Prius (Gen 2) :: ABS, VSC And The Red Triangle Came On
Aug 12, 2011
I left home and got 1/2 mile down the road when the ABS, VSC and the Dreaded Red Triangle came on. I've cleaned the battery cooling fan (Big Dogs) recently and the dealer changed the Inverter cooling pump a few weeks ago. It is working as I see fluid moving in the reservoir. When I power up the car, the Battery cooling fan comes on within 30 seconds high speed. I've never heard it run on high speed before. When I put my hand in front of the cooling outlet I feel hot air.
The car has 182K miles on it. The charge screen shows the battery about 1/2 full.
The starting battery is original but has never been a problem.
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I am unable to connect to a 2005 Prius. I have an Actron CP9190/CP9185 Elite Autoscanner. I have used it many times on other cars and many other Prii but it won't connect to this particular car. ( I have a small car lot and keep 8-12 2004-2009 Prii in inventory) I tried 3 other Prii that I have on my lot and they connect immediately and power up but this one won't.
When I first got this car in it had some lights on and I hooked it up and it worked intermittently. I had to hold the connection just right or I would lose connection. This car had some aftermarket Bluetooth or GPS system that was removed before they traded it and I had my mechanic remove the bird's nest of wires next to the OBD connector that weren't connected to anything. This was about a month ago. This car is a 2005 with 129k.
I had the battery rebuilt before I sold it. The new owner has put over 2000 miles on it since. Now the CEL and triangle are on again and I am trying to see what the codes are but can't connect. Is there a fuse that powers the connector? or is one of the pins a power supply?
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The red triangle first came on when my parents were driving my 2001 a few months ago. They described lack of power, etc. As the car was several hundred of km/miles away, I didn't have a chance to see it for myself until it got towed back (as they no longer trusted it to navigate through the mountain passes with several medium to long steep hills between the two cities) a few weeks ago. When I took a quick look myself (not a mechanic myself, just basic observation), the battery would drop "1 bar" with only very moderate use and quickly gain 1 bar or 2 when charged by the engine. Basically, the battery level is dancing between full, 3/4 full, 1/2 full, and 1/4 full continuously.
Mileage: 226000 KM / 140430 MI.....
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I touched the positive post of the rear battery to frame and received a brief spark. Now car starts, but after driving a mile got red triangle, (!) and VSC displays. Also, MFD is blank.
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Yes, they are all on. I have the red triangle, the check engine, the brake, and the vsc lights on. I put in a new high voltage battery this past summer so what now?
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I pulled off I40 to check my tires. I was getting some side to side wobble. I didnt see anything wrong and restarting got no power only light was parking led very dim. After a while power was back. I started up to the red triangle. Now I'm sitting in ready mode not wanting to shut down. 4 bars. Torque indicates no error codes
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Got a red triangle on dash. 12 volt was dead. AAA recharged it red triangle still on. Why?
So what does a red triangle with exclamation mean? Is it a fatal problem?
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Driving my 2008 with 189,000 miles on the congested "freeway" the ominous red triangle and the yellow exclamation next to it just lit up. A quick scan of the OBD showed no error codes and good auxiliary battery, engine coolant Temps etc. And good gas mileage, engine vacuum. I had replaced the spark plugs with new iridium two months ago. When I stopped and checked the hybrid converter had good levels and turbulent flow. The oil had been changed a week ago and checked again at lunchtime. Now only the red triangle shows.
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After driving for 2 or 3 miles my car turns on this red triangle and says "problem" on the GPS. All the threads i have found this is accompanied by a check engine light but mine does not. On the gps there is also a symbol that i looked up in the manual, it says to take the car to a dealer. is there any way to know exactly what this triangle means? There is not CEL tripped, tried 4 code reader and nothing.
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My 2007 proud of 180k miles which hasn't had any issues up until now just randomly gave me this error, where the red triangle of death, vsc, and tire pressure ((!)) Sign came on. It drives fine and there is no check engine light.
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My 2006 has about 67,000 miles on it. The other day it began to behave in a very strange way. I had the triangle show up and it just would not go away. I checked all the fluids and they were good. I did notice that there was a new icon I had never seen before. It looked like it was an curved device with a thermometer attached. When I looked it up the suggestion was to go to Toyota right away. So I decided to drive over. As I drove I could hear the fan from the back seat coming on. It was going very fast, so I guessed that the traction battery was overheating. The car would barely drive, no power. Even when I floored it there was very little acceleration.
I got it to the dealer and they gave me a loaner because it the car was recalled due to the accelerator pedal. Later in the day I got a call saying that a couple of ECUs needed to be replaced. The next day I got a call saying the traction battery was bad and would be replaced under the long term warranty. They said I also needed an aux battery. I knew my battery was not charging up to better than 10 1/2 volts dc. They said it would cost $300 installed, so I said I would get back to them.
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My 2001 won't start. When the key is turned, the system starts up and the hybrid system initializes, there are 3 clicks in the dash, and the check engine light stays on, without the engine even turning over. I had a mechanic look at it cursorily and he said it looks like the hybrid system is fine, the signal to start the engine isn't resulting in the engine starting. He said it was probably the starter or a fuse to the starter, but the gen 1 Prius doesn't have a starter, so I don't know that I can trust his diagnosis.
