CEL light on (solid), red triangle with "!" on, and hybrid system malfunction light (car with "!")

Had those all light up on my wife's car this morning as she was driving away for work. She was able to get car back to house. Gas motor running 100% of the time and battery down to "purple" with two bars.

Towed the car to the dealer, thinking hybrid battery is out. Car is a 2007 Prius with 149,657 on the clock.

Dealer calls me back and says throttle body motor is out and it's $1,195.80 to replace. Based on the symptoms the car exhibited and the battery being on such a low charge without even rolling far enough on 100% electric to deplete the battery that much, I'm a little skeptical that it's the throttle body motor.

Drove the car all day yesterday and had no problems with the throttle sticking or any kind of loss of power. Ideas guys?

I was thinking of having them clean the throttle body and clear the codes and see what happens. I'm in CA, so if it's the hybrid batter, I need to get that replaced as 150K is right there!

Thanks!

 

Hi Vertex,

Still have original 12V battery. Might be early signs of failure? Pardon my ignorance, but what does DTC stand for? Diagnostic Tech Codes? I am in San Jose area. Thanks!!

Chris

 

DTC code is P2103 supposedly. I called service person and left her a message asking for the code and no return phone call. Called a second time an hour + later and she said she'd have to call me back, because she was with a guest at the time. Called me back about 5 minutes later and gave me P2103, which meant throttle actuator circuit high.

I asked her if they could just clean the throttle body/etc. and she said they did that already. I suggested that they clean it and reset all codes and see if it pops back up. She said they did that already.

Looks like the electronic circuit is overheating due to failure? It's really odd though, because the car didn't feel like it. But then again, it doesn't look like the throttle motor failed completely, which wouldn't let me drive the car at all (it was driveable, but I didn't try to drive it far because all the warning lights were on).

When she initially called me this morning, she said the throttle motor was dead. Now it's the circuit that's bad, but of course, she said that is all one assembly and you have to replace the whole thing.

Initial price: $1,195.80. She offered a $100 off coupon. I looked online and it looks like you can buy the part for $679 instead of the normal $900+. Not sure if that's worth all the trouble to order online. Only have one car and I'll be hit with the $145 diagnostic fee if I don't have them fix the car.

Arrgh, I hate being in this situation! No wonder why the stealerships make so much money. They've cut margins on new car sales, but rely on getting you to come back for all kinds of service.

You all think this is plausible? The P2103 diagnostic, that is. I know it's hard to say, but I just wanted to hear from others' experiences. Thanks!
-Chris

 

Thanks Patrick! I just thought I would check with all of you first. If anything, it gives me more peace of mind that I am not getting taken by the stealership.

The guys there always talk a mile a minute and you always get the impression that they're trying to glaze over everything, so you'll just say "ok," lie down, and pay whatever they ask you to. It would go a long way if they would be more detailed and tell you exactly what they did to troubleshoot your car.

But of course, that takes time and time is money... so it's really a losing proposition for them if they take more time per each "service transaction."

Ok, well I will take the dive and just get this done. It looks to be about $1,100. Now, my secondary question is: Being at 149,657 I don't know how much longer the traction battery will last.

One dealer told me it's more on the "age" rather than the mileage on the car. They said they are seeing a lot of 2003s come in with dead traction batteries. Ours is a 2007 with high miles. I don't really want to fork over $3K+ to get those replaced later on. I'd rather sell the car before the batteries die and just buy a new one.

Thoughts? As always, thank you!

 

Never changed out the small 12V battery ever! Car still started fine, so I didn't suspect. Crap, just bit the bullet with the dealer and said change the throttle body assembly. I can still call it off maybe!

 

Question: Would the "hybrid system malfunction" icon pop up if the throttle body assembly was throwing a P2103 code? The throttle body seems indirectly related to the "hybrid system" and - I would think - would just throw a check engine light.

It's like in regular gas cars when the mass air flow sensor goes bad, you get a check engine light. Of course there is no hybrid system in a regular gas car.

I still think the Prius should have just thrown a check engine light when the throttle body circuit was running above 10A or below 0.5A. I figure that is more of an engine problem. If it was the hybrid system, you'd think traction battery, inverter, electric motor, etc.

 

Thanks! That's good to know. You guys rock! I'm the techie in the family, so I've been doing the research even though it's my wife's car. So I'm a bit of a noob, when it comes to the Prius.

I think I'll try to change the 12V battery, per your suggestion. Think this is a DIY item? I'm fairly hands-on, so if there's no capacitor I need to worry about touching and killing myself with, maybe I can do it .

I have requested that they give me the original throttle body back. Anyone in our area want to test the circuit and see if it really failed? Maybe we can see how Piercy is.

The people there are pretty friendly, but of course most of the service advisors blaze through what's going on with your car in hopes that you'll just go "uh-huh" and just lie down and pay. Sometimes it seems as though they may be on par with salespeople when it comes to trustworthiness .

Thanks for the rec. of luciousgarage! I will check them out. Toyota Sunnyvale seems like a good place... at least when it comes to sales, they seemed to be one of the few with the no haggle price policy back then. My cousin bought one there and her sales experience was awesome compared to ours at Fremont Toyota.

 

Thanks!