Immobilizer light just started working?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by pasadena_commut, Dec 7, 2019.

  1. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    The 2007 Prius has an immobilizer system indicated by a flashing red car icon when the fob is out and the driver's door has been opened. Or so I just learned because for the last several months since we bought the car none of the people who have been in the car have noticed it before. It first came on today after I drove to an event to meet my wife and she was late, so I stayed in the car after turning it off for about 10 minutes. When I got out the red car appeared for the first time. It was by far the longest "car off" to "driver's side door open" interval the car has seen. Typically that is more like 10s, rarely more than a minute. There were never any codes associated with that system, and it has been read many times. Either we all somehow failed to notice a blinking red light or it wasn't there previously. Unless it goes away again though it is going to be awfully hard to diagnose, as it is now working as the manual says it should.
     
    #1 pasadena_commut, Dec 7, 2019
    bisco likes this.
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    in most (all) cases, it is simply a failyre to notice. i dont recall anyone ever discovering a cause, or having it recur once they've noticed it. but who knows?
     
    #2 bisco, Dec 7, 2019
  3. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    Given this?
    What real choices do you have?
    You could take it to a dealership and say..."It appears to be working right as it should, could you confirm it is working right? " Which I think leads you nowhere. They'ed either tell you to ignore it...it's working OR they'ed charge you a whole lot to run diagnostics, to probably tell you it appears to be working. You say no codes have been thrown in relationship to this system.

    If it was me? I'd try not to worry. And I'd just keep a longer term eye on the light. IF there was a problem, and IS a problem, the light will go away again.
    Sometimes in diagnosis or discovery, all you can do is wait and continue to observe. If it consistently works? Then I'd assume it is a case where it was just missed- move on.

    My Honda Fit has an immobilizer light and even though I knew it had the system, I didn't consciously notice the light until I approached it at night and saw it blinking in the dark. So I can attest that it's easy to overlook or just not notice.
     
    #3 The Electric Me, Dec 7, 2019
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