My 2014 Prius broke down last night. I was only a couple of blocks from home when it suddenly lost the electric motor and the “swervey road,” the ((!)), and the check engine lights came on. I was able to limp home.
I think I may have lost the inverter. Is there a way for Joe Average to run a check engine diagnosis? I’d rather not drive a crippled car a couple of miles over a couple of hills to the auto parts store.
OBD2 scanners that plug into the car are readily available at auto parts stores, Amazon, and possibly other sources.
Amazon has a good selection that you could get tomorrow or even today. Google is very helpful figuring out what the codes translate to as far as which part failed.
I found a way to get into the service menu, but it only monitors the electronic systems. That may be enough. The battery is only putting out 11.7 volts instead of >12. Of to Amazon to get a reader for confirmation.
Fortunately I have money set aside for emergencies, so felt comfortable opting for the 12-month no interest payment plan, thus avoiding having to pay it off at 12.66%.
Many modern cars have manufacturer-specific OBD-II parameters that require something more than the basic, generic OBD-II reader and related software to retrieve. Having had a generic OBD-II scanner for decades, now, I had to get something more sophisticated to diagnose an issue with my 2020 Jeep. I ended up getting this one, because it was among those recommended for use with the AlfaOBD software that is specific to Stellantis vehicles. It turned out to include software that was even better for my immediate needs than AlfaOBD; able to retrieve the deeper data that directed me to my issue, that a generic OBD-II setup could not.
I suggest you look into whether any OBD-II software is out there, either from Toyota itself or from some outfit that specifically supports Toyota, and then see what OBD-II readers are recommended for use with that software. If OBDLink comes up among the recommended scanners, then you might even want to go with that, and give the software that comes with it a try before you buy the Toyota-specific software that led you to it. I bought AlfaOBD first, then this scanner, and it turned out that I didn’t need AlfaOBD at this time, because OBDLink's software as better able to retrieve what I needed to retrieve.
So I walked face-first into a giant spider web when I left the house via the back door today. Blech!
You didn’t hear this from me, but I happen to know that the air conditioning is having a three-way with heating and ventilation.
I bar-backed last night until 2:30am. Then I got up at 7:30 so I could get to my doggy-daycare job in time for an 8 hour shift. I got out of that shift about six hours ago. I have been awake this whole time. I can’t sleep. I mean, I cannot sleep. I am wired. Tomorrow is the first full day off I’ll have had in about two and a half weeks. The way things are going I’m going to be awake until my shift on Monday morning.
New month of whining here:
Reminds me of a video I saw on FailArmy - a group walking along a trail, the guy in the lead notes there’s a spiderweb across the trail, says to the camera “You’re about to see a Puerto Rican Ninja” right before his buddy walks into it, and reacts appropriately. Unfortunately I can’t find the video, but was hilarious! I’ve reacted myself the same way many a time, though not particularly scared of spiders.
Doorhenge is brilliant. I will definitely be using it!
Also, I won’t be fixing it as then I would have one less thing to complain about.