08 Prius red triangle

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by MikeBriggss, Jun 14, 2026.

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  1. MikeBriggss

    MikeBriggss New Member

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    Hey all. Hoping someone has an idea to help me diagnose. My 2008 Prius has been intermittently throwing the red triangle in the dash along with the message on the radio screen “there is an issue with the P lock system…” i have since replaced the 12v battery, oil levels are fine. Connected to dr prius that says everything is operating fine and not finding any trouble codes. Car has 230k miles. Runs and drives perfectly fine. When i got the car it did have the common dashboard issue where it intermittently goes black and shows nothing, i sent it in for repairs to a guy on ebay and was working fine for a few months. Is it possible a sensor got damaged during the repair and its just glitching out? Thanks for any replies!
     
    #1 MikeBriggss, Jun 14, 2026
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Have you checked your coolant level? There should be a code history that can help point you to the problem
     
    #2 JC91006, Jun 14, 2026
  3. MikeBriggss

    MikeBriggss New Member

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    coolant level is fine. Code history only shows a past EVAP code p0446 which i feel is a separate issue that comes on with the check engine light rather than the red triangle. Thanks for the reply!
     
    #3 MikeBriggss, Jun 14, 2026
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    My first guess would be that you have an issue, not with the 12-volt battery or the oil levels, but with the P lock system.

    Many older gen 2s develop such an issue and there are threads here about a common fix. You should still diagnose your specific issue, first, to determine if it is or isn't the same issue those other threads are dealing with.
     
    #4 ChapmanF, Jun 14, 2026
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