My parents have a 2002 prius with ~110K miles on it. It recently had an issue with a fully lit dash board (red triangle, engine light, etc). After trips to two different Toyota dealer ships, they are being told that they need a new ECM. One cleared the codes, and it ran again, the other found the codes again, and wanted to dig into it, over $500 of diagnostic charges in total. The tech has told them that the ECM has a hair line crack in it that is causing it to lose power every once in a while, and is causing the codes. The Tech is also saying that the vehicle is still drive able. Other information of note is that the vehicle was in an accident with a fire truck at about 85K miles. Only the rear driver's side lights were replaced, as my dad did not want to file with the insurance company on it (felt it was partly his fault, even though the police deemed it "no fault"). The Toyota dealership did the repair of the rear lights, and did not report any issues with the ECM at that time. Has any one seen this kind of fault before? and should my wife and I have our 2005 and 2007 priuses inspected before they go out of warranty (100K extended) to be sure the ECM is intact? -Harry
which ECM? engine or HV? the HV ECU is in the passenger footwell and a impact to the floor pan can damage it. otherwise the issue could be a cold solder joint that has failed. the engine ECU should be checked for the part number- this should end in -54.
Your report sounds brand-new to me, and salted with some interesting side issues! If there has never been a 'computer replacement' for this vehicle done under the technical service bulletin EG011-03, I would like to know more. The previous collison you mention seems unrelated, to me. Other opinions? The 'cracking of the ECM case' smells like s***, if you know what I mean. Is there another Toyota shop in your neighborhood that you might visit for a second opinion? Things are different in the new model Prius. Their computers are merely 'upgraded' by super-duper-secret signals sent through the DLC port. I should not wish to speculate whether yours need a touch-up. Most Prius need no special service intervention to make them run happy. That I believe is why the car does so well in owner-polls.
