Loss of Dynamic Radar-Controlled Cruise Control: Clean Sensor

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by CEnsalata, Dec 4, 2016.

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  1. CEnsalata

    CEnsalata New Member

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    Sooo... took my brand new 2016 Prius Four with ATP on the highway for it's first long trip yesterday. I live in Vermont, and it was a little bit blustery/rainy yesterday. However, there is no standing snow on the ground yet and no salt, so the roads are no where near what they're going to be in a few months.

    Anyway, I lost cruise control! The triangle/exclamation warning popped up with a ding and said "Clean Sensor" and canceled the cruise control. This also happened to mean that my vehicle lost speed very rapidly because we were going uphill, which in and off itself can be a safety concern. This is EXTREMELY frustrating to me, because like I said, the conditions were like a 2/10 in terms of how bad they are going to be, which means I'm virtually never going to be able to use the cruise control in the winter or perhaps not even in summer rain! I had my husband trying to read the manual as I drove to see if there is a way to switch from "dynamic radar-controlled" cruise to just a regular cruise control and forgo the option of using the sensor, but he couldn't find anything.

    Please, someone tell me something that is going to make me not completely pissed off at the Toyota corporation and my 13 day old car that I want to put in neutral and push off a cliff right now.
     
    #1 CEnsalata, Dec 4, 2016
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  2. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    Your dealer should help with two things:
    Telling you how to turn OFF the adaptive part of the cruise control and.......
    In checking out the sensors to be sure one of them isn't "bad" or that one of the wheel wells isn't missing a water deflector.

    My Ford Fusion does that too......but the conditions have to be VERY bad for it to happen. Like raining so hard that it would be a good idea to get off the road bad.
     
    #2 Sam Spade, Dec 4, 2016
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think this, from the Owner's Manual:

    upload_2016-12-4_7-21-1.png
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Dec 4, 2016
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  4. CEnsalata

    CEnsalata New Member

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    Hey, thanks for that! I had a feeling there was an option, but my husband has little patience with manuals. I was trying all kinds of button configurations, and I know I did hold that button down. But I probably did it when cruise control was on. I will test it and let you know how it goes.

    Also, thanks, Sam, for the advice. I will make an appointment if it happens again in mild conditions. It did happen on the way to my destination and wouldn't work for miles. Then later on it worked again, then stopped working. It worked on the way home. So maybe that indicates it is a bad sensor. Or maybe the debris came off in the rain/wind.
     
    #4 CEnsalata, Dec 4, 2016
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  5. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    I'd definitely be getting the dealer to check it, as it sounds like a fault. It should work perfectly under those circumstances, I had no trouble recently in very heavy rain, and it's worked fine for 8000km.

    I presume your sensor is clean - it's behind the TOYOTA emblem.
    20160627_135001-1 - Copy.jpg
     
    #5 alanclarkeau, Dec 4, 2016
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  6. Kremtok

    Kremtok Smug Alert!

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    That happened to me a few weeks ago, but in very wintery conditions and after an 80-mile drive. I never did figure out where the sensor is, but it cleared itself somehow after being parked for a couple of hours.

    Another strange thing is that I realized it wasn't working well before the car told me so. The car just didn't seem to see the slower moving vehicle in fromt of me so I cancelled CC, then when I reset it I got the warning.
     
    #6 Kremtok, Dec 5, 2016
  7. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Clean the Toyota logo on the front of the car. The sensor is behind the logo.
     
    #7 Prodigyplace, Dec 5, 2016
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  8. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    20160627_135001-1 - Copy.jpg
     
    #8 alanclarkeau, Dec 5, 2016
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  9. CEnsalata

    CEnsalata New Member

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    So I tried the non-dynamic radar-controlled cruise control. And the instructions do work. It's just the screen shows minimal difference between the two kinds, so you would never know that you were successful unless you were really intentionally trying. In my opinion, it should ding or flash "dynamic cruise control disabled; regular cruise control enabled".
     
    #9 CEnsalata, Dec 6, 2016
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  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah, it should clearly display the mode! Being in std cruise while you think you're in dynamic, could be disastrous!
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Dec 6, 2016
  11. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    I just RTFM. As far as I can tell, with DRCC enabled, there is a vehicle shown in the upper right of the indicator. That vehicle is not there for regular cruise control.
    DRCC upload_2016-12-6_19-34-44.png
    Regular Cruise upload_2016-12-6_19-35-21.png
     
    #11 Prodigyplace, Dec 6, 2016
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  12. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    You'll have either this:
    upload_2016-12-7_16-46-39.png
    OR this:
    upload_2016-12-7_16-47-14.png

    displayed if you've got DRCC functioning.
     
    #12 alanclarkeau, Dec 7, 2016
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  13. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    I just checked this morning. The only difference in the display between DRCC & Cruise Control is the lack of the "RADAR READY" text. The Regular Cruise Control light is totally separate light, to the right of the DRCC light.
     
    #13 Prodigyplace, Dec 7, 2016
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