[LouisD]

This morning the Master Warning Light came on and the Hybrid System Warning shows on the display. I was backing out of my garage. According to my manual the car shouldn't be driven in this case. Should I be having the car towed to my dealer who's about 15 miles away or should it be safe for me to drive over? Anyone have any thoughts? Oh yea, it's a 2001 with about 40k miles on it.

Thanks.

--Louis

 

[RSnyder]

The least risk course of action is to follow the instructions in the manual (have it towed). But experience from many owners who post on this board and others like it indicates that there are several causes for these lights that do not interfere with driving to the dealer. Many of these conditions will actually clear (at least temporarily) and the lights will go off after a few off/on cycles. Unfortunately, if the lights go off, sometimes the computer error codes are also deleted, so your dealer won't be able to diagnose the problem.

So if you're not too risk averse, and your Prius still seems to drive normally, drive it to your dealer and ask them to read out the codes with as few power off cycles as possible. Otherwise, shut it off immediately and have it towed without turning it back on, to try to preserve the codes.

At 40K miles, the problem is probably still covered under warrantee. Good luck.

 

[melgish]

Put the car in neutral, push it down your driveway out into the street, and then call Toyota's 24 hour roadside assistance ... let them decide

 

[LouisD]

For those that are interested.. The final result was a code P3191 and a code P3101. According to my dealer they are going to replace the ECM based on a 2003 TSB about the engine failing to start when it is supposed to. In addition, they are "waiting on parts" to perform the hybrid battery repair based on the recent recall.

Sound reasonable?

--Louis

 

[Xerooopwoe]

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[Xerooopwoe]

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