just got my prius and cant get it to start

[donut132]

this is my frist electric car. 05 prius. i bought it wrecked. so i charged the 12v battery in the passenger side of the trunk. i put the key in and press the power button.. the screen lights and and i get the red triangle. i cant get it out of park so its stuck on the trailor. i was going to take it to the toyota dealership monday... just seeing if anyone had some ideas i should try. thanks dusty

[Patrick Wong]

When you are trying to start the Prius, you must depress the brake pedal fully before you press the POWER button.

Please identify exactly which warning lights are lit, and what warning icons or messages appear on the MFD?

Is your objective just to shift into N so that you can move the car off the trailer; or are you trying to actually start it?

[jayman]

It could be any number of things. The collision may have damaged the NiMH Traction battery, the inverter assembly, etc. If it has been sitting in a field for +12 months, the NiMH may be completely dead

If you intend on fixing up the car yourself, I should warn you that you cannot bleed the brakes like a conventional car. You require the dealership scantool - there are no generic substitutes yet - to cycle the brake solenoids

I would suggest a subscription to either Toyota Techinfo or All Data DIY to access the online repair manuals and TSB's. Techinfo is around $10 per 24 hours, and if you have a high-speed connection you can download quite a bit of the manual.

All Data appears to have the correct repair information at least for my 2004 Prius. It's much cheaper, since I have several vehicles in my All Data account, it cost $15 for an entire year

[donut132]

it wasnt hit very hard just the back bumper needs replacing...i dont know how long it has been sitting. i have the brake pressed im getting a red trangle and needs matance lights by the speed ometer and a yellow trangle on the lcd screen. i never even been inside a working prius before... im thinking im going to have to let the professionals look at it.

[kenora]

Ford has a fuel pump relay that needs to be reset after a rear end collision....does the Prius have the same?

[pjm877]

Give the 12v battery a good over night charge... my 2004 did that when the 12v was on its last legs.

I called a local Toyota service tech.. told him what I was seeing.. he asked the model year... when I bought it... then said the 12v battery was going bad... Friend at work jumped me, and as soon as he placed the jumper cables on the post all looked normal. I got home and charged the battery and all was "OK" until I could get a conversion kit to use a US battery and not the $250 a Local Toyota parts dept quoted me

Good luck and to the fold (Prius Family)

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by donut132

it wasnt hit very hard just the back bumper needs replacing...i dont know how long it has been sitting. i have the brake pressed im getting a red trangle and needs matance lights by the speed ometer and a yellow trangle on the lcd screen. i never even been inside a working prius before... im thinking im going to have to let the professionals look at it.

The red triangle is the Master Warning Light. Its purpose is to alert you to look around and see whatever lights or warnings appear.

The MAINT REQD light turns on solid, 5K miles after the last time it was reset. Its purpose is to remind the owner to get an engine oil/oil filter change. The presence of that light has no other significance.

I have not seen the yellow triangle on the MFD before, so I do not know what its significance is.

You can cycle between IG-OFF, ACC, and IG-ON by repeatedly pressing the POWER button without depressing the brake pedal. When you first make the car IG-ON, do you see all of the warning lights near the speedometer and fuel gauge turn on? Do the headlights, other body lights, and the radio work? If the headlights are not bright, this is evidence that the 12V battery may be weak (you can confirm this if you have access to a digital voltmeter.)

The fact that you cannot even shift the car into N is troublesome. If you can get the car IG-ON (where the various warning lights come on), then you should be able to shift into N.

If you do not see the full complement of warning lights appear, then you may want to check all fuses by removing each one and carefully inspecting each (the major fuse box is next to the driver's side fender, while another fuse box is under the instrument panel near the steering wheel.)

If you do not find any problems, it would be best for you to have the Prius towed to the dealer so that the Prius specialist can run diagnostics and give you a full list of its problems.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by kenora

Ford has a fuel pump relay that needs to be reset after a rear end collision....does the Prius have the same?

No, I am not aware that this exists.

[eclipse3g]

If the dash lights are lighting up, then my next step would be to connect a Scan Gauge and retreive any codes that appear and look them up.

After you've written all the codes down have the ScanGauge clear all the codes, and try to start it again and see what codes re-appear as this will then give you an idea of how to procede.

I know on my Mitisubishi if certain codes were stored it would prevent the engine from starting.

[brighamwj]

Is there a possibility of a blown fuse. I wish toyota supplied a few extra of the micro fuses.

I have blown fuses and gone into that lockup N mode.