The 12v battery is brand new (3 months old) and is an aftermarket deep cycle battery. Also, it has been very cold here. The triangle of death doesn't appear, so I am hoping that it isn't something in the hybrid system. It did this off and on before it stopped starting at all. I was also getting the turtle intermittently when it was giving me occasional problems. Turning the car off and on a couple times usually made this go away. The car has 154k on it. I am thinking it might be the ignition starter switch, but I'm not sure.
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'01 Prius with ~276K miles on it. (Not quite as old as it sounds...new traction battery at ~140K miles, basically new engine ~50K miles ago) The last month or two it has been driving great, getting above 50 mpg in the summer here in NC. However, every now and then I will notice while driving that the car will "catch," feel like something is causing it to decelerate for 2-3 seconds, feels like it kicks completely to the traction battery, and then I will accelerate and knock it out of whatever it was doing.
Well, this morning as I was driving, same thing -- maybe a second or two longer -- and the red triangle/warning light comes on out of nowhere. I drive it a couple of more miles, but it didn't feel like it was driving normally so I parked it. The person who I was going to meet come to where I was and the car sat there for about 7 hours.
As every worst possible scenario is going through my head during this time I am planning to tow the car somewhere (probably Taylor Automotive in Sanford, NC, a little more than an hour away from me), I get back to the car, turn it on and everything is normal. I was able to drive it about 15 miles back home and now I need to figure out my next move.
I would like to think it is a 12v battery issue -- not been changed in 6 years. It is giving some clues like last night when I shut the driver side door, normally the interior light should stay on a few seconds before cutting off, instead it cut off immediately...door locks are acting funny...anything that may drain the battery a little bit will cause a delay in the car starting the next time you turn the key.
I also wonder if it is an inverter issue. On our way to the beach a month ago when I pulled the car off the interstate for a break, left the car on and while the engine shut off I still heard a noise from the hood. Opened the hood and I believe the inverter was still running full blast. Never seen that before, nor again.
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The red triangle warning light on our 2004 came on and went away again It has 100k miles If I take it to the dealer can they pull some codes and figure out why it turned on We have to drive the car to 600 miles for the upcoming weekend and I don't want to be stranded on the side of the road The car has 103,000 miles We just replaced the 12v battery so I know that is OK
I also saw the following things to check. Is there anything else we should check?
1 - Are any warning lights on besides the red triangle? For example, the red BRAKE light, the amber ABS and VSC lights, or the amber circular icon?
2 - Did you check the brake fluid level? If low, buy a new container of DOT3 brake fluid and replenish as needed This fluid will dissolve paint, so do not spill it
3 - While you are at it, check the radiator and inverter coolant levels by looking at the translucent reservoirs behind the radiator and next to the inverter If low, fill with Toyota Super Long Life Coolant
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A 2001 Prius is getting a warning triangle. No check engine light, and with my OBDII scanner, it shows there are no codes. I can erase and the triangle goes out, but it comes back on eventually. It seems only if the car is driven a long time/distance it comes on, indicating some heat issue perhaps.
The 12v battery is good, the radiator coolant is good, the inverter coolant is good and flowing. The washer fluid hose is broken, could THAT give the death triangle? There must be a way to have the cars display whats wrong with the fancy software and touch screen?
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My partner's Prius is bring up the red warning triangle. She had a system diagnostic carried out, which brought up these two faults:
C1241 Low Battery Positive Voltage
C1300 ABU ECU Malfunction
The faults were reset, but it was only a short matter of time, before the red triangle appeared. My partner tells me this tends to happen more frequently when she is steering left and in colder weather.
She was advised the ABS ECU will need to replaced (it does says "new actuator" on the paperwork)
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Just this week the red warning triangle is appearing intermittently. I live over 200 miles from a dealer or Toyota certified shop- Light seems to come on only when I push the brakes moderately hard and is on for just a second then disappears- beeps when it comes on, too. I called the Toyota dealer and their answer is to "just bring it in"-- not able to "just bring it in" as it's again, 200+ miles away. One of the service reps said it might be low brake fluid- but the actual service tech said it was a failing ECU most probably - seems to be driving fine- should I be panicking about now?
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The last few weeks I've been noticing that, upon start, the hybrid battery is showing at 1 line. It's been really hot in SO cal and the air con has been blasting, so I've been letting it charge up a bit before driving. Once I'm on the road, the battery charges fine and seems to hold a charge.
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Is it safe to drive my '02 with the triangle on the dash? I've tried to get rid of it, throttle body cleaned, MAF cleaned, battery seems good (13v, no load). What else can I do to try and get rid of it? BTW, '02 Prius, 183K mi. It runs good, cycles on and off normally (motor to battery, etc.). The code clears it self after sitting about a week w/ occasional starts, then I drive it for about 50-70 miles and the light comes back on...
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A diagnostic done by a mechanic on my 2005 base model prius pulled the following codes; p3000, c1259, c1310, poa80, p3022. The mechanic replaced the main battery computer, but red triangle still illuminated and green bars are displayed on energy monitor. The car only has only 65,000 miles on it and the car runs ok, but does not accelerate properly. I'm being told the main battery needs to be replaced.
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I have a 2005 Prius. The red triangle and the MIL check engine light came on the dash AND a image came up on Information screen: a car with an exclamation point.
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