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Weird incident with Gen2 Prius 2005 167k miles

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by aliensporebomb, Apr 26, 2018.

  1. aliensporebomb

    aliensporebomb Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2015
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    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN, USA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Strange incident happened starting day before yesterday - since then it has happened 3 more times since then:

    -Driving on a slight downhill towards a stoplight or stopsign.
    -Press brake gently to decelerate.
    -Red triangle on dash flashes briefly.
    -Loud beep from dash.
    -While vehicle still moving system seems to "come back to life" and normal behavior resumes.
    -I've noticed this only seems to happen while driving on a slight downhill.
    -Doesn't seem to happen on a level surface or an ascent.

    Doesn't always happen.
    Only seems to happen once in a while.

    Has anyone seen anything like this? I suppose a visit to the dealer is in my near future if it keeps up.

    We've had a a longer winter than usual and the car sat for a week while we were out of town on a trip when we had two feet of snow recently.
     
    #1 aliensporebomb, Apr 26, 2018
  2. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
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    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    How is the oil level?
     
    #2 dolj, Apr 26, 2018
    kenoarto likes this.
  3. sorka

    sorka Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Merced, CA
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius
    Model:
    Limited
    You need to pull the fault codes and with a red triangle, I wouldn't drive it another foot until you know. If it's something like a P3018 or P0A80(hybrid battery), then driving is safe as long as it doesn't go into limp mode.

    But if your oil sending unit is firing off due to low oil pressure instead, then you'll destroy the engine in seconds.
     
    #3 sorka, Apr 27, 2018
    Longinus876 and bisco like this.
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    check your 12v health.
     
    #4 bisco, Apr 27, 2018
  5. aliensporebomb

    aliensporebomb Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2015
    6
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    Location:
    Minneapolis, MN, USA
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Looks like the 12V health is good. And other things look good too but I think I see what happened here - I was nearing the point where I needed an oil change so an extra quart took care of the repeating intermittent red triangles when braking on a descent or ascent.

    But a second issue did occur I was taking the train home from a baseball game and the parking lot near the station was about a quarter mile away. The smartkey got totally soaked when I got caught in a thunderstorm and despite putting the smartkey into a plastic box with silica gel (figure it would be like ride but supercharged) I think it's dead. So I'll need a new one of those probably if it still remains dead. Tried swapping the button battery with a new replacement too.
     
    #5 aliensporebomb, May 8, 2018
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    do you only have one key?
     
    #6 bisco, May 8, 2018
  7. jabrwok

    jabrwok New Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2018
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    Location:
    MN
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Wet electronics - pop the battery out ASAP. Do not re-energize until the item is dry, really dry, like Temperance Union dry.
    How to dry electronic devices:
    Sweet talk a local chemist or mechanic to place it under vacuum.
    Or - very carefully open the fob all the way and using a cotton swab gently dab away all water. Then rinse using swab with methanol or ethanol (200 proof vodka works if you're out of rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet). Allow alcohol to evaporate 24 hours in warm location with good air flow. Check for moisture. Repeat as necessary.
    Canned air can help blow water out of small crevices but be wary of using too much force.
    The first method salvaged a cell phone that fell in a toilet. The second method worked on a Mac laptop I dumped an entire super-size Diet Coke into. No promises...
     
    #7 jabrwok, May 10, 2018
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