[hourcar]

I'm a fleet manager for a car-sharing organization. We've got fourteen 2005 Priuses. I've twice experienced this issue: The car seems frozen--light on Power button illuminated, cannot pull key from slot, have difficulty getting the car to power down. Jump start is necessary to get it started. Then, when it's READY, the touch screen displays a warning message. Advises to proceed immediately to a level area and set the parking brake...???. Does anyone know what our customers might be doing to get the car into this mode? Or can you shed any light on the meaning of the warning message?

thanks
Kurt

 

[mrv]

the "frozen" thing is sometimes seen if the power button is pressed repeatedly, or not pressed hard enough... Be sure to hit the P (park) button first, as that sometimes helps to clear it.

(You may also have inavertently gone into IG-ON or ACC mode - is READY on the display when frozen? Be sure to apply the brake pedal firmly when pressing Power.)

There used to be a Knowledge Base article on this over on priuschat.com , but it appears that the KB is down/gone.


I'm guessing that your second comment on parking is more likely:

"CAUTION: Shift the position into range [P] when parking. The
batteries will not charge if the transmission is in neutral [N]."

This message on the display is shown in the Owner's Manual, but is often missed... US 2004, Section 1- 2 "Features on New Toyota Vehicle," Toyota Hybrid System, Precautions for use, page 14, and briefly mentioned again on page 121 under the description of messages shown when the Master Warning Light is on.

However, the manual does not specifically state that the message comes on if you open the driver's door and the car is not in Park...

What the owner's manual does say:
<quote>
When the multi~Vinformation display shows this message, the master warning light (red triangle around a "!" ) comes on in the instrument cluster. Read the message and follow the instruction.
^A When you leave your vehicle, or stop or park for a while, put the hybrid transaxle in "P".
^A Charging is necessary. In "N", charging will not be applied. The electric generator operates in "P", "D" or "B". If you continue driving, put the hybrid transaxle in "D" or "B" and depress the accelerator pedal. Do not leave the hybrid transaxle in "N". When driving in traffic jam, operate in "D".
</quote>

Also on page 27 of the same manual, section 2-1 "Operation of Instruments and Controls," "Keys and Doors," there is a chart of the various kinds of beeps you may hear from your Prius. A continuous beep inside the vehicle means that the car is not in Park, and the driver's door is open and/or the smartkey is no longer in the vehicle.

I think that the warning was more intended that you do not forget to put your car in Park (forget the car is on in electric, and just get out, and then the car drives itself into something), than it is a warning that you forgot your door open when trying to drive off.

 

[DanMan32]

I used to occasionally have the first problem you described. I called it a 'Hang on Ig-On'. I think the problem had been fixed for the 2005 MY, or at least a few months into the MY. Since the 50P campaign was done on my car, I never saw the problem again.
The way out of the problem I discovered, was to power off without depressing the brake pedal. Once the car powered down, you can try powering up as usual, pressing on the brake to get to READY.

Now if the 12V battery is weak for some reason, then weird things can happen, just as it can in any electronic device with marginally weak batteries. If the 12V aux battery is found to be low in voltage after a short (less than a week, though it should hold even two weeks), either the battery is bad, or you have an excessive standby load on the system. Check the usual: dome lights left in the Always On position, doors not closing all the way, etc. Once the human error conditions have been eliminated, then it is time to see if any ECUs remain on when they should shut down. I know there was a few bad audio amps that didn't always turn off.

Your second problem does sound like what Michelle was describing:
You opened the driver door when the car was still in 'gear'. The message is misleading when the car is in a gear other than neutral but not in park, but essentially it is saying "Don't leave a car in gear unattended, stupid! Bad things can happen!"

 

[richard schumacher]

In other words, some of your drivers don't know what they're doing and/or are careless. If a knowledgeable person can sit in the car with each new driver and talk them through practice runs of correct power up and power down procedures your problems will diminish greatly.

 

[DanMan32]

No, that's not what we are saying at all. True, one could push the power button without pressing the brake, which would put the car into Ig-On mode, but that wouldn't normally preclude one to subsequently power off by pressing the button again without pressing the brake. Pressing the button a bit too quickly MIGHT cause a Hang on Ig-On, but I am not so sure that's the case.

No, I believe the problem is the Hang on Ig-On issue, which is probably not an operator error.
As I said, be sure 50P was performed on the vehicles, or that the vehicles came from the factory with the same or better programming than 50P. Since 50P was done on my car, I never got the Hang on Ig-On since, nor have I heard the issue mentioned by anyone since 50P was initiated by Toyota.

 

[richard schumacher]

I hope the original poster will provide an update. With many novice users involved, operator error is certainly a significant possibilty.