Mechanice Thinks I need a new ECM - Details Inside

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SunTzu, Mar 11, 2024.

  1. SunTzu

    SunTzu New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 30, 2023
    6
    0
    0
    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hello all.

    So, here's some background: Gen2 Prius (2007) with 220k miles, well taken care of, never been in the shop (literally not once).

    The tail lights, daytime running lights, and license plate lights suddenly stopped working about a month ago.

    We have checked all of the fuses, and they are working fine (replaced them as well, no joy).

    We tried replacing the Relay system with one we got from a junkyard, and that didn't fix the issue either.

    Now the Mechanic is saying that he thinks it's the ECM -- and I'm reading on here that ECM's very rarely fail.

    Any thoughts/ideas on what the issue could be?

    Thank you advance!
     
  2. ColoradoBoo

    ColoradoBoo Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 19, 2019
    1,110
    728
    4
    Location:
    Monument, Colorado USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    For electrical problems (gremlins) in older cars, you also want to check every ground wire. A little corrosion and rust can cause these problems. There are lots so you'll need a wiring diagram for your model.
    I agree with you, a bad ECM doesn't seem likely, especially with no Check Engine codes coming up.
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    26,011
    16,977
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Are you sure the mechanic didn't say BCM (body control module)? ECM is the engine control module, and none of the things you're posting about are in its job description.
     
    Tombukt2 likes this.
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 29, 2020
    11,594
    2,046
    0
    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Yeah that would be well what I would call quite rare actually there's something going on here but I don't know Just sounds real fishy the whole body control module that controls lots of stuff in the repair manual oh my goodness You don't have an extensive bunch of testing to do so that's where you need to go for this or somebody needs to go there for it The real factory manual and you'll be able to eliminate all of the nonsense that really does make a huge difference when you're tracking down something like this or unless you know the car that well there obvious things people that work on things are going to check grounds and so on but there's got to be a little more to the problem I'll have to read over your post again I guess.