Prius Won't Start

[bruceha_2000]

Originally Posted by edthefox5

Without turning the the car on just put the headlights on. Are they bright?
I bet not.
My guess is you left a vanity light on or a door ajar all night and it killed the boot battery in the trunk.

I've never drained my 12V so maybe I'm off base here but:
If the 12V has enough voltage to start up the MFD, I would think it would have enough to open the relays to the traction battery. That is the one that starts the electric motor which, in turn, starts the gas engine.

Also, I have left my dome light on over night several times, always in the winter when the cold will decrease the battery's power. Never had a problem in the morning. So, IF this did happen and that was all it took to kill the 12V, I think the 12V has some issues.

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Julian,

I suggest you consider that your car might be out of gas. If it is easy for you to add a gallon or two, then you can quickly rule out that possibility.

As Ed suggested, it would be interesting to see whether the headlights are at full brilliance, which is an indication that the battery is producing adequate voltage (assuming you don't have access to a digital voltmeter).

The icon in your photo is the hybrid vehicle warning icon, and when it appears this usually means that there is a problem with the hybrid drivetrain.

[jsheldahl]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

Hi Julian,

I suggest you consider that your car might be out of gas. If it is easy for you to add a gallon or two, then you can quickly rule out that possibility.

As Ed suggested, it would be interesting to see whether the headlights are at full brilliance, which is an indication that the battery is producing adequate voltage (assuming you don't have access to a digital voltmeter).

The icon in your photo is the hybrid vehicle warning icon, and when it appears this usually means that there is a problem with the hybrid drivetrain.

I suppose that's a possibility, which is kind of scary since there are two pips on the meter. I know that I've read that the gas meter can be off, but that seems kind of far to be off. Obviously, I'm going to try this. I'll need to put gas in the car anyway.

I'm confused about the icon, though. If it indicates a problem with the hybrid drivetrain, how would that be related to the gas?

I'm still not at home, since Sundays aren't really a day that I can get any help anyway. I'm going to try all of this here in about an hour.

Thanks again!!!

[richard schumacher]

If you're lucky it will be merely a half-dead 12V battery. Funny things happen when that gets low enough. But for pity's sake don't let some random tow truck guy try to jump it; if the polarity is reversed you're hosed, and the warranty will be hosed also. Have a Toyota dealer send someone or get it towed.

[jsheldahl]

Originally Posted by richard schumacher

If you're lucky it will be merely a half-dead 12V battery. Funny things happen when that gets low enough. But for pity's sake don't let some random tow truck guy try to jump it; if the polarity is reversed you're hosed, and the warranty will be hosed also. Have a Toyota dealer send someone or get it towed.

Yeah, that's the plan. I tried gas and checked the lights which are BRIGHT, and the car still didn't start. I'll call Toyota at 7am and tell them that my Prius won't start and that I need a tow, shuttle, and service. Thanks, everyone for coming to my rescue with ideas on this!

Julian

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Julian,

Sorry that the simple checks proved to be unproductive. Please let us know the dealer's diagnosis, any DTC logged, and the resolution to your problem.

[edthefox5]

Originally Posted by jsheldahl

Yeah, that's the plan. I tried gas and checked the lights which are BRIGHT, and the car still didn't start. I'll call Toyota at 7am and tell them that my Prius won't start and that I need a tow, shuttle, and service. Thanks, everyone for coming to my rescue with ideas on this!

Julian

Forgot to ask. What was it like when you put it to bed before this? No warning lights?

Thats too bad. You must have a rare infant mortality failure. Probably the inverter which we have seen a very few fail when new.

Patrick Wong: Remember that time you had a poster remove the boot battery connections resetting the boot cpu. Something about no start 3 times and it goes into shutdown. I'm kinda remembering it was a no gas situation though.


Do yourself a favor and buy a Scangauge here at the Prius Shop. Its only $ 150 and could save you alot of money because in addition to all the ICE parameters like engine temp etc it will also read out DTC's (diagnostic test codes) which the experts (not me) can interpret for you. It displays the code number. It'll work on other cars too. Its easy it just plugs right in. No wiring at all. Its like a gun. You'll only need it if you really really need it.Plus its karma related. If you have a meter to read out test codes chances are you'll then never ever see a code again. Or maybe thats just my life.
Good luck and it'll all be under warranty I'm sure but please report what happened.

[jsheldahl]

Well, the diagnosis is in, and it's not a good one: it's the inverter!

Here's the best part: I got the car used, as I mentioned, and it was in an accident! I ALMOST asked for a Carfax report, but didn't for reasons I do not remember. Lesson learned, I will ALWAYS ask for this on a used car from now on! Sometimes, I do stupid, stupid things, but I always try to learn from them. Toyota believes that this is the only problem from the accident, so hopefully everything else will be warranty covered in the future. Does anyone else have any insight into this?

When the car was being repaired, the connector cable for the inverter was not placed back where it was supposed to be. I forget where it was supposed to be, but the technician who took car of it used electrical tape to tape it to the bar behind the radiator. Guess what? Water got in there and shorted the thing. I have a little solace knowing that if I had looked closer under the hood when looking at the car, I wouldn't have seen any problem, anyway. I'm definitely not a motor-head.

Toyota won't fix it under warranty, which is no surprise to me (the part and assembly shows no issue, it was purely the moron that taped it). I got the car at a Ford dealership about 2 hours away, and after going around in circles with them, they decided that they would pay to tow it back (because they refused to take Toyota's word, probably because they don't understand it) and repair whatever is wrong with it. I don't think that they believe the inverter is the problem, but my service writer assured me that until they replace it, it will refuse to start so I don't have to worry about not getting a new one. As long as it starts, it's a new one.

They said that they have several master certified mechanics that they may have do the job, to which I questioned since it's not a normal ICE car or component that's the problem. He said that if they look at it and don't think that they can do it, they will get Toyota to do it for them. I'm hoping that they realize that it's dangerous to replace if they don't know how and let Toyota do it. Problem is, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here; I can let them have the car and give it back fixed or I can pay Toyota $4000. I'm just REALLY hoping that they don't do it themselves.

Anyway, that's the story this far. Sorry for writing a book. The car is being towed in the morning, and I'm really hopeful to have it back by the end of the week (depending on part time and mechanic schedules).

Have I mentioned that I absolutely love my Prius, despite all of this?

Julian

[kazots]

Call or take your car to the dealer. Why mess with the warranty?

[Bill Merchant]

Originally Posted by kazots

Call or take your car to the dealer. Why mess with the warranty?

Duh, kazots! Did you skip over the $4000?