Hi all, I was on the highway yesterday when the red triangle went off and the screen said Problem (real helpful there). I babied my 2008 Prius to the dealer. They said the 12v battery was bad and since they would charge $100 for diagnostics I had them put in the batter at $100 labor. I should have just gotten the yellow top in last week like I wanted but oh well. Here is the problem, today it did it again. It first happened at 70 mph but today it did it first at 15 mph then pretty much stayed on until I did not accelerate for a while. No noticeable performance issues, just the warning indicator. I did notice the noises after shutdown are sounding different than before last week. I also put a code reader on it both without running and on a test drive and no codes showed. Any ideas on what is going on? More info: Just hit 100,250 miles. Purchased on March 17, 2008. Went in last week before the 100,000 miles for a check up and ended up with $1,000 for a coolant pump (both now, other coolant pump was replaced within the last 6 months). Also got: break fluid, belt, break alignment, oil change, tires (this I was expecting hardly passed state inspection in March), possibly something else. I have been doing the oil changes since 15,000 miles, filters, pcv (or pvc whichever), all normal items. Problem free until I have them do a check now issues. So to recap non normal items done: blower motor in 2009, radio replacement in 2008, coolant pump in Mayish, other coolant pump and 12 v battery last week. Thanks for any help, they are towing it in the morning at their expense and getting me a rental. Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/red-triangle-need-help.117839/#ixzz2Bb6Nizhy
Which coolant pump last week? Air pocket -- incomplete bleeding from the replacement causing over-heating problems could be the issue.
The invoice says: Water pump SC20. Also G**. 4454 CT. and 1 16100-29157-83 which seems to be a part number. Looked up 16100-29157-83 came back as a Yaris engine water pump. So I guess last week I got the ICE pump and a few months ago got the electric motor's pump.
I agree it sounds like insufficient bleeding of air. If you can get DTC from the scanner and post them here, that is the only way to be sure.
According to your OP, your car displays a master triangle warning light and a warning message on the MFD screen, but there are no noticeable performance issues. Why was it necessary to tow the car? If the sound produced by the coolant heat recovery pump is different after replacement of the engine coolant pump, then it is quite likely that air remains in the system. That shows poor workmanship on the part of the tech. If the engine overheated then you should see a temperature warning icon appear. If no other warning lights appeared then it is quite likely that no DTC had been logged.
Hey Patrick! Thank you for responding. I had it towed due to not wanting to drive the 20 miles on the highway with something potentially going wrong. It was at their cost, I tried to get them to cover diagnostic at a closer dealership but they would not do that so they paid for the tow instead. The head tech agreed about the air in the system possibility. No other lights went off and we did a test drive and it didnt do it again (of course same as when I go to a client with an issue, the issue does not appear right then). Still waiting on what they have to say if any other theories are brought up. Thanks!
