Gen 2 won't start. It shut off on highway while driving.

Even if you don't see anything happening on the dash now's a good time to be reading the codes That's where we have to start with the Prius it's an electric nightmare if you want to call it that It has 17 to 21 electronic control units in it they always need a good 12 volt supply of electricity cars cutting off is not a normal occurrence for any vehicle so we start with pulling the codes and see what we actually have it's actually quite rare that there are no codes it's not so rare that a cheap code reader can't read them and decipher them but there are generally always some type of codes You need to try and make that happen first.

 

Usually this means the car has logged some error codes serious enough to disable the vehicle to prevent further damage. If you have one of these inexpensive OBD2 code readers: Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus you'd simply read the error codes on your phone with Dr. Prius app or some other app to clear them and your car would be able to be driven home and how quickly the warning lights take to come back on, as well as a quick google search for the error codes would tell you where the situation is going, as well as what you're risking, if anything, by continuing to clear the codes while driving.

First step once you get home is to fully charge and test your 12v and then read up on all the threads on here for your specific error codes.

 

Typical symptoms of the AM2 fuse blowing due to the inverter cooling water pump failing. Check the AM2 fuse in the underhood fuse box.

If blown, unplug this pump and then replace the fuse. Car should work normally but you'll need to drive <40mph so electronics don't get hot.

The inverter cooling water pump is located directly behind the driver headlight. It can be disconnected there (a bit difficult) or at a plug just above and to the left of the underhood fusebox (when looking at the fusebox). This connector has just one wire in and one wire out. The wires are taped to a larger wire loom. Sometimes this connector can be hard to pull apart, just make sure you fully depress the little lock tab to make it disengage.

 

Someone else labeled a pic of the underhood fusebox. AM2 is circled in red.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Also, just above the fusebox, near its inboard corner, there's a little one-wire electrical connector that you can unplug, that disconnects the pump (more easily than trying to fish your arm down to the plug where the pump is). That will keep the pump from immediately eating your new AM2 fuse, so you can start the car and drive gently until you have a new pump.

 

Look at the "bottom left" corner of this pic. Black connector. White wire with black trace. Unplug that and it will disable the inverter pump.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Hmm. As the AM2 fuse lives in that separate four-fuse assembly that can be removed and unplugged from the fuse box, maybe if worse comes to worst you can just replace that piece, and have one without fuse pieces stuck in it.

 

An inverter water pump. One that pumps water, to cool the inverter. Not something that inverts water.

A lot of dodgy experiences reported around here with cheap aftermarket pumps. If you only want to do it once, the Toyota pump may be a better bet.