[Peter Brown]

I have tried to send you details and contact details , but that is outside the site rules .
I think my description would be adequate for you , as it very basic . Give it a try , you can do no harm .

 

[Peter Brown]

Curious is anyone has been able to get a repairable diagnosis or is this just something we Prius owners have to live with. Any help would be great!

Hi , I have a 2004 prius that has this problem in cold weather , when put in yo either drive or reverse, it goes into neutral, I solved this problem at a cost about 20 cents and it took less than 15 mins ,
I posted this solution on this site , and others have followed my method . It always has worked for me and never failed . Look it up on this site ,, or contact me for further information.

 

[overdrive4466]

I have had this Prius for less than 30 days. Monday I get in the car put it into reverse and it goes into neutral. I had to keep the gear shift pushed up to make it go in reverse. Then I tried to put it into drive and same thing I had to keep the gear shift pushed into drive to make it go forward.
I then parked it and called the dealership. They had never heard of such a thing.
Made arrangements to to have it towed the next day. Of course that evening I started the car again and it did not do it again. I took it in anyway and they could not duplicate the problem.
It has not happened again.
Anyone else had this problem? Any ideas?

brake light switch on the pedel .hold your foot on the pedel lighting up the stop lights it should engage,,,simple fix ,,flat headed screw driver ,, now it is awkward ,you needv to reduce the gap where the switch engages the pedel ..

 

[gdoerrer]

I have a 2004 prius , in icy conditions , the selector won't stay engaged. The on line solutions are both difficult and expensive , or driving whilst holding it in position until it all warms up . My solution cost about $0.2 and took me about 5 mins maximum . I measured to surround , cleaned the surround with methylated spirits on a clean cloth , Cut a circle of 1/8 rubber sheet to the size of the selector surround . Cut the rubber circle in to a segment that when glued in place , covers approximately one third of the slot . Job done . The knob moves freely to where I want it to be , the friction between the rubber segment and the selector shaft holds it in place , the car drives perfectly in forward or reverse . When everything warms up , I return the selector to its normal position , this works perfectly every time , without fail . I am in my 80s , I am not sure of the technology to send a photo , I will try . Hope this is of some use to someone

I take it you never experienced the Red Triangle of Death. I've had this problem for a while as well, and holding the lever where you want it works for a while, until the triangle shows up and the beeping starts.

 

[gdoerrer]

I have a 2004 prius , in icy conditions , the selector won't stay engaged. The on line solutions are both difficult and expensive , or driving whilst holding it in position until it all warms up .
My solution cost about $0.2 and took me about 5 mins maximum .
I measured to surround , cleaned the surround with methylated spirits on a clean cloth ,
Cut a circle of 1/8 rubber sheet to the size of the selector surround . Cut the rubber circle in to a segment that when glued in place , covers approximately one third of the slot . Job done .
The knob moves freely to where I want it to be , the friction between the rubber segment and the selector shaft holds it in place , the car drives perfectly in forward or reverse . When everything warms up , I return the selector to its normal position , this works perfectly every time , without fail .
I am in my 80s , I am not sure of the technology to send a photo , I will try . Hope this is of some use to someone

I've had this issue for a while as well, and holding the shifter in place (D or R) works for a while; until the Red Triangle of Death and it's accompanying beeping start. What then?

 

[bettieu1953]

My 2005 Prius started slipping out of reverse about 3 weeks ago. Holding the shift lever while backing up works, but would rather not have to. After reading forum I'm curious - did charging the 12V system work? And why would it?

 

[hdokes]

When the 12 volt battery gets low things get erratic. I have my 2009 Prius because the previous owner went out for a drive on a 4th of July and stopped to get gas. I'm guessing left the doors open so all the dome lights were on but when he went to start it up it wouldn't. I ended up buying it for a grand and found the 12 volt battery low. Charged it and I have put 100k miles on it since. Just had to replace the inverter coolant pump. Had the hatch open the entire time. Car started just fine but wouldn't stay in gear, forward or reverse... and couldn't put it in park. Always went to neutral. Took it for a test drive holding the shift knob in place... after about 10 minutes I didn't have to hold it any longer. Everything essentially runs off the 12 volt battery accept the drive motor and the a/c. If it goes low... the computer loses it's mind.