Problems with 2005 Toyota Prius ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

My 2005 toyota prius failed with engine shutdown at 65 mph on florida turnpike. after restarting on shoulder, vehicle would only achieve 52 mph, then failed again.

Dear nhsta, on may 20 of 2005 i was driving my 2005 toyota prius when all of a sudden the gas engine stopped working and 4 dash warning/faults lights came on (red triangle; check engine; brake fault; vehicle stability control fault). i continued driving for 3 miles on the electric motor until the battery charge light indicated near complete battery discharge. i turned off the car, waited 30 seconds and turned the car back on. immediately the gasoline engine started and the battery began to charge. at this point only the check engine and red triangle lights came on. i drove to the toyota dealer who said that my problem sounded like the stalling problems with the 33 reported cases of 2004/05 prius stalling. toyota upgraded the engine ecu and the car has been fine ever since. however, i wanted to let nhsta know so that they know that this prius stalling problem affects more than just 33 prius owners. also, i worry that toyota does not know for certain that the problem is fixed premanently. thanks, gary beaupre

While driving my 2005 toyota prius on highway at approximately 65 mph, the gasoline engine completely stalled but the electric motor continued to run allowing me to exit the highway, albeit at a reduced speed. i managed to drive approximately 1 mile to 1.5 miles until the electric motor battery was conmpletely depleted. the vehilce would not restart and i arranged to have it towed. while waiting for the tow service i tried to restart it a number of times and after 35 - 40 minutes it started and since then has had no issues. i believe that when it stalled on the highway the crusie control was set and there were between 1.6 and 2 gallons of gasoline remaining in the tank. this could have been a disaster if i was in heavy traffic in the fast lane as the car went from 65 mph to 35 - 40 mph in seconds! i also barely made it off of the highway and was actually sticking into the travel lane somewhat when the elctric motor also completly died. i notified toyota of the problem but no corrective actions were taken and they did not inform me of any issues.

Bought a 2005 toyota prius on 5/16/05. on the second day it lost power on the highway at 60+mph. engine light and ! light on. car ran well enough to take to dealer after re-starting a few times. lights remained on until re-started at dealer. car remains at dealer.

I had been driving my 2005 toyota prius at 40mph when i accelerated to pass a car and then had to stop briefly at a traffic light. when i pulled away from the light i noticed that the car felt very sluggish and wouldn't accelerate over 40 mph. i then realized that i was driving on the hybrid system only and that the engine had stalled. a big red exclamation point lit up on the dash and i was able to coast into a parking place off the highway. when i attempted to restart the car it did nothing. i called toyota service and explained my problem and he arranged a tow truck pick up my car but told me that since it was 5pm they wouldn't be able to look at it until the morning. the next morning they told me that the car started without incident and although they ran extensive testing they could find nothing wrong. they wanted me to come and pick it up but i refused stating that there definetly was something wrong with this car and that i was just glad that it didn't happen earlier in the day when i was on i-95 going 80 mph with a semi in back of me. i also told them that i had done some research on my own at priusonline and yahoo prius forum and found that there were more people who had the same problem and in most cases it was found to be due to a few codes that needed to be updated in the cars computer. i then asked them to check these specific codes. when i called back the next day they said that they ran the codes and found nothing and had taken the car for a long drive but had no problems. they released it to me and it has driven just as perfectly for me as it did up until the 1 second before it's engine quit without warning. i know that something potentially dangerous happened to my car that day and that there is just as much chance that it will happen again since nothing was fixed. i hope that you can help to avoid something potentialy tragic happening to me or someone else.

1. i bought a new prius in early march of 2005. i was coasting to stop (around 8-10 mph) for a yield sign and when i hit the foot on the brake, the vehicle started to accelerate. funny, but this problem happens only occansionally! 2. stimes the vehicles seems to come to a stall, at low speeds while making a turn or before coming to an dead stop. i personally have felt the vehicle going off the power during a turn, at low speeds <10 mph. 3. i tried to find any recalls on the vehicle, but was unsucessfull.

Dt: without warning the check engine light keeps coming on. consumer has taken car to dealer four times for the same problem. dealer replaced different parts and the problem was there after three attempts to fix it. consumer just got vehicle back for the fourth time. manufacturer will be called today. consumer was told they have never seen this problem in any other car. *tt

Gas motor stalled while driving on highway at 55 mph. electric motor continued to operate until the battery was depleted, about 1 or 2 miles. i was unable to pull the car over because i was in a construction zone. it was difficult to turn the car off, because of the lack of a key, but once i did restart it, it worked fine.

