2013 Prius C not remote starting in extreme cold

Question

I know winter is passing and extreme cold temperatures (zero and subzero) are going away, but I'd like to be prepared next year.

My 2013 Prius C (the small one) is not remote starting under extreme temperatures.  I've looked at all the options to turn on/off with my flashlinker, and hybrid mode is "ON", but no idea what other options to tick ON/OFF, since most seem to be pretty straightforward.

I was told by someone else that there should be an option to tick "OFF" for voltage or tach reading, but there is none, any help? thank you.

Answer 1

Hybrid mode needs to be on for your vehicle.

What is the remote starter used ? Please provide your service number.

Comments

Hybrid mode is "ON"

remote starter used is evo-all...I'll probably have to open up the panel to get the service number from the remote starter

anyway, temps are now a steady 32F+ now and climbing...so I guess I won't have to worry about it not remote starting until winter comes again

but before...the symptons were

during near zero or subzero temps...I would hit lock on my oem remote 3x

car would go through it's flashes, parking lights would come on like it's going to start, then they would turn off and car would just go back to sitting dead (I'm assuming during very extreme cold weather voltages are reading lower than usual, so the remote starter could be sensing it and then not wanting to start the car or whatever)

so I bought the flashlinker and checked and doublechecked that "hybrid mode" is "ON"...I even turned it off to troubleshoot (but with it on "OFF" car wouldn't even turn on anyway in nicer weather)...now I guess I'm SOL and out $50 or so for the flashlinker, but I guess it's a good investment should I ever want to install anymore evo-all

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fortin evo-all

service #:  001A06 455212

hardware ver:  6

firmware ver:  79.24

toyota prius c push-to-start

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Ok, there's a little too many unecessary options on at the moment. So...

Start by doing a master reset :

1. hold down programming button
2. plug in datalink and let go of button when led is red
3. push and hold the programming until all three LEDs start to alternate
4. module is now reset

 

Go back to the flash-link manager, and enable options C1, D1, D4 and D6. Leave A1-A11 On. You may need to enable D2 afterwards.

Once all that is done, reprogram the EVO-ALL in the vehicle.

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still not working in cold temps (20F and below)

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The best solution for this issue you're having is to re-do all connections (since it seems to be temperature related, cold solder joints if soldered, loose connection if twisted connection are used, AND NO T-TAPS OR QUICK CONNECTS ARE ALLOWED)

 

The important connections are the RX and TX and Steering lock connections, if one of these are making a bad connection when cold, this will not let the vehicle start.

 

Also, it would be great for you to to be beside the car when trying to remote start when cold, please pay attention if the vehicle's dashlights turn on and whatever else turns on or crank etc.  or any messages that could be displayed on the vehicle's dashboard.

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pretty sure all wires have a solid connection.

Other than that, why I've toned it down to vehicle not wanting to start when too cold, is because from a dead cold start, It will not turn on...but if I was to have warmed up the vehicle before and it's still near zero to subzero, the vehicle will start.  So pretty much it's a for whatever reason, the evo-all is not liking the cold too much even though the right options are checked on/off.

and no dash gets a chance to turn on.  Like I've stated above, the vehicle will go through it's parking light cycle, then when the parking lights come on as if it's going to start, they immediately turn back off and vehcle goes back to zzz

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Does the vehicle attempt to start a second time after the fail ?

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Your issue does seem a little odd since there has not been a single report of a temperature related no-start problem, and if you think about it here in Quebec, Canada, we get below negative 15-20 degrees celsius for a good 3 straight months.

And if it was a common issue, we would've seen this issue and corrected it eversince the solution for your vehicle came out back in 2013.

 

Can you confirm the install guide you used for your installation?

 

Also as Mathieu asked above, does the vehicle try to start a second time? Does the vehicle flash the parking lights a certain number of times after a failed start?

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What was used to do the connections?

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nope vehicle does not attempt a 2nd time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oowTlI_X4_w

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Disconnect parking lights from the evo-all. I noticed in the video that you installed some other equipment (specifically the flashing mirrors) on your vehicle which run off the parking light circuit.

