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weird transient warning light Prius 2008

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Margana, Aug 17, 2015.

  1. Margana

    Margana Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2008
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    Location:
    Portland, Oregon Metro
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Hello, I had a transient warning light appear on my 2008 Prius during a recent drive from the Portland, Oregon area to Seattle . The reason I'm posting this is that this icon isn't listed in the owners manual, nor does it come on when you start up (boot up) the Prius. Also this warning is on the same line as the "ready" and air re circulation icon. On the right side of the display ( the usual low pressure tire, and I think traction control warning icons are on the line below). This occurred about 135 miles into my drive at the infamous Interstate 5 as you enter Tacoma, Wa ( stop and go traffic) the icon is yellow /Amber a box with 3 yellow squiggle lines which are vertical and cross just past the bottom of the box. After about 15 minutes the warning light went out. It never came back. I have 115k miles and car was recently serviced. I wonder if this is some air flow / ventilation warning. I am overdue to check cabin AF but am unaware there would ce a warning for that. The AC seemed just fine and no effect on the cars performance. Weird.
     
  2. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    [​IMG]
    WAS THIS IT?
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    That is weird, considering from your description of where it's located, it would have to be one of the actual pre-cut indicator symbols with a lamp behind it, and not something painted by software on a bitmapped screen.

    Your car has the funny instrument cluster design where the part you 'see' is just a smoked screen, and the instruments are down below it in the dash projecting up onto it. Maybe if you stuck your phone in there at a good angle and took a flash photo aiming down, you could show us the (mirror image of the) symbol card and point out the one that you're asking about. It would look sort of like this (except this is a Gen 1 version):

    [​IMG]

    -Chap
     
  4. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    I don't have a turtle ..
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    And you are lucky to not have one. It is not good when that light appears on the Classic dashboard.
     
  6. Margana

    Margana Junior Member

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    Jul 11, 2008
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    Location:
    Portland, Oregon Metro
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    No there are no words, just the icon itself. Also again icon is yellow square with 3 squiggle lines coming out of it downwards
     
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    It's this one I think:

    Capture.JPG
    Capture.JPG
     
  8. Margana

    Margana Junior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Portland, Oregon Metro
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Wow that's it! I feel silly now. It was a very mild winter last season and record warm temps now.... In any event I almost never use the rear de icer as it's mostly rainy in the winter here. Why it would trigger on (honestly the only way would be hitting on steering wheel by accident as touch screen takes deliberate action.most likely I pushed the button on the steering wheel by accident and the circuit just timed out to prevent electrical drain! Thanks!