Prius Struck by Lightning...Prius Guru..Please help!

Ok, I'm a newbie to Prius and to this forum, however having said that I am an Electrical Engineer and own a mechanic auto body shop.

I read Bear68's thread --> (won't let me post link cos i'm a newbie)

and found that it was not very helpful. I need more details and more info about these Prius.

Some background info: I was handed a "free" 2009 Prius that was struck by lightning. The antennae was fried like in Bear68's photo and the radio is dead as described similar to Bear68's thread. The car had been struck by lightning and the insurance company auctioned it off...it was then later handed to me (to make a long story short).

Here is what I did and have found so far:

1. Battery shorted...no power to the car - traced it back to the power to the "DOME" fuse. It was shorted to ground. I removed the 15A fuse (which was not blown) and power to the rest of the car was restored.

2. Radio does not turn on - when I insert the key the whole system comes up, AC/Heater is operable, but dash board says Radio Off. I am unable to turn on the radio and the power button does not turn on the radio and I'm unable to insert a CD into the radio.

Perhaps there's no power going into the "DOME" section and therefore no power to the radio? Not sure...need more info on this electrical problem. Any link or suggestion to the wiring diagrams?

3. High Voltage Battery packs reads 214V - Is this normal? What is the normal voltage on a fully charged battery? I read the manual and it says something about "Don't touch...over 500V" or something like that. What does the gurus say?

4. The keyless entry and alarm does not work - The FOB apparently is able to turn on the car and get the dash up and running but pressing the keyless entry does not lock or unlock or panic button on.

Is there a learning code or reset that I have to perform? Need more info on this as well.

5. Engine does not start - Since I am a newbie and don't know the starting process of this car, I'm not sure what it's suppose to do or not do. I read the manual and when I press the power button (with brakes applied) the system comes on and the triangle button shows up and all the LED to the Park Drive Neutral and Reverse comes on, however the car is in neutral as I'm able to push the car and it's not locked by the transmission or am I just an idiot because this car is operated by electric motors and doesn't have a conventional transmission?...I don't know...I need more info and this is my first stop.

My biggest problem of course is that the car doesn't start and perhaps all the symptoms are compounded by the electrical shock.

First thing I need to do is find out where that electrical short to ground is from the +12V "Dome" fuse to ground is.

Second thing that I need to do is figure out the starting sequence and all the things that are needed to be set in place in order to start the car.

I know this is a big problem and there's lots of info I need to catch up on but if you guys have any links to information it would be greatly appreciated. (sorry for long read).

 

Thanks Cobrakid!

Parking Pin? -- will look into that.

After finding the short from the Dome fuse to ground and removing that fuse (leaving it still shorted to ground but at least isolating it from the rest of the power lines) and after recharging the battery (battery actually recharged and is good...to my surprise...since it was completely shorted), the panel does light up and the display does power up and shows me that the HV pack is fully charged...or at least it has all the bars.

I'll try to take pictures tomorrow and post them up. I intend on troubleshooting where the short to ground is from the Dome fuse but that requires me to remove the upper interior and exposing the wires from the antennae and dome lights.

The FOB does work, the red LED does blink when I press the lock and unlock buttons but the car is not responsive to that. I tried to reset the windows per the owners manual and the windows do work but the car does not respond to the pressing of the lock and unlock keys of the FOB. Hope that clarifies it.

any more suggestions?

 

Oh another thing that I noticed is that the onboard display does not show the outside temperature. Not sure how it's suppose to work or what controls it but perhaps it will lead me to another clue?

 

Has anyone done a dichotomy troubleshooting guide for no car start or no car ready for the Prius?

 

When I put the FOB into the dashboard, I can press the Power button and it will power on but it won't do it wirelessly. No, I don't have a spare FOB.

The keyless entry does not work, I have to physically take the key out and unlock the car.

And as for troubleshooting the short, I'll figure it out...I'm sure after a few hours of pulling hair and checking wires, I'll eventually locate the short...(let us hope).

I kinda figured that with all the stupid must do this and must do that before car starts, door being closed would be one of the must do's.

...burning the candle here as I troll the net for "free" service manuals to download...any quick shortcuts of where i can get one for free?...

 

thanks...i'll look into this...spent all night last night googling and got nothing...let's hope this link comes up with something better...

 

yea the wiring diagram is exactly what i need. i'll try to see if i can't find it floating around the net somewhere for free. if not i'll shell the small fee and get the wiring diagram...once i do that...i'll share it with everyone...

sorry...i just feel like big corporations shouldn't be so stingy and be charging an arm and a leg for stuff that should be free...especially if the owners already paid so much for their product....but of course that's another topic all in it's own...thanks for your help...

 

ok i just finished downloading the Tech2004.rar file on that link provided by jdenenberg and there is a wiring diagram pdf for the 2004 prius. it seems like that rar file contains bits and pieces of the 2004 Prius Service Manual.

i will look at the rest of the files and see what's in there. (hope that the 2004 and 2009 retain all the same stuff).

thanks patrick for all your help.

downloading that tech2006.rar file right now...it's big (110MB) and it's a slow download on their end (getting just 58KB/sec)...will let you guys know how that turns out.

 

Ok, so I was on thepiratebay.org last night and did a search on Prius...it came up with a few hits and I downloaded the 459.75 MB file and voila...it has the complete info...including wiring diagram...on the 2006 Prius...all i can say right now is WOW...I LOVE THE PIRATE BAY!!!!...

if anyone needs the 2006 Prius Service Manual and don't want to go through the trouble of torrents...please let me know and I'll put it up on 4shared.com or something like that...as of right now I'm still a newbie to this site and they won't let me link anything...so sad...

 

Just got done downloading that Tech2006.rar file and it does contain several pdf files on the 2006 Prius...including the same wiring diagram as in the piratebay file...but it seems the piratebay file contains more pdf's and more info...but that selidori.com/tech/prius/DOC/ site does contain some pretty interesting files too...

in the process of downloading all those files...triple thumbs up for jdenenberg!!!

 

Oh really? Seems like you've tackled a few ECU's before then. Yeah, I have the wiring diagram now and I'll start the troubleshooting soon. Thanks for your help. Will be in contact soon.

 

What I've noticed over the years is that you really don't get "rich" in this business...it's just something you do to pass the time by and to pay the bills...just like any other job...so i can say that in my line of work...i don't expect to make a killing...and if i can help someone save here and there...i do and i will...

it's bad enough that the rich gets richer and poor gets poorer...and the middle guys get left out with paying for everything...

i run a really honest shop and my customers come back because they know they're getting a lot of stuff for free...

and with that being said...yes...i checked the battery under load conditions and it's still running good (i've used it to power the system while troubleshooting some stuff yesterday and it was doing great).

i have noticed yesterday that as i press down on the brake...there's a motor in there that pushes back...and with great force too...which surprised me that it would do that...considering the amount of current it would draw from the battery...but i guess it is an electric car so it should have current galore right?