2006 Toyota Prius: engine stalls while driving

Filed Mar 10, 2020 · Engine · 237,000 miles · CT

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 64 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was unable to restart. The vehicle was towed to hartford toyota superstore located at (135 w service rd, hartford, ct 06120) where it was diagnosed that the battery and two ignition coils needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure persisted while the check engine warning light and the esp fault warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to lynch toyota located at (179 tolland turnpike, manchester, ct 06042) where it was diagnosed that inverter water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 237,000.

Filed Feb 13, 2020 · Brakes, Electrical · 176,000 miles · MD

I was driving on a highway 95 south, almost to delaware, at night in the rain, after 4 hours on the road, everything stopped working. I couldn't accelerate, I had no brakes, and eventually even my lights went out. The entire electrical system was out. I was in heavy traffic, and don't even know how I got off the highway, and to a gas station. The tow truck driver couldn't even jump the battery enough to get the car in neutral, and had a difficult time getting it up on the flatbed to tow it home. I couldn't even lock the doors. I had a new key made at the dealership on 10/17/19 and I was using that key for hours driving to ct and a couple of days later I was half way home when everything in the car stopped working. I was towed to my home in md because I needed to be able to unpack my car and computer before taking it to the dealership. When the second tow came the next day, I handed him the key by the front door, which was my old key, and he was able to get the car in neutral right away, and at the dealership the car worked just fine. The only difference was the new key. The technician found that "the immobilizer ecu has an intermittent open circuit failure, causing the key to be seen as unauthorized and stall the engine." from jim coleman toyota. Apparently there is a part of the computer system that shuts off all systems if it detects an "unauthorized" key--I.e. If it believes the car is being stolen. It seems to me that this is a very dangerous program in this car. I had been using that new key for several days, and had no problem, but for it to decide in the middle of the highway after hours on the road that the key was a fake, I could have been killed or I could have killed someone else. I would much prefer that my car be stollen than that someone might get killed but shutting off everything while it was on the road.

Filed Aug 5, 2019 · Engine · 95,000 miles · NY

My car overheated suddenly, showed multiple warning lights, and was diagnosed as having a failure of the electric water pump --symptoms exactly identical to those described in !2v536000. My car did not stall but had the secondary conditions shown when toyota engineers tested the likely results of failure of the faulty coil wire.

Filed Apr 5, 2017 · Lights · 176,000 miles · IL

While driving the right headlight will flicker and turn off. It can be turned back on by turning off and on the headlights. I got pulled over last night because I couldn't tell it had turned off while driving in town at night. I can tell when it goes off while driving in the country and get it to turn back on. I have read many online forums that dealerships will replace many expensive things trying to fix it but it still does not fix it.

Filed Nov 16, 2016 · 105,000 miles · IL

My 2006 toyota prius I just bought recently is having intermittent headlight problems were the headlights frequently turn off while driving at night. So far turning them off on and on again works, but it can be a safety hazard going down the highway. What can be done about this?

Filed Oct 21, 2016 · Engine, Steering · 200,500 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. While operating the vehicle, the power steering suddenly malfunctioned and caused the steering wheel to become very difficult to turn. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the power steering ecu was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Also, while driving the vehicle, it suddenly stalled and would not restart. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the throttle body was faulty. The failure was repaired. The contact also indicated that the air conditioner blower stopped operating and the front windshield could not be defrosted. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 200,500. *dt

Filed Feb 5, 2016 · Engine · 106,082 miles · TN

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius. While driving 20 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated and the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the vehicle; however, the failure recurred six times. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed nor repaired. The vehicle was not included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 12v536000 (engine and engine cooling, hybrid propulsion system). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 106,082.