Reported incident to toyota customer support -- incident: 050412-000111 responses received from toyota was that the computer was fixed based on a technical service bulletin. no recurrence since the fix. to: toyota customer support sir or madam: i bought my 2005 prius new from mechanicsville toyota on december 1, 2004 and generally was quite satisfied with the car and the great gas mileage it provides. however, last thursday, 4/7/05, with 4738 miles on the odometer, while driving home from work, all the lights on the dash went on including the master warning light, check engine light, vsc light, and the multi information display is showing the red hybrid system warning light. the car lost power and i had to limp it home. the energy consumption display for the battery pack showed one red bar and the fuel gauge had two bars left. i called toyota roadside assistance which promptly dispatched a tow truck and delivered the car to the dealer. the dealer did a diagnostic test the following morning, friday, 4/8/05, and could not find anything wrong. the only explanation i got was that this is a known isssue with 2 bars of fuel left and the cause was that the engine sucked in air with stops or turns. is there a further explanation or fix for this problem? i feel that this is a safety issue. i cross railroad tracks to and from work daily and definitely will not want this car to stall on the tracks or anywhere on the road. my wife and i are a multiple toyota owners: 95 camry wagon and 93 previa. i used to own an 83 tercel and my wife and step daughter have and still own a 96 tercel. these cars have been extremely reliable so that my experience with the prius comes as a shock. i look forward to hearing from you on this safety issue. sincerely, apolinar ilog glen allen, va email: [email protected]

With approximately 7100 miles on my car on friday march 25, 2005 i was driving on local roads between 20 to 40 miles per hour when the car began bucking very badly .. shortly thereafter the check engine light turned on. worried that the vehicle may completely stall and quit on the open road i returned home and called my local arlington toyota dealer. i brought the car in the following morning (saturday march 26,2005) to check out the problem.they had the car all day and still could not identify why the car was stalling. since i was schedule to be away the following week (trip to las vegas). i gave permission for techs to keep car all week if necessary. on monday of the following week, i recieved a call from tech at my hotel that they had fixed the problem. he claimed it was a misfire in #1 cyclinder. so they replaced spark plug #1. however, he also told me not get the car engine wet. he warned that if i ever returned the car with a wet engine again that my warranty would be voided. i told him that i never open the engine compartment and that i would never intentionally put water directly on the engine. particullary on such a sophisticated car such as a hybrid. in the past 10,000 miles that i have owned the vehicle i have taken it through the car wash a total of three times.i picked up the car upon my return from las vegas on friday april 1,2005. i am happy to report that the car has been running fine ever since. however, since the recent rash of news reports of complaints filed around the country of the prius stalling i am wondering if the tech at arlington toyota had misdiagnosed the problem i experience this past march.

On my 2005 toyota prius, the engine suddenly stalled when leaving the dealership in fresno, california. the electric engine continued for a short time to get back to the dealer, then everything was dead. after working on it for several hours the dealer could not find the source of the problem, but did get it operating again and i continued the trip with incident.

I have an early 2005 prius which has "stalled" i.e. lost al engine power on two occasions. i believe the "stalling" is intentionally designed into the software to protect the transmission. i think a design decision intended to protect the car is putting my life at risk. my early 2005 prius has "stalled" twice: once on the freeway at 80 mph when i had to jam on the brakes (someone cut me off) and again on surface streets at 30 mph when i floored it to accelerate suddenly. in each case the transmission's internal components would be under tremendous strain unless it disengaged. in each case all lights, headlights, indicators stayed on, the "check engine" light came on, the car continued coasting (as if put in neutral), and the car was unresponsive to the throttle and the gear shift. (in neither case did i hit the gear shift nor power button before the "stall"). in both cases i coasted to a safe spot (try crossing five lanes of 70+ mph freeway traffic at night while coasting). only after parking, turning off power, and restarting power would the car operate...at which point it operated fine. dealer couldn't find anything wrong...in fact the second incident was two days after my 30,000 mile service! they apparently took no action regarding the concern i expressed to the service rep with respect to stalling...he assured me they would check for all available software updates, but corporate told me today there is at least one update (relating to the navigation system) which was not downloaded, so apparently the dealer is not responding to this life-threatening concern. i called corporate today to start a "case" and was told they are unaware that this is a recurrent issue. this despite discussions in the press and on hybridcars.com. i am contacting you in case i am killed or injured before toyota figures out that this is a serious and recurrent issue. the first incident was around january or february 2005, and the most recent was monday sept 19 2005. *jb

I was driving the vehicle to a gas station on a major road when the engine died and the vehicle shifted to battery power. i was able to get to the gas station and it was clear i had not run out of gas. the vehicle has been fine since so i didn't think about it until the media reports came out.