Prius (2004-09) :: Could Not Shift Out Of Neutral Or Turn Car Off
May 11, 2013
We love our 04 Prius (190K, still original brakes, etc.). Today we encountered a strange problem. My wife was driving and pulled into a parking lot. She could not turn the car off , remove the box key, or shift out of neutral. No warning lights.
After about 10 min. the car would drive again. We've now cycled about 5 times (i.e. driven somewhere) and it seems OK. We replaced the 12V battery a couple of years ago and haven't seen any problems in that area.
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I read a couple posts on Gear Shift switching back to neutral. Here is my situation. Got in the car to return some movies and realized I left them on the table. Went back to the house, and right before I turned into the driveway, noticed a metal coffee cup had come out of the holder and the edge was up under the accelerator. I had been applying my brakes to slow for the turn into the driveway, then when I went to accelerate, nothing, then noticed the cup.
Removed the cup and stepped on the gas to go into the driveway. Nothing. Turned the car off, then back on and tried to put into drive, goes a tiny bit then slips back into neutral. Tried it in reverse, same thing, pops back into neutral.
I can hold the shift lever in position and the car moves. It's in the driveway now and will get towed to the Toyota dealer tomorrow. Obviously a problem with the shifter as a result of the "coffee cup" under the edge of the accelerator. And yes, I know it's dangerous, hubby used the car last on his visit home this weekend and apparently the coffee cup either got put down on the floorboard or was knocked out. I bring it in the home when I'm done.....anyway.
So, the most likely cause was the spring talked about in other posts breaking, or a switch sticking or what. Seems like something got knocked or shifted out of adjustment. Does the accelerator have some type of cut off switch if something gets lodged under it?
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When temperature surpasses 90 degrees inside car (especially while sitting parked while I'm at work) I have problems getting shifter to stay in gear. When I shift in D or R the shifter immediately shifts back to neutral. I found I can hold the shifter in the desired direction and the car goes like normal.
I tried a test of leaving windows slightly open and found the car cooler inside and the gear shift problems did not occur.
The dealership says the gear shift is electronic, no gears. Is there a switch for this under the panel by the gear shift? I have a 2008 Prius, that I recently purchased used. My wife has a 2005 Prius that we purchased new and have never had an issue like this.
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I am having difficulty with my Prius, (just started) that it won't shift out of neutral to drive or reverse. I have read several posts, one says replace the shifter knob, but I did read one i thought that said the 12v battery might be the problem with low voltage. The battery is 5 years old.
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I have an '07 Prius Touring with about 95K miles that I have owned for about a month (after my previous '07 was totaled). My wife tried to drive it for the first time today, and the problem is that when my wife tries to start the engine, the dash lights come on and the color display comes on, but the car won't "shift" into Drive or Reverse (it will go into Neutral). A dash warning light also comes on that the owner's manual says means Take to the Toyota Dealer for Service. Then if she gets out of the car and then I get into the drivers seat, everything works fine.
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2009 Touring Dead at 55000... All lights on dash light up and won't shift to reverse or drive only neutral. Towed to dealer and they said it threw several codes and are replacing the tranny.
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This morning my 2011 Camry LE won't start. Based on looking at car manual I think the 'Engine Immobilizer System' is still engaged and perhaps not recognizing my key, neither of them since I tried the spare as well. The instrument panel stays black and I can not turn the key or even move the gear shift into Neutral.
Any way to fix this without calling for a tow? So.... found out the problem! The steering wheel was angled slightly. With key in the ignition we jerked the steering wheel slightly and it released the ignition and was able to start.
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Vehicle was repaired after front end collision and I get no codes found on scanner, had some bad connectors which I replaced and codes went away. I don't get ready light and the dash lights do not cycle off (ABS, SRS, Check engine, Etc. Etc.) The car will shift into neutral but not drive or reverse. Has new Aux battery and Hybrid battery is showing two bars. What to check ?
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I have recently been having problems with my 2013 Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon). When I press power, all the dashboard lights turn on. And when I try to shift the car into reverse or drive the car stays on neutral. What is going on?
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I have a 2013 Prius-III. I have a steep driveway, about 250 years long. At the bottom of the driveway, just before entering the roadway, a few times the vehicle shifts into Neutral. At first I thought I was hitting the shifter or a bump was causing the shift, but since it now has happened multiple times, I know it is not my touching the shifter, but I am not sure what else could cause this behavior.