Filed Jun 3, 2014 · Brakes, Steering · 81,689 miles · CA

I am requesting that the federal safety agency investigate expanding/adding-to the recall of toyota prius coolant inverter pump failures* to include coolant storage pump failures blowing a main fuse causing dangerous loss of all power and control. *tr on may 31st, 2014, while traveling at about 60mph, without any warning, the car instantly shut down: no drive power, no power steering, no power brakes, no front panel display. This was a dangerous situation. After diagnosis, the toyota dealer with assistance from toyota corporate concluded that the "coolant storage pump" (not the coolant inverter pump as in the recall) was the cause of this blown "am-2" 15-amp fuse which shut down the hybrid system, power steering, brakes, etc. They indicated that the coolant storage pump fault was a known cause. This car is well-maintained, dealer maintained. It had all the recent recall updates installed. It was a mild day ~75deg. We'd been driving about 10 mins after a 30 minute stop. Vehicle load was not a factor -- two slim adults, no cargo load. No electrical charging loads. I am very concerned with the safety implications of immediately losing all power, power brakes, power steering, without warning, because of a single coolant pump fault. Can you please investigate this. I hope they fixed my vehicle. And I hope if anyone else has this problem its not deadly. Thank you, * recall of inverter coolant pump 12v536000: "...open fuse, creating a stall-like condition of the hybrid system while the vehicle is being driven. This may increase the risk of a vehicle crash." ps I found another complaint that might be related (..shut off in traffic, similar VIN, the federal safety agency id number: 10567158). Though this complaint seems to be focused on the costs replacing additional pumps.

Filed May 2, 2014 · Fuel system · 100,650 miles · IN

The prius was being driven up a hill when it suddenly stalled and the gasoline engine died. It was very difficult to safely move the vehicle out of traffic, since the electric mode was not capable of moving the vehicle forward up the hill. The vehicle's fuel meter on the dash displayed 3 bars remaining (indicating there should have been over 1/4 tank of fuel remaining). The vehicle was towed to a toyota dealer, who said a software reload and cleaning the throttle bottle fixed it. A little over a week later, the vehicle was being driven on interstate, and the driver was passing a semi-trailer. While in the passing lane, the vehicle stalled again, and caused great danger as it had very little electric power to limp to safety. The gas engine would not run or start again, with the exact same symptoms as before. Again the fuel meter showed 3 bars remaining. However, it was found that it took over 11 gallons of gasoline to then fill the tank, and the total tank capacity is in the 11 gallon range. A search of the internet resulted in other similar complaints, with one entry citing a toyota technical manual that included the statement regarding the fuel gauge, "the inclinometer must be reset if the customer complains that they can only pump a few gallons of gas into their tank or that they run out of gas with three or four bars left on the fuel meter." it is very concerning & frustrating that toyota apparently is aware that their vehicles can run out of gas unexpectedly due to a faulty fuel gauge, and it can place the operator and passengers in great danger. I have contacted the toyota dealer about the expensive repair bill ($300) that did nothing to address the cause of the problem. They are willing to look at the car again, now that they understand it is likely a bad fuel gauge system, but this is a very dangerous situation that toyota has apparently known about.

Filed Jan 28, 2014 · Electrical · 160,000 miles · CT

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota prius. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to restart the engine and had the vehicle towed to a dealer where a diagnostic test was performed. The dealer stated that the battery was dead and replaced the battery. The failure mileage was 160,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Jan 23, 2014 · Engine · 96,000 miles · WI

Tl* the contact owns a 2006 toyota prius hybrid. The contact stated that while waiting at a traffic light, a red triangle warning lamp illuminated as the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer however, the technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 96,000. Updated 02/25/14

Filed Apr 3, 2013 · Lights · 98,757 miles · NY

I pulled into my garage after picking up the car from the dealer after purchase to find that the left front headlight was out. I turned the lights off and on again and both lights lit. The left front headlight continued intermittently to be non-operative over the next four weeks. I took it back to the dealer on 1/23/13 and they found that the left front headlamp ecu needed to be replaced. I later found out that a class action lawsuit had been brought against toyota for this same issue, however due to the age and mileage on my vehicle, I was not entitled to compensation under the settlement. This is a serious safety problem and a known common problem on hid equipped prius models, yet I was forced to pay $288.81 to have the problem repaired. I have filed a case with toyota customer experience center, #1301220397. Headlights that shut off while driving is clearly a safety issue. It appears that hid headlight equipped prius models contain a design defect. It is for this reason I am reporting to the federal safety agency in order to force toyota to conduct a recall on all such equipped models.