Intermittent no start on 2005 with 170k miles

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by gmcneil05, Mar 19, 2015.

  1. gmcneil05

    gmcneil05 Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Avon Park, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    So let's start with this. A week ago my dad went to start his car after going to the store. I wasn't there so can't say exactly what happened but when I got there the car would basically go into accessory mode with check engine light VSC and triangle on. Also displayed problem on the screen. I checked 12v battery with just the radio on (one button press with foot off brake) and it only showed 12.0 volts. So I hooked our jump box directly to the battery and it still wouldn't start. I scanned it for error codes and it showed nothing but I could erase them and the lights went off so probably codes from one of the hybrid computers I can't read but the car still wouldn't ready. I unhooked the 12v for about 30 second seconds and the car started fine without the jump box hooked up. At this point I don't have any codes and with nothing to go off of I'm at a loss. We drive it 8 miles back to our shop and it drove normally with no errors. Once it was back in the shop after turning the car on and off 10 times or so still no errors. On the last time it was in ready mode and the errors came back on, still with no codes I could read. His 12v optima was still under warranty so we got it exchanged for free even though I was reluctant that it would fix the issue. Well a week went by and all seemed to be fine until yesterday. My dad had left the car in ready mode for probably 20 minutes and when he got back in it all the lights were on. I will also add that the battery fan was operating normally and not screaming like if there was a traction battery issue. I changed one of the modules in his traction battery about 6 months ago when one failed. Without any codes I don't know where to start with this problem. He's on a fixed income and doesn't have the money or patience to take it to the stealer. Any suggestions? Sorry for the novel
     
    #1 gmcneil05, Mar 19, 2015
  2. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    What are you checking the codes with?
    Is it able to read the Prius computers? You have to have something with the Toyota software to read the codes. A generic scanner, even a high dollar one can't do it. Lots of people use the mini VCI with techstream.
     
    #2 greasemonkey007, Mar 19, 2015
  3. gmcneil05

    gmcneil05 Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    It's just a regular generic Bluetooth OBD scanner. That's why I said I know it won't read ALL of the computers. It did read the battery codes and it will monitor engine parameters and stuff like that. What's the best way to go about getting techstream? Isn't it a subscription?
     
    #3 gmcneil05, Mar 19, 2015
  4. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
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    N/A
    You can get the pirated version off ebay for about $50 or so. You just can't access the Toyota website. I bought 2 of them, one for a 32 bit computer and one for a 64 bit computer. My old laptop was giving me trouble and I ended up buying a new laptop with Windows 8.1 so I could use it as a virtual machine like Win7. I installed the one that was compatible for 64 bit computers but it wouldn't load except on the virtual machine (windows 7). The virtual machine thinks it's 32 bit. I'll sell you the one for the 32 bit computer if you want it. It works on W7 or anything that's 32 bit. I've never tried to install it on anything because I was unable to get my old laptop fixed and had to buy a new one. I would recommend putting it on a computer that you don't use on the internet for banking or anything like that just in case there's an undetected cookie or something that could see any information. I won't use internet on mine except in case I need to download an update, which is available for free through them.
     
    #4 greasemonkey007, Mar 19, 2015
  5. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
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    N/A
    "You've made a good start by showing that you see the value in getting access to the information you need. I'm not sure what the Alldata subscription costs, but I'd recommend going straight to the real source and signing up at techinfo.toyota.com. The Toyota manuals do not have the problem where you get a code and can't find out what it means." -Chap
    Toyota Information Systems (TIS) is available for purchase, but it's kind of expensive and it's a subscription. Alldata.com for diy is also a subscription, but not very expensive. I couldn't find much help for my repairs though. It does list all the trouble codes and has decent pics and lots of specs.
     
    #5 greasemonkey007, Mar 19, 2015
  6. gmcneil05

    gmcneil05 Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Avon Park, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    So can I use the tool and software to read the codes without a subscription to TIS? Then just buy a pass to look up the codes if I can't find them on the web.
     
    #6 gmcneil05, Mar 19, 2015
  7. greasemonkey007

    greasemonkey007 Active Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Yes, you can use the mini VCI to read all the codes and it will give a list of tests for each section that it will execute. Techstream is what the dealers use and it has TIS with it. You have to buy the subscription on the pirated version in order to use it I guess. There's still a lot that I don't know about as far as what all you can do with the techstream since I don't have much experience working on cars, especially the newer ones. But I've used it on my 07 tundra and 3 or 4 prius. It will give live info while driving the vehicle and you can save the info also. I plan to play around with it more in my spare time when I get some of my projects finished, and the fish aren't biting.
     
    #7 greasemonkey007, Mar 19, 2015
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