounding noise only occurs when you first start it (or maybe it is drowned out by road noise). 5) When these lights lit, hybrid battery level was in the red (one bar) but quickly rose to full green within less than a mile (very abnormal). The drive home (after car sat for a few hours) the hybrid battery seemed to charge and discharge at a somewhat similar rate as before but went to full green quicker and more often than before. I get the full green more often than many due to long descents but this was abnormal.

Trouble shooting and results: Checked oil level, good. Checked coolant reservoirs, inverter coolant just barely above the "low" line. Engine coolant level fine. Did the inverter pump check, felt only the slightest vibration in the black hose coming off reservoir and saw zero fluid movement when looking into the tank. Checked 12v battery levels using diagnostic screen, seemed to fluctuate between just fine and a little low, at times dipping momentarily as low as 10 volts with heat and other accessories on. This battery has been drained and jump started one time about three months ago. Have not checked any fuses yet. I had to make the 25 minute return drive home last night but have not driven the car since.

So it seems to be, at the very least, that my inverter pump has finished its lifespan unless there are other things that could contribute to its action (or lack there of). I have no OBD2 scanner and so cannot retrieve codes unless there is a way to do it under the diagnostic menu but I saw no way to do this. I live at least an hour and a half from any Toyota dealership and am a half hour or more away from basically anything except a gas station/general store (not a service station). Although it drives pretty much as before (with some added noises) I am worried about driving my car that far or at all really.

My questions are first off of course, what the hell? And second, am I correct that I should refrain from any further driving with the inverter pump not working, including to a mechanic with the appropriate code reader? I cannot afford to make my repairs more costly than what they will already be. Do I feel like kicking my own arse for driving like an idiot? You better believe it, so scold away if you must.

 

Thanks for the advice. I nearly bought a MVCI last night but while I saw many positive remarks, I saw many very negative remarks as well. I was looking at the chinese devises that were apparently some rip off of another companies device. Would you advise buying one of these? Is updated software an issue with them, I read they can not be updated? It is not as cheap as the other things you mentioned but well within my means, would you advise the MVCI as the best option of the ones you stated? Also, should I completely avoid driving if my inverter cooling pump is dead? I will check out the reading material you provided, thanks again.

 

Sorry, I somehow overlooked your previous statement about driving the car. Just read and watched video. Upon inspection in daylight and with a flashlight shining down into the tank I actually do see some fluid movement. I wouldn't call it turbulence, at first I thought it was just engine vibration moving the fluid a bit but with the gas motor off it still showed very slight movement at the liquids surface. I feel ALMOST no perceptible vibration in the hose that comes off the tank but reaching down to the actual pump I can feel it vibrating. Unless the pump is just pumping much weaker than it should, it looks as though I am back to square one, with no idea what the problem is, perhaps the hybrid battery failure?
Just ordered a MVCI coming from NY, I hope it arrives sooner than its "no later than" date! Thanks for your help, I'll probably be back.

Update: Just took a 10 minute test drive, here is what I observed. The knocky noise of the coolant pump at start up is gone and it does not seem to run constant as it did last night. But here is what I hope will be a tell tale sign (of what i don't know). The hybrid battery meter on screen was full green bars the entire time (nothing even close to this has ever happened before). It also shows that the already completely full battery was still being charged most of the drive and would only indicate that power was being used FROM the battery on very few occasions and even then for only fractions of a second. the gas motor never turned off. I went down hills in neutral to limit charging. fan on battery still running at full speed full time. When I got back to my street I stopped and drove as tho I were in a busy parking lot, this usually makes the car run on battery alone but not so today, still gas motor. So I gather that something is causing it to charge the battery even tho it is at capacity and something is not really allowing the battery to power the electric motor. Other than this, if the warning lights weren't on and I was not familiar with the Prius I would have no idea the car had an issue.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. Mini VCI is ordered. New update:
Disconnected battery to reset. found that the 12v battery was sitting in a pool of water and negative terminal was severely corroded. Cleaned up terminal, left disconnected for about an hour and a half, drained water, put it all back together and all looked well. Drove to the gas station everything seemed normal, was using electric and gas motor, seemed to be charging and discharging when appropriate. Only concern was that the battery meter was moving from full charge to one bar and back at a pretty rapid rate compared to before. thought maybe the ECUs just needed some time to recalibrate or whatever. Unfortunately when I started it back up to leave the station, all lights were back on. It is however not acting quite as stupid. I no longer hear the battery fan and it seems to be switching between electric and gas as normal. As I said before, the 12v battery was not really as strong as it should, almost but not quite. Should I try a new 12v while I wait for my code reader to arrive?

 

Got my Mini VCI today here are the codes and screen shots.

 

Before buying a Prius I did a lot of research, specifically on the hv battery. I concluded that most get mileage way beyond their warranty. "Most" wasn't good enough for me so I further researched possible options in the case of HV battery failure. Upon learning that there were methods to rebuild and refurbish the battery I decided to go with a well maintained but high mileage Prius that was just within my price range (I paid $4750 for a 2005 w/ 175,000 miles, bought in August of 2015). Not sure what my point is but I understand that people could use these forums to determine that Priuses are doomed to fail or they could realize that most people come here only when there is a problem so of course you are going to see many more post that describe a problem than those dropping by to express their continued satisfaction. I think most people are here to fix their problem and not to determine the likelihood of future problems.

 

And I am eternally grateful for the enthusiasts who peruse post with the sole intent of helping others. But how many threads have you seen where the original poster just stopped by to say his car was all good, no problems to report at this moment?