I have a 2012 Toyota Prius V. The hybrid warning light has been coming on telling me to pull the vehicle over and stop. I know I can reset it by disconnecting the regular 12 V battery but I need to drive 200 miles to get it repaired, can somebody give me some advice on that? I was told I can reset the warning light by disconnecting the 12 V battery and maybe driving slow without AC. Also, it’s like 100° out, so is that gonna be a factor. I don’t want to get stranded . Any professional opinions on this?
Unfortunately this forum delays new members posts by 12 hours or more until one of the few moderators gets around to it. That light covers many things which requires an hybrid capable code reader to define. So the worse things like hybrid inverter temperature might be there or not. I would not drive it but you may have anyway.
The car is 200 miles away from where it needs to be repaired. I am the one repairing it. I already bought a hybrid battery and ready to put it in but I'd like to do it at my location since resetting the hybrid light has given it a few days more of drivability before the light comes back on. I was hoping to reset it again and make the 200 mile drive. So far what I found out is to make that work I would need to maybe not run the air conditioner drive at a slow speed 30 mph or so and not use anything that tax is the battery so that the light will not come back on again. And if it does, I should pull the car over disconnect the battery let it reset and continue the journey. Worst case scenario he doesn't wanna run anymore and I'm stuck with a very long tow or most likely getting it towed to a place that's covered to protect against the 100° heat so I can do the hybrid battery replacement, which will probably take me two hours.
Maybe your hybrid battery is a known existing problem. But 105f heat in Texas can show other issues as well. Clearing the codes by disconnecting the 12v does not mean the hybrid battery is bad. It could be the inverter cooling which is just as likely if we are guessing blind. I would drive it to a Toyota dealer and get a diagnostic. If it is a hybrid battery alarm and that is it, fine. Go for it. If a temperature limit was exceeded in the inverter or transaxle, you need the code again. Resets might work for a few days around town but you are driving 200 miles. What code reader do you have? A bluetooth adapter and an app like Torque, Car Scanner and Dr Prius would be handy. Obviously Techstream is best. Bluetooth Some like this low cost Autel with integrated software
if it is the battery, you're actually better off on the highway where the engine runs most of the time
An auto service place did look at the vehicle and used a code reader. It did bring up the code P0A80 and it shows low-voltage on one of the module. And actually @bisco, I'm hoping you're correct and that low speed on the highway and trying to not to use battery will get me 200 miles. And also for the hybrid battery I'm using exclusively hybrid. New battery includes the casing for around 2000. Four year warranty s
Probably the traction battery......... You could possibly drive the 200 with no problem.... I drove mine around for a week or 2 and kept resetting the code till my NEW not used (reconditioned) battery came in.
Thanks for all of your input. I'm already all in on the battery replacement so that will be happening by this weekend. And I'll keep y'all posted if I can make the 200 mile trip or if there's an issue with the installation so that I can help others. Not sure what do you mean by traction battery.
Concerning this same issue of driving a long distance with the hybrid warning light on and possibly affecting the way it drives… would it be advisable to use the Econ or the power button for the drive?
Traction Battery is the BIG Battery Pack in the back. I wouldn't drive 200 miles at 30mph. That's a long way with hybrid problems. Take it out locally on the highway and see what happens. I doubt going slow and no AC would make any difference. And I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night.
With mine with this problem I just drive like normal - fast speeds, AC if I want. Usually its fine for 200-500 mile trips. Maybe I have to stop once. Effectively the car just runs on the ICE.
To reset the codes ...I suppose I could disconnect the hybrid battery.... that's not that difficult. or I could use Dr. Prius hopefully that is something I can do with my module that I have. And I see that Tim Jones feels uneasy about me traveling that distance. I also feel uneasy, so I'll probably drive it around a bit before I even attempt it. I'm thinking the only problem I have is the battery. It's been into service and a diagnostic tool was used and only the battery ...maybe one or two modules is low. Nothing else seem to bring up an issue. So it's just a matter of how far I can drive with a couple of cells that are under performing, and if the car will let me.
You can do it with a phone app.... if you have the bluetooth device... under $20... seems a lot easier than disconnecting the battery everytime you stop
OK Tim. I got your point that there's probably a better way. Hopefully I can get my diagnostic module to work properly with.... I guess I have to pay the $14 for Dr. Prius or the other apps that are free.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/385623632043?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D252699%26meid%3Dc0e416ca39484620bd98c406cd375aae%26pid%3D101196%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D385431734301%26itm%3D385623632043%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithBBEV2bAndUBSourceDemotionWithUltimatelyBoughtOfCoviewV1&_trksid=p2047675.c101196.m2219&amdata=cksum%3A385623632043c0e416ca39484620bd98c406cd375aae%7Cenc%3AAQAIAAABMPzGgyhK8D4QCApcBuWVQe1qsoN395NgJVWTF7eo2rfipPwdfCio0EI4F5H%252Bx0wtS8%252Fu%252Fr%252FRUxEZ1KxNtbAGuwQqNawa9Mz45LW45pYy0nujtWF7pUVJ9uNeieZNjEZ8PHJsUzRhU8yjDi3MqPcvqg%252FvLZxy0Hmt%252F3vWIatCw2dwjqv4t5gw3IW%252FGx2nL4zZ%252BrL%252B3qyyXQnGPh96ohkPtsmXVXdR9y20cwQQ7ZcwL3pVRmvAM5J4EmDhRyMHQRmCsjami5pBpISTJwVQocEeABj%252FTAAfXE7zOMOn6CAGm9lCExWop%252BpP3aydQulT7VAVqs4pFvli89cwB4G8bRWwzyipUtPiQ7B9x9AX3CBrryPp9eLTRpjUico7%252FyzXYeiYvwpaC8w4NuyKuawaiW%252Brr%252FE%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675 https://www.ebay.com/itm/175850321737?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D252699%26meid%3D971a405dd552498e8e7ea159484ec29f%26pid%3D101113%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D385431734301%26itm%3D175850321737%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D3458402%26algv%3DDefaultOrganicWebV9BertRefreshRanker%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p3458402.c101113.m2109
