I have been driving my son's 2005 Prius for 4 months now, and last night the red blinking car shape light came on- I was reassured to read this is the anti theft system- any idea why it suddenly came to life; should I ignore, any way to turn off myself?
It's always there and flashing whenever the car is off. Most commonly people don't notice it, since they get in the car and start up immediately. Your not the first person to notice it and think it's something new. Tom
its also flashing when the car is unlocked after a while its start to blink when you dont start the car but did open it! its part of the startmotor blocking.
Ok, thanks to all of you. I must say this forum has been more helpful than the Owners manual for the annoying nighttime dash glare, re setting "Main Req" after oil change and interpreting this new red flash. I'd like to just say myself and husband had just never noticed before, but since this is so different from other cars we have driven the past 30+ years (Fiat, Opel, Volvo diesel,Ford diesel, Suburban !, Toyota Sienna, Honda Pilot and currently 2 Subarus) I am hyper vigilant to any message "Steve" PREfontaine (as my son named him), sends me. Even pulled over on the highway the first chilly morning the campfire/explosion icon that means under 37 degrees came on. Steve started blinking last night, with car locked, and continues this morning unlocked in driveway. It does go off when I start car and, when car is off with key in. Last oil change, we could not get main req off, didn't think much about it til now. We drive "96 & '02 cars, and they like to light up check engine periodically, and our mechanic says is fine- usually goes off just as randomly. Since Prius recently passed 100K, do they start behaving differently like this? Could the anti theft been disabled, and we somehow re-activated? we bought this 2005 car last May, with 85K.
It starts to blink the moment you remove the keyfob. It stops when you put the keyfob in. If you have the smartkey, I'm not sure when it starts/stops, but I'm sure it has similar logic.
I agree that the red flashing car icon will appear whenever the car is IG-OFF and does not require the vehicle to be locked. Regarding the MAINT REQD light, this is simple to reset. First make sure that the odometer is not showing a trip odometer reading but instead is showing full miles driven. Then turn the car IG-OFF. Hold the push button down that allows you to cycle between odometer and the two trip odometers. While holding that button down, press the POWER button twice so that the odometer and instrument panel light up. Watch as the odometer flashes a series of dashes, keep holding the push button until the odometer is done with its little drama. Then the MAINT REQD light will be off. Regarding the "campfire/explosion" icon, I think of that as the dreamcatcher icon. In any event it seems to be working properly for you.
You can see & clear the trouble codes being set on the '02 & '05 when the idiot lights come on by hooking up a ScanGauge II.
I had same blinking car symbol. I pressed the key fob door lock button and car symbol stopped blinking. I pressed unlock, and it resumed blinking. This confirmed for me that the blinking car symbol IS related to ANTI-THEFT. Next I opened and closed each door firmly, then pressed the key fob lock and unlock again. The blinking car symbol no longer blinked. This light is trying to tell us that A DOOR IS NOT FULLY CLOSED - that's all. Happy driving!
I don't usually respond to revived threads, but this is not correct. The flashing car symbol means the anti-theft system is activated - that is all. Careful reading of previous posts describes the function well.
