Help - Any Gen 1 Owners, Specialist Here?

[1998Prius]

Good evening all,

I have owned my Gen 1 Prius since Jan 2010. Recently (well for the past 6 months) I had an aftermarket stereo fitted in the empty cubby box space and I mention this because this may or may not have anything to do with the problem mentioned below.

Anyway soon after (some two weeks) the stereo was fitted (I still have the existing in car monitor screen - all in Japanese however). A turtle appeared on the factory screen display to which I had no idea what this meant. Soon after this the car would intermittently cut out and lose all power, regardless of driving on the motorway or around town and I constantly have a warning triangle displayed on the factory display screen. It seems there maybe an electrical issue from the time I had an additional stereo fitted or perhaps something else. It is just that I am now at a point where I cannot bear it any longer after having the car fail on me whilst on the motorway!

Any advice and help is much much appreciated.

Thanks

[Jan&tone]

A visit to Mr T I feel is called for here, unless someone with a Gen1 on here can come up with some easy answer

[cootuk]

afaik the turtle means the hybrid Battery is either overheating or the state of charge is very low.

If you think it's connected to the stereo install then maybe check no fuses were blown.

Is there a monitor screen for the hybrid Battery?

Over on priuschat there is a gen1 forum that may be more helpful

[1998Prius]

Thanks for the replies.

Who is Mr T?

My car does have the screen display to monitor the Battery.

[Jan&tone]

Thanks for the replies.

Who is Mr T?

My car does have the screen display to monitor the battery.

Sorry, forgot you were new here.... Mr T = your local Toyota dealer !

[cootuk]

If this is a used japanese import then I'm not sure a standard Toyota dealer would have the correct

scan tool as these were only meant for the japanese market.

Does the hybrid Battery look low on charge on the screen?

Sometimes a failing 12v Battery can cause wierdness with the electronics.

[1998Prius]

That's the thing, from what I remember the Battery sometimes looks full. Sometimes not.

For the past few days, I have been driving with the additional stereo off and it has helped (I think).

It is a Jap import so for the most part I don't think Toyota will be interested, let alone expensive!