I've noticed that if I press the EV button when stopped at a stop sign or red light, I can get the vehicle moving up to 25 MPH with the battery. This must save fuel. But I wonder if I am doing something that causes problems with the battery, motor, or other systems.
View 19 RepliesThis evening, long after sundown, I found myself stuck on an unmoving expressway with no sign of traffic starting up again (the radio reported a vehicle fire ahead, all lanes blocked). Time dragged on, and I started worrying about the possibility of the headlights draining the 12V battery , assuming that they do indeed run off the 12V battery. In a conventional car this wouldn't have been a problem because the idling engine would have maintained enough battery charge, but of course here the ICE wasn't running. So I turned off the power button to shut down the lights (it's a Canadian car, so there's no way of turning off the headlights with the power button on). That was safe in this particular situation because there were plenty of stopped vehicles behind me. It definitely would not have been safe if mine had been the last vehicle in the lineup.
View 7 RepliesI have a 2010 Grand Caravan, and the engine just stops while moving down the road. Once you shift to neutral, the engine starts again easily. The only common thing we've found is that the skid control light goes on. It doesn't seem to happen when going more than 30 mph, and does seem to happen more when the temps outside are changing, but both when we get a warm spell or a cold snap. The recall work on the key assembly has been done, and the key always seem to be in the on position, so it's not that known issue. The local garage couldn't find anything or even replicate the problem. The dealership replaced the spark plugs and did a fuel system cleaning. Those were probably due, but they didn't seem to work much.
View 5 RepliesIf my prius 12V starting battery is dead, and my keyless entry prius is locked, would I be able to jump start my vehicle when I cannot enter it to open the doors, hood or trunk ? The problem is I do not know if the keyless entry is powered off the hybrid battery or the 12V starting battery. If the keyless entry is powered from the hybrid battery, then this is not an issue.
However if the keyless entry is working off the starting battery and that battery is dead and the vehicle is locked, I do not know of how to open the door or the trunk or the hood to jump the vehicle as I cannot access any place in the vehicle suitable to give it a jump start.
OK, this is the second time I noticed this. I'm at a stop light, looking around, suddenly, I notice I am slightly moving forward. Is my foot (on the brake) just too relaxed, or what? I have never experienced this before in any vehicle.
View 14 RepliesI have a 2010 explorer. I bought it with a lot of the lights, i.e. tire pressure, skid control, abs, service engine, air bag, service rcs and some others on and these systems are not working. a module was missing associated to the AWD system, I have put one in but awd still does not work through the 4 high and 4 low work. The automatic door locks does not lock when the vehicle starts moving. Some of the lights on the dash and doors don't work either.
View 2 RepliesFriday I went to pick my daughter up from the school. Turned 2010 Rav4 off while waiting on her and then attempted to turn back on. I have a smart key, so it is just a matter of pushing the button, but nothing. Band teacher attempted jump starting it with no results. Next day my husband purchased a new battery from AutoZone and we installed it. Have lights, etc. now but it still won't start. tried putting the key up to the on off switch to get it to start, still nothing. It doesn't even sound like the car is even attempting to turn over.
There are multiple lights on in the dash, the check engine light, oil pressure light, electric power steering light, and the automatic transmission fluid temp light. I just had my car into the dealer to have the oil changed, tires, rotated, and the 25 pt. inspection done on it. Upon raising my hood the other night, I noticed that the reservoir for the radiator was empty. It should have been full, as I just had it into the dealership, so where did it go. Should I add coolant to it. Is there something that needs to be done after changing the battery?
I rebuilt the HV battery w/(tested) Gen II cells on a 2001 that I purchased cheap knowing that the HV was bad.
View 8 RepliesI'm sure it's been mentioned before, but if you need to put an 01-03 Prius into Neutral with dead battery (i.e. to push the car so you can reach it with jumper cables) you need to remove the rectangular panel on the bottom drivers side of the steering column. It's tiny, smaller than a postage stamp. Use a strong pen-knife or very small screwdriver to pop the panel out.
You may want to remove the panel when things are good, so if you ever have to use the gearshift release you don't have to hunt around for a knife since it's on pretty tight from the factory. (just leave it off once removed).
Ever since I got my 2010 Prius (about a week ago) I always get a little scare whenever I'm backing out of a parking place. The Prius seems to think that the ideal time to start the ICE to warm it up is when I'm moving backwards and halfway out of the spot... which, of course, causes a little vibration in the car and makes me think I hit or ran over something. It really scared me the first time... especially since I had only had the car a few hours then and I'm mostly used to it by now, but every now and then it catches me off guard.
