Key warning light

[DALINE40]

I have just bought a Yaris 2016 Hybrid Automatic. It is my first automatic. Yesterday I had a key warning light appear and I was unable to start the car. I had to get out, lock it then enter usual way but I am sure I did something wrong but not sure what. I may have used the start button with my foot on the brake or not left it in park. Any help would be appreciated as my wife is a bit wary of going in it on her own.

[CPN]

The shift lever MUST be in "Park" and your foot firmly on the brake pedal BEFORE you hit the "Start" button. Try and get into the habit of ALWAYS putting the shift lever into the "Park" position (not just applying the handbrake) before switching off at the end of a journey but make sure you are at a complete standstill before doing so (it is a mechanical lock in the transmission). All you will have to do then when getting back in to drive the car is to apply the footbrake firmly before pushing the "Start" button and you'll be good to go. Note that the "Ready" light has to be lit before the system is fully up and running and you can move off. Also note that the ICE (internal combustion engine) will not necessarily fire up when you "Start" the car; especially on a warm day and if the traction Battery is above at least 50% charge. By the way, NEVER use neutral on a Yaris Hybrid. It is NOT an "automatic" in the accepted sense, it is a CVT (constant velocity transmission).

[DALINE40]

Thank you for that. However, I am still concerned as to why the "key warning light" came on and I get the car to start as after switching off I stayed in the car waiting for my wife to come back from a shop.  Is it because I omitted to put it in park?  I heard a comment that by putting my foot on the brake and switching off it enables the radio etc. to stay on but I cannot find any comment in the handbook.

[CPN]

Yes. It's because you omitted to put it in park when you sat waiting in the car. You should do this whenever you stop and turn the system off in a Yaris Hybrid. What position were you leaving the shift lever in instead? Even if you stop for a couple of minutes (waiting for someone) with the system left on, put the shift lever in "Park" while you wait. NEVER neutral because this disables the automatic charging (ICE startup) that would occur if the traction Battery gets depleted... You have to change your mindset when driving a hybrid...

"I heard a comment that by putting my foot on the brake and switching off it enables the radio etc. to stay on but I cannot find any comment in the handbook." ...because it is not in there! Don't know who said that but it's wrong! If you want to have the radio on without starting the car, just keep your foot off the brake and push the start button once (equivalent of the "accessory" position) but if your stop is brief, better to leave the whole system on and in "Park". That way, the main Battery will continue to keep topped up as needed.

 

[flash22]

Key warning light ? Was it in the top right of the display with the word shift with an arrow ?

It will not go into ready mode unless it is in park

1 hour ago, CPN said:

Yes. It's because you omitted to put it in park when you sat waiting in the car. You should do this whenever you stop and turn the system off in a Yaris Hybrid. What position were you leaving the shift lever in instead? Even if you stop for a couple of minutes (waiting for someone) with the system left on, put the shift lever in "Park" while you wait. NEVER neutral because this disables the automatic charging (ICE startup) that would occur if the traction battery gets depleted... You have to change your mindset when driving a hybrid...

 

That is incorrect it will still charge in neutral unless you are sitting for an hour or more with everything on you will be hard-pressed to drain the traction Battery, just make sure the hand brake is on, Park should be used when fully stopped or "parked"

[DALINE40]

Thank you to everyone for the above posts. Because I have been driving manual cars for almost all my driving life, the first few days of using an automatic are challenging so I was unable to remember what I did when my wife got out of the car. The above comments will be helpful in reminding me of what I should do. Again thanks for the reminder about the "Ready" sign

[Mick F]

As far as I know, in Neutral, nothing happens.

We'll be out this afternoon in the car, and I will check on the screen to see if there's a power flow.  Somehow I doubt there is.

As for switching on or off YOU MUST ALWAYS BE IN PARK.

Mick.

[CPN]

21 minutes ago, flash22 said:

... just make sure the hand brake is on, 

This is my second Yaris Hybrid and in 6 years with them, I have NEVER used my handbrake while parked. In my view, it is redundant in a Hybrid with a CVT and a positive mechanical transmission lock ("Park").

