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Toyota Prius hybrid system failure

19 messages,  Last post on Nov 29, 2008 at 3:26 PM

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#1 of 19 hybrid system failure by dcjack Jun 22, 2007 (8:20 am)
This has happened to me twice in the six years I've owned my 2001 Prius. As the car is running, there's a little "pop", then the gas engine quits, and the "hybrid system failure" light comes on. The only message is "problem". The car continues to run on battery only, but pretty poorly.   The first time this happened, I had it flatbed-hauled to Toyota, but when it got there, everything was operating normally, so they couldn't tell me what had gone wrong.   Today it happened again, close to home so I was able to get there and park it. Restarts after 10 and 20 minutes yielded the same "hybrid system failure" result. Then, after about an hour, everything started up as normal, with no hint of a problem.   Any ideas as to what the problem is?   -- Jack in DC Replies to this message: pathstar1 (Jun 26, 2007 6:27 am) dcjack (Nov 09, 2007 6:38 am)
#2 of 19 Re: hybrid system failure [dcjack] by pathstar1 Jun 26, 2007 (6:27 am)
Replying to: dcjack (Jun 22, 2007 8:20 am) I'll bet you have an oxidized or corroded fuse connection in the hybrid system. Either that or a loose connection. Pull out and put back in all the fuses you can find. Do so with the power off, of course. If any come out really easy, the fuse connection has become loose and should be repaired.
#3 of 19 Re: hybrid system failure [dcjack] by dcjack Nov 09, 2007 (6:38 am)
Replying to: dcjack (Jun 22, 2007 8:20 am) The dealer traced the problem to a faulty accelerator-pedal sensor. Evidently this occasionally produced an incorrect output, and the hybrid control computer, detecting invalid inputs, shut down the system. "Rebooting" with the triple-restart process revived the system, which would then function correctly until the next time the accelerator pedal sensor stumbled. Replacing that seems indeed to have ended the problem. -- Jack in DC
#4 of 19 2006 Prius repeated loss of power at high speeds by docglenn3 Nov 13, 2007 (9:34 pm)
On 3 separate occasions in the past 6 months my wife's Prius has lost power while operating at high speeds in the commuter lane on the freeways in Southern California.It is amazing that she was not involved in an accident on any of these occasions.Each time, She had her car towed to a Toyota dealership.The warning signs all came on with each episode.The Toyota dealership has never told us that this has been a problem with Prius automobiles in 2004 and 2005.One dealer actually accused her of running out of gasoline and precipitating the power failure.We are disappointed in the way Toyota has handled this situation.They have not been honest with us.My wife is seriously considering going to arbitration with Toyota and getting a new car that she can drive with confidence. Replies to this message: dcjack (Nov 14, 2007 6:47 am) stevegold (Nov 14, 2007 6:58 am) stevedebi (Jan 15, 2008 2:02 pm)
#5 of 19 Re: 2006 Prius repeated loss of power at high speeds [docglenn3] by dcjack Nov 14, 2007 (6:47 am)
Replying to: docglenn3 (Nov 13, 2007 9:34 pm) From my experience, I've learned that "inconsistent" sensor inputs will cause the Prius control computer to shut down. Evidently the gas pedal sensor in my 2001 Prius was occasionally putting out a faulty signal, causing the shutdown, after which the car would struggle along on battery only. From an Internet board I learned that turning off the ignition, waiting, then turning the engine on again, three times, will "reboot" the computer. Indeed, that got me back running the last time this happened. (That also explains why, when the car was hauled back to Toyota, they found it running okay.)   A good technician at Toyota was able to identify the problem through the computer readouts. Since the gas-pedal sensor in my Prius was replaced, I've had no more of these on-the-road failures.
#6 of 19 Re: 2006 Prius repeated loss of power at high speeds [docglenn3] by stevegold Nov 14, 2007 (6:58 am)
Replying to: docglenn3 (Nov 13, 2007 9:34 pm) Several years ago, a dozen or so similar incidents were widely reported in the national press. All were traced back to a software problem that prevented the ICE from coming on due to a false faulty sensor that the software did not handle. With the ICE not coming on automatically, the big traction battery soon runs out and the car comes to a quick halt, most times in a fast traffic lane. I had heeded the TSB and had the software updated a few weeks before and have never suffered from that problem although your 2006 won't have that software problem, it might have another. More likely, it's one of the many sensors thats shutting down the ICE for some other reason. Replies to this message: stevedebi (Jan 15, 2008 2:02 pm)
#7 of 19 Battery Failure? by curtler Dec 10, 2007 (7:00 am)
I read recently that sustained highway driving can result in the hybrid battery failure, causing the car to run on the gas engine only. The article claimed that deceleration and braking were necessary to recharge the battery. Is this true, or is this bogus??
#8 of 19 Re: 2006 Prius repeated loss of power at high speeds [stevegold] by stevedebi Jan 15, 2008 (2:02 pm)
Replying to: stevegold (Nov 14, 2007 6:58 am) "Several years ago, a dozen or so similar incidents were widely reported in the national press. "   It's been a while since this stuff was covered on the Forum, but IIRC there were around 50 unique complaints in the NTSB database on the problem. There were more reports than that, but some appeared to be duplicates.
#9 of 19 New owner! by lilredprius Jan 18, 2008 (7:39 am)
scary...y'all have me worried now Replies to this message: stevegold (Jan 18, 2008 10:09 am)
#10 of 19 Re: New owner! [lilredprius] by stevegold Jan 18, 2008 (10:09 am)
Replying to: lilredprius (Jan 18, 2008 7:39 am) That was an old software+sensor bug that has been fixed. Anyone who had the TSB applied could not have had the problem.

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