2001 Toyota Prius

DT: WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE SHUT DOWN AND WOULD NOT RESTART. ALL 3 TIMES THAT THIS HAPPENED CONSUMER WAS ON THE FREEWAY. CONSUMER OWNED THE CAR FOR 1 YEAR BEFORE IT STARTED STALLING, AND IT HAS STALLED TWO MORE TIMES SINCE THEN. EACH TIME THE CAR WAS TAKEN TO TOYOTA, AND EACH THEY TIME THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM WAS.*AK *SB *NM

ENGINE INTERMITTENT STALLING. ENGINE RUNS ROUGH AND GIVES CODE "171 LEAN MISSFIRE" DEALER ATTEMPS TO FIX THE PROBLEM INVOLVE ADDING FUEL INJECTOR CLEANER AND RESETTING THE CODE. UP TILL TODAY STALLS HAVE BEEN EITHER AT 55 TO 65 FOR SHORT PERIOD OF TIME APROX. 2 SECONDS. TODAY VEHICLE LIMPED HOME ABOUT 5 MILES. SAME CODE DISPLAYED. "!" ALSO DISPLAYED ON DASH AND TROUBLE CODE 171. AFTER THREE ON OFF CYCLE ON THE KEY "!" WAS NO LONGER DISPLAYED. CAR RUNS AGAIN.

MY 2001 PRIUS HAS BEEN IN FOR CPU REPLACEMENTS 4 TIMES AND A ENGINE REBUILD @ 69000 MILES FOR THE PROBLEM THIS SITE MENTIONED IN THE NEWS ABOUT THE 04-05 PRIUS STALLING. THEY SAID IT WAS LOW COMPRESSION ON THE LAST SERVICE CALL. WELL THE PROBLEM IS BACK!! EVEN AFTER A REBUILD. SO NOW WHAT? OH AND WHAT IS WORST IS THAT I HAVE TO TAKE A PHOTO OF THE PROBLEM LIGHTS BECAUSE WHEN THE PROBLEM HAPPENS IT PRODUCES NO CODES?!?! SO THEY CHARGED ME $75 AND DID NOTHING ONCE. NICE SERVICE. WHERE I TAKE MY PRIUS: FOX TOYOTA-SCION 415 TAUNTON AVENUE EAST PROVIDENCE, RI 02914 PHONE (401) 438-0350 , FAX (401) 434-4574

MY 2001 TOYOTA PRIUS HAS INTERMITTANTLY STALLED, FORCING ME TO PULL OVER, TURN OFF THE IGNITION AND RESTART. THIS APPEARS TO HAPPEN AT ANY SPEED, AND HAS HAPPENED 20-30 TIMES OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER TWICE FOR THIS PROBLEM APPROXIMATELY A YEAR AGO. THEY DID A REGULARLY SCHEDULED MAJOR SERVICING BUT THAT DID NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM DID NOT OCCUR OVER THE WINTER BUT HAS SINCE RESURFACED WITH WARMER WEATHER. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE SAME PROBLEM THAT NHTSA JUST ANNOUNCED WAS BEING INVESTIGATED IN 2004,2005 PRIUS MODELS.

PROBLEMS STARTED IN NOVEMBER 2003. HAD OIL CHANGED AND AN HOUR LATER ALL THE WARNING LIGHTS CAME ON IN THE VEHICLE. IMMEDIATELY RETURNED TO THE DEALERSHIP WHERE IT TOOK 2 WEEKS TO REPLACE THE FUEL PUMP (37,000 MILES). SINCE THEN THE CAR HAS BEEN BACK TO THE DEALERSHIP AN ADDITIONAL 9 TIMES TO THE CURRENT DATE (MAY 2005) FOR SEVERAL DIFFERENT THINGS. THE COMPUTER HAS BEEN REPLACED TWO TIMES. THE ENGINE HAS BEEN REPLACED. THE INJECTORS CLEANED, THEN A FEW MONTHS LATER HAD TO BE COMPLETELY REPLACED. THE THROTTLE BODY HAS BEEN REPLACED. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING THE CAR WHEN IT WOULD NOT ACELERATE AND HAD TO PULL OVER IN TRAFFIC. THE FIRST TIME THE DEALERSHIP SAID THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS WHEN THE CAR GOT TO THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY COULD NOT RECREATE THE CODES OR SITUATION SO THEY COULD NOT DO ANYTHING. THE SECOND TIME (APRIL 2005) ALL FOUR INJECTORS WERE REPLACED AS WELL AS THE MASS AIR FLOW SYSTEM. THE CAR HAS BEEN IN THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT OUR TOYOTA DEALERSHIP FOR A TOTAL OF 17 TIMES SINCE THE CAR ARRIVED AT APPROXIMATELY 180 DAYS!!! 10 OF THOSE 17 TIMES HAS BEEN BECAUSE THE WARNING LIGHTS HAVE COME ON. HAVE ENTERED INTO ARBITRATION AND WE ARE AWAITING AN ANSWER ON THE DECISION.

WHILE DRIVING, THE CAR LOST POWER AND WOULD START UP AGAIN, BUT WOULD NOT STAY RUNNING. CAR WAS TOWED IN AND THE DEALER PUT A NEW ENGINE ECU- (COMPUTER). THIS TOOK A MONTH, AS THE COMPUTER HAD TO BE MADE IN JAPAN. A YEAR AND A HALF LATER, THE NEW COMPUTER HAS BEEN REPLACED AND THE CAR CONTINUES TO NOT START UP. IT HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP FOUR TIMES THIS MONTH, EACH TIME THE CAR IS RETURNED TO ME AND WILL NOT START THE NEXT DAY.

TWICE NOW I HAVE HAD WARNING LIGHTS APPEAR ON MY 2001 TOYOTA PRIUS SCREEN. THE FIRST TIME WAS THREE WEEKS AGO WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON A FREEWAY IN HOT WEATHER. I PULLED OVER AS I WAS LOSING POWER. THE GAS ENGINE WOULD NOT TURN ON. I WAS ON BATTERY POWER ONLY. I LIMPED TO AN EXIT AND PARKED THE CAR. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE NEAREST TOYOTA DEALER. HE FIXED A STEERING RECALL PART AND THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE THE PROBLEM. HE COULD FIND NO ERROR CODES. I DROVE OFF. YESTERDAY IT HAPPENED AGAIN UNDER THE SAME CONDITIONS. I PULLED OVER, WAITED TWENTY MINUTES AND STARTED THE CAR AGAIN. THE WARNING LIGHTS WERE THEN OFF AND THE POWER WAS NOW NORMAL. I IMMEDIATELY TOOK IT TO MY HOME DEALER. HE TESTED IT AND TODAY TOLD ME THAT HE COULD FIND NOTHING. HE SAID THAT IF HE COULD NOT RECREATE THE PROBLEM IN THE SHOP, THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULD DO. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT SAFETY HAZARD AS THE LOSS OF POWER PARTICULARLY DURING AN ACCELERATION ONTO A FREEWAY COULD CAUSE A MAJOR ACCIDENT. MY FAMILY WILL NOW NOT DRIVE THE CAR ON A FREEWAY.*AK