2004 Toyota Prius: sudden loss of power

Filed Jun 10, 2022 · Driver assistance, Steering · 154,079 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving 51 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking and a loss of power steering assist with the engine overheating message displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 154,079.

Filed Apr 14, 2022 · Electrical, Engine · 83,200 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2004 Toyota Prius. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle lost power steering functionality but the contact was able to safely pull off of the road. The contact stated that the check engine warning light and other unknown warning lights were illuminated before the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the instrument panel went black. The contact stated that she attempted to restart the vehicle but the vehicle would not restart. The contact had the vehicle towed to her residence and later towed to an independent mechanic. The vehicle was diagnosed and it was determined that a wiring cable connector had melted onto the battery and affected the engine. Additionally, the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 83,200.

Filed Jul 12, 2018 · Acceleration, Engine · 184,000 miles · PA

This occurred to me yesterday while traveling 60 MPH in 94 f heat on I-76 e just before the 676 / 76 split. I was traveling in the far left lane when the car suddenly lost power. Looking at the dash I noticed the shifter had moved itself into n (neutral), it would not move back into drive. I applied my hazard lights and began forced my way rightward across three lanes to the shoulder, speed rapidly decreasing and seemingly more sluggishly than a normal coast. I think the emergency brake was automatically being applied or I was fighting a braking system. One lane from the shoulder, a ups truck was headed for me from behind. Luckily, he was able to swerve into the shoulder and pass me there as he could not move left into other traffic. We only narrowly avoided a collision with me or the elevated barrier on the side of the road. I had only 10 MPH left and no ability to redirect my vehicle. Once on the side of the expressway, I was able to google this well-known issue with the vehicle. I let the vehicle cool off, turned off the air conditioning, though didn't want to risk turning the vehicle off. I was concerned I would have to wait until nightfall to get back into traffic (still flowing around 60 MPH and a very narrow shoulder) luckily during a small traffic backup up the road I was able to re-enter traffic at a modest speed. I crossed my fingers as the rest of my commute (another 2 miles or so) was 95% highway driving. Luckily the car held out for me to get home.

Filed Sep 16, 2017 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 104,000 miles · FL

My 2004 prius's check engine light turns on randomly wnd often and I lose full power of the car. The battery is fully charged. The car stopped 4 times today - lost all power and the brake would not stop the car.

Filed Jul 5, 2015 · Brakes · 268,000 miles · PA

As I was going down a hill the ABS vsc brake light came on and the brakes failed. The pedal became mush and I lost power braking. This caused me to almost hit the car in front of me. I swerved to the side of the road and pulled off the shoulder just missing the guard rail. I have found out that toyota knows about this faulty problem and now they dealership wants to charge 3,000 to fix it.

Filed Aug 16, 2014 · Steering · 116,000 miles · CA

Lost power steering control

Filed Feb 14, 2012 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

2004 toyota prius. Consumer states unintended acceleration *tgw the consumer stated the sudden acceleration happened three times, over a six year span. He managed to put the vehicle in neutral, coast to the side of the road, and turned the vehicle off. Once the vehicle was restarted, all worked fine. The consumer stated a few weeks ago his vehicle was about to reach 300,000 miles, as he reached for his camera, he realized the odometer never went past 299,999 miles. However, within five miles, the vehicle suddenly lost power brakes, the air condition stopped working, the hybrid drive shut off and the fan for the hybrid battery came on, as well as yellow and red lights appeared on the dash. Also, two warning graphics appeared on the navigation screen, one indicating trouble. The consumer pulled over, and shut the engine off. He then restarted the vehicle and everything went back to normal. It appeared that by shutting off the engine and restarting it, caused the main computer reboot. The consumer stated it continued several more times, until he arrived home. The dealer informed the consumer the vehicle was a large computer, and when one component stops working, such as the odometer, other components cease too. The dealer explained an odometer limit was placed on the vehicle by the factory.

Filed May 11, 2010 · Engine · 133,939 miles · TX

Failure of inverter coolant pump occurred without warning during normal driving conditions. This is apparently a common problem occurring at many different mileage intervals for other owners. Immediate significant loss of power and several warning lights illuminated. Cruise control and A/C went offline. Requires replacement which in this instance was $605.00.

