I was on a road trip with my family on Friday. We were stuck behind an accident on the interstate. When we passed the accident and I was accelerating back up to speed, a bunch of warning lights came on: (!), check engine, ! in the triangle, and VSC. I immediately pulled over and checked all the fluids. They looked fine, so we drove another 10 miles to the closest Toyota dealer. I don't remember the exact DTC the tech got, but it was basically a low fuel. Of course that wasn't the issue - there was plenty of fuel. But the tech cleared the DTC and sent us on our way. The car behaved fine for the rest of the trip. Sunday, we get home and the lights come back on again. So I took it back to the dealer this morning. They just called to tell me I need a new battery. Fortunately, my car is only 5.5 years old and it only has 60k miles on it. So the battery is covered under the warranty. Questions: 1) Does this sound like a plausible explanation? I was perusing the forums and saw others with similar symptoms but it turned out to be the inverter cooler. Toyota's not going to eat the cost of a new battery if they aren't pretty sure it's the issue. But I thought the battery would last quite a bit longer. 2) Assuming it is the battery, is there some way I could have caused the problem? Or am I just unlucky? Thanks, Bill
1) What DTC did the car log on Sunday? I agree that a failed inverter coolant pump seems more likely, but if the dealer is willing to install a new traction battery I wouldn't fight that. I've posted several times regarding how to inspect the inverter coolant pump for proper functioning. 2) I would say that you are very lucky if you can get a replacement traction battery at Toyota's expense. It is not likely that you caused the problem.
Sorry I wasn't more specific. I'm referring to the traction battery. Not sure about the DTC. I didn't ask when the dealer called. At that point, I was mostly relieved that I wasn't going to have to shell out $5k for a new battery. You're right that I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. If Toyota is going to give me a new traction battery, I guess my response should be woo hoo! I just hope it solves the problem. When I spoke to the tech at the dealer, I mentioned the inverter coolant pump. He said he would check it out. I must confess that I hadn't had the inverter coolant pump replaced, as per the recall. I guess that's what I get for procrastinating. The dealer said they would take care of the recall while the car is there.
