I hit my driver door backing out of the garage with the door open. The door hinge warped slightly such that the door was unable to be closed.. It was bent back and we were on the road again. After that incident, one day shortly after on the road when we hit a small bump (brick pedestrian crosswalk), the car squealed like a remote controlled toy car so loud that a police officer heard 30 feet away and rushed over. I pulled to the side of the road as soon as I heard the sound because I had never heard anything like it in my life, and many dashboard lights came on. Another notable thing is when I pushed the brake down slowly to make the car go to a complete stop, instead of the car stopping slowly, it stopped in a jerking motion as if I had slammed on the brakes or put the car in park while it was still moving. After shutting off the car and turning it back on, it could drive again with no dashboard warnings signs. This happened a second time, the next day, except when the car was turned back on dashboard symbols didn't disappear. On the dashboard we have the check engine light and red triangle. On the top left of the computer screen we have a car with an exclamation point down the middle. Online a similar symbol (diff model?) showing a wrench instead of an exclamation point says it means: "There is a fault condition in an area of the vehicle chassis systems such as, the anti-lock (ABS) brake system, the traction control (TCS) system, the electronic suspension system, or the brake hydraulic system." We brought it to a mechanic who returns all sorts of cars. He read the codes. His guy replicated the problem, but could not figure out what it was. Next step is Toyota dealership but they want $149 per hour for diagnosis. I feel like that can end up very expensive. Any experts here have an idea? The symptoms of this thread are exactly what I'm trying to describe: Warning lights all over dash display, squeal noise, power went off | PriusChat They said it's a battery issue but definitely not the case for my car. Perhaps an electrical, but the battery is tested to be fine voltage wise. It was changed last year at Toyota for an OEM.
Just an update: The car is still at the shop. I called asking the mechanic for the codes but his guys is taking a long time getting back to me. In the mean time, is there anything that comes to mind or not worth speculating without the codes?
Finally, the codes are: Notably, Battery died sitting at the shop. Jumped it. Red triangle is gone but code still remains. So not sure if the second code is relevant to the problem or if the battery has not been fully charged. Battery was replaced at dealer with OEM about a year ago. U0293 - Lost Communication Hybrid Vehicle Control System C1241 - Too Low or Too High Battery Volts U0293 was definitely there when the red triangle was showing though.
Have they told you which ECU in the car reported the U0293? For those communication trouble codes (all the ones that start with U), that's important information. The U0293 is somebody saying "hey, I can't communicate with the HV ECU", and once you also know who's saying that, then you know which two ECUs are having the comm issue.
After sitting, have you measured the resting voltage (vehicle off) at the 12v battery in the back, and at the 12v jump points under the hood? Also check the negative ground strap coming from the 12v battery to the body, sometimes rust can build up on the body side. Here is a dated (2004) workup for DTC C1241, notice how this DTC has two 'detailed codes' (AKA subcodes or INFs), knowing the related INF may assist in tracking down the problem in a efficient manner : https://share.qclt.com/%E4%B8%B0%E7%94%B0%E6%99%AE%E7%91%9E%E6%96%AF%E5%8E%9F%E5%8E%82%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87%E6%89%8B%E5%86%8Cpdf%E6%A0%BC%E5%BC%8F/repair%20manual/04pruisr/05/21avn/cic12414.pdf Here is a dated (2004) workup for DTC U0293 : https://share.qclt.com/%E4%B8%B0%E7%94%B0%E6%99%AE%E7%91%9E%E6%96%AF%E5%8E%9F%E5%8E%82%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87%E6%89%8B%E5%86%8Cpdf%E6%A0%BC%E5%BC%8F/Repair%20Manual/04pruisr/05/2054m/ciu0293.pdf This thread may get your esteemed mechanic on track again : U0293 Lost Comm w/ Hybrid Powertrain Control Module | PriusChat Does the vehicle currently start or run for longer than 10 seconds?
It can drive flawlessly with a car restart for many miles, that is until it decides to randomly stall out on its own. Thank you for the posts, I will research them.
