2001 Prius will absolutely not start; even if I jump it.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Blooprius, Jul 20, 2011.

  1. Blooprius

    Blooprius New Member

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    I own a 2001 prius with about 170,000 miles on it. I purchased it used, and I've had it for about one year now. After I came back from vacation today ( I was goon ten days) , I found that the car would not start at all, I tried to jump the car, and it started for less than a minute, showed the red triangle sign, and then on the screen, it was showing a car silhouette with an exclamation mark on it lighting up red. and then went completely dead. It won't even lock/ unlock electronically. Usually, I've had problems due to the amount of oil, but my oil is fine this time. Also, I purchased a new battery a few months ago.
     
    #1 Blooprius, Jul 20, 2011
  2. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

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    Hmmm... Doors not locking/unlocking indicates lack of 12V power. If your 12V has a bad cell, then it could cause some issues. See what its voltage reading is, with everything connected, and then after disconnecting the negative. If it is >12.2V, then the problem is somewhere between it and the inverter: the fusible link, or the inverter itself. Disconnecting the negative cable for 5 minutes may also help, in order to reboot everything. If you don't have a voltmeter, get one from Harbor Freight, Fry's, or Radio Shack. You may need it to do continuity checks of the fusible link or other fuses.
     
    #2 seilerts, Jul 20, 2011
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  3. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Even tho you changed, had changed the 12V, there still seems to be a problem in that area. loose connections, low charge. After you measure the voltage, I would charge it at least 8-10 hours. Unfortunately, you may have to buy another 12V.
     
    #3 andyprius, Jul 23, 2011
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  4. Blooprius

    Blooprius New Member

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    thanks! I will definitely look into these suggestions
     
    #4 Blooprius, Jul 27, 2011
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    1. The car icon with ! on the MFD means that the hybrid vehicle ECU is reporting a problem.

    2. The engine probably did not actually start, it's just that MG1 was spinning the engine for a while until the HV ECU decided that the engine was not going to start. Have you had the throttle body interior and throttle plate cleaned? If not, that is the first action to take if this problem persists (once you have acted on #3 below.) Also if the iridium spark plugs have not been replaced in the last 60K miles that should be done now.

    3. The fact that the car will not lock or unlock is evidence that the 12V battery is low. As previously suggested, the first thing you need to do is to charge it overnight and see what happens.

    4. What "usual" problems have you had with the amount of engine oil?
     
    #5 Patrick Wong, Jul 27, 2011
  6. Blooprius

    Blooprius New Member

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    Thanks, and sorry about the re post, I thought I accidentally deleted this one.

    When I said usual problems with the oil, I meant that the car seemed to use the oil up much faster than any other car I'm familiar with, and because of this, the car had stopped once before because there was no oil. Ever since then, I've tried to check the oil and change/ fill it as necessary.
     
    #6 Blooprius, Jul 28, 2011
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