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I have a 2004 Hyundai Accent, has 167k miles on it. Transmission has 80k, put in at about 155k. Came home from Tahoe, and the next day, I tried to go to work, and the gear shift was stuck in first. Hadn't had the money to get anything fixed, but when I finally got it looked at, was told I needed a new clutch and possibly a new flywheel. Been cleaning it out to sell, and today I started it up and realized that the stick is in neutral and moves back and forth freely, but the transmission is in gear. I know that, because I had to keep my foot on the clutch to keep it running. What would cause that? I'm hoping it's something easy and cheaper to fix, because I love this car and am not ready to part with it just yet. The clutch doesn't have that many miles on it either, maybe 10-15k, if that. I've had the car for almost ten years, so it's not poor driving, on my part.
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Recent purchase of new 2014 Prius v model 3. Less than 5,000 miles on odo. Transmission shifted into neutral on two occasions when making a right hand turn while going over a small depression (drainage swail). Of course Toyota recommends that I take it to their dealer for diagnosis but if they can't pull the code they will send me on my way. Going to go anyway but feel it is pointless.
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I just received a phone call from my wife stating her prius automatically goes to neutral.
She mentioned there were not any odd noises. Just that once in drive it automatically goes to neutral.
The car is now parked in a lot until I go and take a look.
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I wonder what's the difference between Stealth (no arrow on display at all) and Neutral Gear? The reason I ask is, Neutral Gear is much easier to maintain than Stealth.
Also, when I break moderately hard, it seems like the CVT gear is put to low, so for every yard I travel, more rotation on charging motor. Since Toyota did a great job on transition between regeneration and brake pads, I can't tell when brake pads start to work. Any indications?
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After getting on the highway, the red triangle of death, the amber ABS and the VSC lights came on, and little exclamation point came on on millage/audio screen, while battery power went down from high blue to one blue bar. Pulled car over to parking lot, and put in park. After putting it in park, the car would not go out of neutral, but the power still worked.
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I just bought a 2006 Prius about a month ago (57K). I love the car and have been educating myself on all things Prius, This car has also made me change my driving style quite a bit. I am getting around 50 MPG (combined) and very happy about it.
I have been using some of the hypermiling techniques to get the mileage, one of the things I do is to put the car in Neutral (to emulate the Glide portion of the Pulse and Glide) especially when coming down a gradient. I was bit concerned about using the Neutral gear and called Toyota Corporation to get a clarification, The answer I got from Toyota was - there is no technical issue, however they do not recommend this be done for safety reasons.
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On my 2002 sometimes when I come to a stop after rolling around with the ICE off, then right after I shift in Park the ICE starts up. Why would it do that? Is this a bug or is it normal?
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I'm very puzzled by how prius (2008) decides whether to use gas when I coast with neutral (I only do that if there is a long stretch of the road that is going down the hill). Same roads, same driving style, but sometimes, the gas usage goes to 0 but sometime it continue to use gas. Sometimes if you just let it in the gear a little longer or just press the gas pedal, it would go 0 after switching to neutral. There is no consistency that I can come up with the best method to get it to not to use gas and just slide using the gravity and momentum.
I can understand if it has to fill up the battery but when it uses gas at neutral, no transfer of energy among all parts. The diagram (wheel, engines, battery) shows standstill but it still uses gas. I don't have air on and turn the fan to the lowest and it doesn't make any difference.
A few conclusions I had:
It will always use a little gas at highway speed (55 to 70mph).
It appears to use gas at higher humidity (not sure but the MPG is higher when it's humid).
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I have a Gen II 2009 Prius with 31K miles on it. I love my Prius and until now had no issues with it. Last Saturday when I was driving on the highway, the following lights came on the dashboard.
1) Master Caution Light
2) VSC
3) ((!)) 'electronic brake malfunction'
4) Check engine light
The car seemed to be handling fine, and I kept on driving. However, after a few miles the car would go in neutral, I would need to stop before it will let me drive. I got to where I needed to go and then had the car towed to the dealer service shop.
The dealer came back and said that the water pump for the inverter needed changing (it was under warranty) plus the 12V utility battery also needed changing. They saw the DTS codes when the connected their computer to the car. I have my car back and other than the price of the battery had a really good experience with the dealer service center. They were prompt and efficient. Also it seems to me that car is driving more in the electric mode with the engine coming on less. Just my impression.
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My fiancee has a 2005 base model and is out shopping today. She just called me and said that she is stuck in a parking lot.
She told me on the way off the highway today the "big and little" triangles came on, but the car drove fine. When she got back to her car to leave, the car would turn on presumably, but all the warning lights were on. She then said that the car would not go into drive and only into neutral.
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I've searched & still haven't resolved my problem.
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