View 19 RepliesI've been experimenting with 'B' mode while commuting. While stopped at a light, the ICE never shuts down. Is that normal? It seems like it should, regardless of the drive mode. The ICE was fully warmed up (190 F). I believe the battery was fully charged, as well. It tends to stay charged while in B mode.
If I switch from Drive to B while stopped at a light, the ICE stays off until the car starts moving. But if it was in B mode already, it never shuts down when the car is stopped.
Is there a way to keep the 12 volt battery charged, especially during extended period of time the vehicle has to stand idle (with accessory on).
I wanted to try firmly depressing the brake then press down the accelerator. This way the car won't move but energy is being used from gas and traction battery to recharge the battery?
Would like to know is this an okay method to maintain the 12 volt battery charged.
I have a 2004 gmc sierra and it is having heater issues. For a while now when starting it up cold it would not blow any warm air until the vehicle is moving. The other day while driving it would go back and forth between hot and cold.
View 3 RepliesWhen you put the car in park what exactly stops the car from moving. In other is it a brake of sorts or ??
View 19 RepliesNormally I wait for the car to stop backing up before switching to drive. Today I tried switching to drive while still backing up. It coasted to a stop then went forward.
Is that safe for the traction motor?
In the last couple of months I have noticed my '10 Prius III begins to roll forward or backwards about a foot depending upon which drive mode I select without releasing the brake. So here's the normal scenario I get in the car have my foot on the brake, turn it on wait for the ready beep/light, my foot has never left the brake or lessened pressure but not so much as to trigger the hill assist, I shift into D to go forward but say a car is coming and I don't want to go yet my car moves about a foot forward and I feel the brake pump up and then resist my foot. The same thing happens if I put it in R she rolls back a foot and stops. I don't recall noticing it before the great ECU update but I also can't say it didn't happen before the update was accomplished.
View 4 RepliesWhen stationary the vehicle shudders randomly as if it is cold. When moving it seems to judder and almost burst with power then lose power again, over 3000 rpm the problem becomes less of an issue but the vehicle does occasionally judder still as if the tyres have low pressure - which they don't.
At first I thought the oil may need filling up but after this the problem still persisted. I have also checked all spark plugs and no wires or tubes appear to have come loose. I read on anpther forum that the clutch have have been soaked? - If a new clutch is needed, how much that would cost?
I remember that my 2005 Prius had a short whirring noise when I shut it off, as some coolant fluid was moved around.
But my 2010 Prius has been pretty quiet at shut-down, until recently (has it always been there, or now that it's cold weather?) I noticed there's a very faint whirring noise coming from the engine compartment at shut-down. It lasts for quite a while -- almost a minute, then stops.
Our Prius is only a year old with less than 9,000 miles. Everything has been fine with it and then yesterday I took it out of the garage and started to drive and there was the most horrendous grinding/squealing/scraping noise as I started moving from the front passenger side (UK passenger, so left looking out).
I stopped the car and had a look, as at first I thought I was dragging something, but nothing to be seen. Checked the parking brake was definitely not engaged. I then thought perhaps something is caught in the brake pads and it will go in a bit, however even hard braking didn't seem to change the noise at all.
Carried on (I was going about 7 miles), and as I drove it would gradually get quieter, and then get louder again, with the occasional "clang" sound almost like a spring under tension suddenly moving.
Towards the end of the journey it had started to go quieter again, but with the window down you could still hear constant squeal/grind.
Parked the car, was away for an hour, came back and set off home and the noise was totally gone. Entirely silent all the way back home! Now I don't know what to do - whether it will come back, or whether I should take it in to garage for them to look (even though it's now not making any noise).
Three days ago while stopped at a light the car creeped forward forcing me to press harder on the brake to keep vehicle from moving.
Next day drove for 100+ miles with some stop and go traffic no problems. Third day drove 50 miles and upon arriving at home brakes felt spongy and nearly hit the floor the dash illuminated "Check Brake System".
My Camry has 5437 miles on it.
The dealer just called and said they need to replace a "brake booster". They said there is a TSB that addresses this issue in a VIN range.
Image here : YouTube [URL].....
I'm glad I was only stopping to pull into my drive way and not the freaking stop and go freeway traffic on the way to work in the morning.
I just bought a 2010 Prius II and was wondering what size wheels will fit on it. What is the minimum offset I can go with a 17x8 without having the tire scrape the fender when I turn the wheel all the way to make u-turns?
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