Second, remove any connections that involve T-taps and redo connections

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Are you serious? No problem in quebec related to cold weather??? I'm a mechanic in a toyota dealer and 1 on 3 work without problem ( bad manufacturing from fortin this winter). We had a lot of clients that had this cold no-start symptom with every model.

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Yes, considering that this past winter has been one of the coldest we've had, I just checked the bug reports and there has not been one report of temperature related no-start problems on all manufacturers from Audi to Volvo.

 

And we also manufacture and ship our starters and bypasses to our distributor in Russia where we can both agree is has way colder temperatures than Quebec and Michigan winters. And they too have not reported any issues related to cold weather.

 

We also have clients who install our products in Alaska and Nunavut (northern-most part of Canada) and they have confirmed that even at -40c and below  they have no issues,  The head engineer here has frozen the Evo unit to -50c in a lab grade freezer to run tests and it too passed.

 

And as I said before, in the 24 years I've installed (every brand in Canada, Viper, Autostart, Astrostart, Polarstart, Firstech and other brands that don't even exist anymore and not just Fortin products.) , the only temperature related issues I've seen can only be narrowed down to 3 possibilities, bad/loose connections that is made worst by cold temperatures, and bad/weak batteries and problems related to the actual vehicle, like the tsb mazda issued for certain CX-5s and Mazda 6s no-start in extremely cold temps  TSB: 01-023/13. 

 

The issue you have might be a specific make, model, year issue.

I have also looked at various prius forums concerning the oem remote starter and it would seem that the vehicle has a preset cut-off for temperature where it will not start the car, I will look into this more. You can read it here : http://priuschat.com/threads/remote-starter-failed-to-start-too-cold.88404/

 

 

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You don't get bug reports as much as a technician in a car dealer. We get all the come backs, you don't know 90% of the problems we run into.

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FSA206? That dates back a while ago and if i remember correctly, that was due to an electrical storm zapping one of our flashing computers. We took back all units that were affected and reflashed them properly.

 

Point being, we have 0 bug reports on the Prius with a no start when it's cold issue. If we did have calls on this, they were fixed and it was either caused by firmware or it was something to do with the installation / options of the unit(s) being installed (hence why there would be no bug reports). If you have 1 in 3 vehicles working correctly, you should simply call tech support so we can all figure out why 2 in 3 remote starter installs are giving you problems.

 

The aftermarket starter also acts as a factory starter and controls the car as a factory starter. If there were issues like Jesus Monroy pointed out of the factory starter not working in cold temperatures, it will be replicated on any aftermarket device.

 

Anyways, there can be a few reasons why you're having issues with some Prius's. Maybe it's firmware related, maybe it's connection related, maybe it's car related, maybe it's car related and something on certain VINs we need too look at to adjust the firmware accordingly, but i really doubt it's physical hardware related.

 

Side note, I noticed it's not the same User Name answering the comments as the original poster. Is Denis Mathieu and cthao86 the same person?

 

 

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I'm not cthao86.

Sorry i haven't beeen clear enough. I just wanted to point out that the fsa-206 and e300 have cold related issue, and not just on a prius.

I remember that flashing problem and also remembered that an installator of yours told us that a transistor was broken by the casing, so the reflash did nothing, hence the fact that we change 2 out of 3 fsa206( the ones with blue or white dots). Ground out was a big issue also, many evo-all not activated.

This winter we had a lot of problem with different toyota model due to the cold, they wouldn't start with the e300 and e400. We returned maybe around 25 module, so if fortin doesn't have bug reports, that a business problem. To improve, a company need to keep a list of what problem is occuring( because modules are coming back to the shop...)

To finish, i'm a hybrid/master tech in a toyota dealer, there's no such thing as a toyota firmware forbidding the car to start with a preset cut-off.

My point is... cold related problems with e300, e400 and fsa-206 exist, bug report or no. Make a survey with the dealers, we talk to each other, and it's all yhe same problems.

E400 seems to be more reliable.

Thank you.

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If you are having issues with units, please send an email to support@ifar.ca indicating which region / store you are in and which other dealers you recommend we contact. You can also talk to Alex at tech support.

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Set D2 to OFF, D2 is ON in your video.