Help? Prius won't start after accident

12V battery may be dead.

See a local dealer for a replacement, or you can look up Prius 12V battery for the Optima battery kit. Either way, close to $175 - $200 for a new battery. The Optima battery requires adapting things, which is part of the kit.

Oh, and the parking lights are part of the headlight control on the Left side of the steering wheel.

 

I'll second the Optima kit from elearnaid. Specializing in: dictionaries including the Collins Cobuild, Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Webster's & Random House. Have your Dad take a look at the website and if he is amenable, plan on having him install it when he comes to do the other work. You have a 2005, so if you had the original battery, it was already on its last legs, and a week of sitting has finished it off. If you try to jump it, be extremely careful. It requires little current compared to a conventional care, but get the connection wrong and the damage can be considerable. A portable jump pack with reverse polarity protection is ideal. Hooking up directly to a another car is not -- and the other car should NOT be running if you do.

 

First off, the only think blinking on your dash, with the car OFF and the keyfob out of it, should be an orange key-shaped thing that means that the key isn't in it.

If the "P" - Park indicator is on, then the car is ON.

And, yes, the 12V battery could very well be dead. The previous owner may have run it down once or twice, greatly weakening it, or could have left the lights on, etc. It's 6 years old, after all.

 

The 12V battery life is inversely related to the miles logged on the odometer. Your car was only driven ~6K miles per year which probably means that the battery spent most of its life in a partially discharged state. This is bad for battery longevity. I'm actually surprised that it lasted as long as it did.

Regarding the blinking "P" light, try to press the POWER button down for several seconds, to see whether that will turn everything off.

If that doesn't work, then you could look for the 12V battery in the right rear of the hatch, and disconnect the negative battery cable where it bolts to the body. You will need a 10 mm socket wrench for that.

If you have jump cables and access to another 12V battery, you could try jump starting the Prius. Just be 100% sure that you have battery polarity correct (positive to positive, negative to negative) or else you may incur a 4-digit repair bill if the inverter is destroyed due to a botched jump start.

 

Quick question mymr wong..i bought a rear end damaged prius and at the auction it stated it wont start buy once i got the car i jump started and as soon as the hybrid turned off and the gas engine started all of sudden you hear loud clunking sound and shaking the engine back and forth, i turned it off and it turned on again to only drive it about 1000 yards and it died... Since then the car lost power and now it wont even or ready mode. Mechanic said it is stuck.. He means the engine wont turn since he tried manually.. Electrician said it might be the big battery... Any idea would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Sounds like this car was sold for parts only

 

What is the model year and odometer reading of this vehicle?

I have several ideas:

1. Put a wrench on the crankshaft pulley bolt and see if you can rotate the engine crankshaft clockwise (to confirm the mechanic's findings). If you cannot rotate the crankshaft, then plan to install a used engine.
2. If the engine crankshaft cannot be rotated, that has nothing to do with the traction battery. The traction battery might or might not be working. At least it could spin the engine once based upon your observations.
3. Since you are consulting a mechanic and an "electrician" (I am not sure how the latter is going to help, we are not rewiring a house after all) it sounds like you are not ready to DIY the necessary repairs. If that is correct, plan to spend a few thousand $s to get the car running. There could be many other problems besides the need to repair the accident damage and replace the engine with a used unit.