Filed Mar 11, 2010 · Brakes, Engine · 61,000 miles · TX

Tl*the contact owns a 2004 toyota prius hybrid. While driving approximately 60 MPH, the check engine warning light, and an unknown warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The dealer was notified and advised the vehicle was safe to drive; unless the temperature, brake or oil warning lights illuminated. The vehicle began to lose power and the anti-lock brake system warning light illuminated. The vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the highway. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The failures were related to the inverter water pump and the skid control electronic control unit (ecu). The inverter water pump was replaced. The failure occurred a second time. The vehicle was repaired for the malfunction. The failure and current mileages were 61,000.

Filed Mar 3, 2010 · Engine · 122,271 miles · CA

We own a 2004 toyota prius. On 02/18/2010 it lost power on the road, major malfunction lights came on, among others, and had to be towed to the toyota dealer in carlsbad, ca. After diagnosing the problem, they said the computer had failed and needed to be replaced. When the computer was replaced it started transmitting new problem codes, namely, poa94, poa78, po279, and po555, which meant that the transaxle had failed, and computer codes show that the inverter could fail also. Total repair cost: $5,594.00 so far. If the inverter fails, it would be a total of $9,843.00 to repair. I don't see who would pay this exorbitant amount, let alone being able to afford it. The same incident occurred on 09/15/2008. The prius had lost power and we took it in to the dealer. They performed a diagnostics test, test drove the vehicle on the freeway for 9 miles, it ran o.k. And no computer trouble codes were found at the time. This sounds like it was a prelude to the vehicle failure were are experiencing today, and we are suspecting it has to do with the electronic system. As it stands now, the prius is sitting at the toyota dealer. They had removed the new computer in light of the fact that the entire vehicle is totaled. In short, the prius was fine one day and totaled the next. They told me that this doesn't happen very often. Please let us know what we can do to resolve this problem. Thank you.

Filed Mar 2, 2010 · Driver assistance · VA

Returning from work approx 1700 driving my 2004 toyota prius in the greater washington d.c. Metro area. It was the first day of federal government office openings since the blizzard of 2010 had started. My residence is approximately 1.5 miles from a major primary road (va hwy 7 in loudoun county). The road is secondary state road vadot owned and maintained dirt (packed gravel) road for approximately 1.25 miles, proceeding into our my development the road is paved asphalt fro the remaining .25 miles. On the secondary road the conditions of the road was packed snow with small runs of loose snow. The road is very winding with slight inclines and declines throughout. Every time my car would break traction I would lose power leaving me with no correction capability to maintain control over the vehicle. I almost ran into embankments and over the soft shoulder several times despite slowing down to a crawl. Once entering into the neighborhood the car seemed to stable out until I began driving on an uphill portion of the road. This is a stepper hill than on the secondary road. When my tires broke traction all power from the car was lost leaving me in an uncontrolled situation of sliding around on the road eventually into the soft shoulder of a downhill cliff. I was attempted to start moving forward get myself away from the shoulder and the car would not move or put any sort of power to the wheels. I was terrified and stuck. I made several attempts finding new lines (paths) finally reaching the top of the hill (my driveway) due to the removal of car power. This has continued to happen un suspecting throughout the month on the unpaved roads placing me in danger. I am scared to drive it in any winter condition. It appears this is well documented on consumer affairs website and I have no way to correct this except sell my car.

Filed Feb 3, 2010 · Brakes · 95,000 miles · MD

Driving approx 35 MPH. Applied brakes lightly to slow before a sharp right turn. Brakes "froze" and required extreme pressure to slow and then stop the car before reaching an intersection approx. 100 feet beyond the curve. The car stalled and lost power during this maneuver, which was accompanied by very strong smell of burning rubber and multiple warning lights. Upon restarting the car, it felt as if the brakes had seized such that it was difficult to proceed through the intersection to a safe place to pull over. I then turned the car off and on repeatedly until the warning lights extinguished and normal operation resumed. My local shop (not a toyota dealer) said there was a code for communication failure with the brake system but no indication of damage to the brakes or wheels. This was the first instance for this problem, which has not occurred subsequently.