[flash22]

Because its good driving practice and in the event you are parked on a grade the whole cars weight is not on that parking lock, If you were sitting at traffic lights and you got rear ended in park it will likely to break something in the powertrain, in D or N with the handbrake applied less so

Re. Neutral, why would it need to charge the traction Battery ? As it's not using the traction Battery, in the event the 12V drops low (very unlikely the due to the amount of time in neutral) the engine will kick in and charge the 12v system only*

*AGM is a deep cycle Battery type designed for long periods of power drain and charges at 14.8V at low current

 

[CPN]

I think we'll just have to agree to differ on this one. In 50 years of driving I have never been rear ended. In any event, if I do happen to be sitting at traffic lights and the stop is brief and not at night, I would tend to hold the car on the foot brake and in "D" for that period. Probably the only prolonged setting in "Park" whilst still "ready" would be at a level crossing (of which there are quite a few locally) and finally, in my local area, I have never found the need to park on any kind of grade.

Extracts from Toyota's blog pages...

"To recap, Toyota hybrids generally contain two batteries: a 12-volt Battery (which powers systems such as the headlamps and audio) and a high-voltage hybrid system Battery (which supplies the power to start the combustion engine and drive the electric motors)."

"Unlike normal cars, the Yaris Hybrid does not charge the 12 volt Battery via an alternator spun by the engine. This vehicle charges its 12 volt battery from the hybrid system, so if you are unable to take the car out for a run for any reason, just switching the system on for a while will do the job." (which will actually charge the 12V battery even if the ICE is not active)

[Mick F]

2 hours ago, CPN said:

This is my second Yaris Hybrid and in 6 years with them, I have NEVER used my handbrake while parked. In my view, it is redundant in a Hybrid with a CVT and a positive mechanical transmission lock ("Park").

We live on a hill.  If we only use P and no handbrake, it's a devil of a job to pull the lever out of P to move off. When it does shift, it shifts with a loud clunk.  Can't be doing any good.

We always us the handbrake and P when the car is parked or stopped for a while.

Also, we always use the handbrake waiting at junctions and traffic lights so we don't dazzle the vehicle behind.  I wish everyone did that! 

Mick.

[Mick F]

9 hours ago, Mick F said:

As far as I know, in Neutral, nothing happens.

We'll be out this afternoon in the car, and I will check on the screen to see if there's a power flow.  Somehow I doubt there is.

Tried it.

Sat in the car in P whilst Mrs Mick F was in a shop in town and I sat there with the system running and switched on the screen to see the power flow.  Nothing showing either green or yellow as we had a fairly full Battery. I was in P with the handbrake on.  Weather nice and the internal temp set to 19degC.  Engine not running.

I moved the lever to N and nothing changed, so I turned the temp up to 30degC and nothing happened.

I moved the lever to P and the engine started immediately to provide the heater for the 30degC, and the power flow was green to the Battery.

Moved it back to N, and the engine stopped and the power flow stopped too. Then I moved it back to P and it was as before when I was in P, so moved it back the N and everything stopped again.  Still set at 30degC.

Therefore, it proved to me, that in N, nothing charges and the heater is off and the engine isn't kicked into life .............. I suppose climate control is off too  ............. and eventually the batteries will be depleted.

Mick.

[Devon Aygo]

9 hours ago, flash22 said:

Re. Neutral, why would it need to charge the traction battery ? As it's not using the traction battery, in the event the 12V drops low (very unlikely the due to the amount of time in neutral) the engine will kick in and charge the 12v system only*

 

Wrong, neutral only exists on a Hybrid to "disconnect" the engine as a means to push the car in an emergency/breakdown or carry out a MOT brake test.

The 12v Battery is only charged via the Hybrid traction Battery and the Hybrid traction Battery is only charged/ provides charge when the engine runs when in Park or drive

[CPN]

8 hours ago, Mick F said:

Also, we always use the handbrake waiting at junctions and traffic lights so we don't dazzle the vehicle behind.

That is something I am always conscious of as I hate being dazzled by brake lights myself and is why I'm always checking my rear on brief stops and plop it into "P" if there is a car stopped immediately behind us. I guess we're just lucky living in a rural area with extremely light local traffic and we don't go "uptown" very often at all these days...

[CPN]

8 hours ago, Mick F said:

We live on a hill.  If we only use P and no handbrake, it's a devil of a job to pull the lever out of P to move off. When it does shift, it shifts with a loud clunk.  Can't be doing any good.

Now in that situation, I would agree and would probably use the handbrake myself but, like I said... "horses for courses" and all that...