[PrueUK]

Hi, new to you guys and looking for similar experience to convince my dealer I am not unique.
Last Jan, very cold night (-5 C?), next morning, large warning triangle, take me to your dealer message, car dead (symptoms like dying battery). Result: replaced ECU.
All fine since.
On Tuesday, very cold night (-3 C?), next morning, large warning triangle, take me to your dealer message, car dead (symptomes like dying battery). Car currently being assessed by service dept at local dealer.
Any ideas/similar experiences?

 

[nymatrix581]

Dead Prius in cold weather

I have owned my 2002 Prius for almost two years. In those two years something similar has happened to me on two separate occassions, once last winter and once this winter. On both occassions, after being exposed to extreme cold temps overnight, I started my Prius and it shut off with a big triangle. I started it up again and it stayed on but the triangle and the check engine light remained illumunated. My instincts told me that it was a sensor problem. After driving the car until it warmed up, I pulled over, turned off then re-started the car. The triangle was gone and the car ran just fine. There have been other colder nights that had no effect on the car. I guess it was just one of those things. I know I took a risk by driving the car with the triangle/check engine illuminated but I know how cold temps wreak havic on electronics. Other than that, no other problems. 52,750 miles

 

[mrv]

The ECU replacement sounds like
the US TSB EG009-01.
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... 622306.pdf

Perhaps you didn't get the newest
ECU upgrade? (Old ECU didn't give
the engine enough time to start on
a cold day before shutting down the
car. New ECU gives the engine a
little more time before calling it
quits.)

A drained 12v accessory battery
would give you different symptoms -
you wouldn't be able to use the
remote lock/unlock, the interior
lights won't come on, if you try
starting the car you might get a
white LCD screen (probably not even
the Toyota splash screen)... If
you try rebooting the car, a dead
12v battery won't restart the car
again, but if you can drive away
after a reboot it's something else.

 

[mary]

This happened to me, too-

And I was wondering if it was a serious problem. Basically, the car was parked outside (neither my parents nor I have a garage) in weather that barely got above 1o degrees F for 48 hours. It had been about 2 below when I parked on Friday night - on Sunday, when my sister tried to start it, we got the picture of the car with the exclamation point through it - electrical systems failure. She tried twice, and then we all went indoors and I tried to call the roadside assistance people to get a jump or a tow. This was Sunday night (yesterday); there was a football game on, and nobody would come! Well, after about a half hour, I went out to try to start and see if I could get more info from the display, and the car started right up and drove with no problems. So I'm now wondering - should I call the dealer or not? They are predicting more extremely frigid weather for the end of the week, and I don't want my car to break down!

 

[mary]

More about the warning signal- (and what's an ecu?)

Well, I took it to the dealer, and they checked it; it turns out I need a new onboard computer. There were three other priuses (sp?) in the lot with the same problem. The good news is that the car is still driveable and I won't harm the engine by driving it when these signals come on - also, it's still under warranty. This happened to me again last night (Friday), when the temp was about 19 F and the wind chill was near zero. Once the car had warmed up and I started again, the warning signals vanished. Isn't that weird?

 

[mrv]

please ask what the stored codes were, and why you are getting a new
computer (and which one) under warranty.

I have heard of TSB EG009-01, for codes P3115 and perhaps P3000 (which
trigger a bunch of warning lights, and your Prius won't start after a cold
"soak"), which replaces the HV ECU.

Basically, a cold engine might not start on the first try. (It takes a
few seconds for me to get a READY light on my 2001 here in the Boston MA
suburbs this COLD week (warm=teens^F).) The replacement HV ECU just
waits a little longer for the engine to start, before giving up on
starting the gasoline engine and throwing out the error codes and lots of
lights on the dash.

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... 622306.pdf
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... 623128.pdf

 

[JacobK]

I got my Prius back after a 2 week wait

I got my baby back tonight after a 2 week wait (and driving a Corolla at half the mileage). I had the same symptoms the day after picking up the car from it's 30k check up. The dealer (Liberty Toyota, Burlington, NJ) said the ECU had to be replaced and so did the gas tank, because of a bad bladder.

All I know is I missed my car and am grateful to have it back.