100Amp fuse

The 100A DC/DC fuse is a fusible link. You will find the fusible link box within the main relay/fuse box next to the inverter. The fusible link box is ~5" long and has a clear plastic cover over a whitish plastic body.

Yes, when the car is ACC-ON or IG-ON, power will flow from the 12V battery through the 120A MAIN fuse located on top of the battery, to the rest of the car.

The 100A DC/DC fuse becomes useful when the DC to DC converter is operating. It protects the output of the DC/DC converter.

 

AH, so that is what that thing is. It was labeled but I just could not believe that it was a fuse.

But will this, if blown, stop all power to everything. IOW, it will not turn on and nothing will light up.

My Gen 2 is dead (for several reasons, but electrical first). I have known that the traction battery was going and the 12 volt battery went at the same time (as well as the engine) .... some luck, huh? I have been limping along driving with one eye on the traction battery display so that it would charge back up into the blue as I drove. This has been working for a few months until a couple of days ago. I went out and found it almost completely dead. The car did not light up when I approached. The automatic door unlock would not work. It would not start, the panel showed empty gas and the shift lever display would not move. The interior lights were dim dull orange.

I tried jumping the engine as I had in the past ... with a Powerstation PSX and that did not work. When I put it on I heard a lot of relay clacking. Now the car is completely dead. I am hoping that I did not fry a board and it is just a blown fuse. (Yes, I had the polarity right, and the PSX has an automatic polarity reversal protection in any case.) When I put a volt meter on the under hood charging connection I only read about 5 volts. (Or at least I did before it started clacking. I have not checked it since.) In my attempt to troubleshoot this, I went hunting for information on the fuses. So far I have only been able to find that there are three places they are located and some somewhat vague information about what they are for. It is clear which to replace if the headlights or horn don't work, but other information is somewhat cryptic.

What I'm looking for is some indication about WHICH fuse might be responsible for ALL of the power going out. I can then pull that and test it with an ohm meter to determine if it is bad, or if I need to junk this car because a circuit board is blown. My hunch is that I need to crawl into the back to get the hatch open and disconnect the 12 volt battery and determine its condition. Possibly it needs charging from there? Possibly a fuse near there is controlling the power to the car (as suggested above)?

I have been thinking about junking the car as it has 243K miles on it and I have been told that the engine is bad ($6K dealer offer to replace) the traction battery is bad ($6K dealer offer to replace) and the dealer seemed to not know much about the Prius at all. He could not even distinguish between the traction battery and the 12 volt battery. In my research I have learned that there are a number of other components that could affect things, like the inverter and any number of boards. No one seems to understand the car well enough to speak convincingly. I would hate to drop $12k on an engine and traction battery only to have them come to me with glum faces to tell me that I needed a new inverter and .... etc. The dealer's approach is to try things and when they don't work, try more things. I was kind of bummed to find that I could not even get a new engine for the car. Apparently they are no longer available so all I can do is get a used one and "hope for the best". The dealer would not even guess at the problem with the engine as he will not work on engines. He only wants to take labor charges to drop in used ones.

So, since I see your name here (and almost everywhere else on PriusChat) I thought I'd give it a shot and ask you (or any other knowledgeable person) about the fuses. I have my multi-meter switched on and am ready to crawl around in the trunk to get to the fuses in the back and already have puzzled over the ones under the hood.

Thanks for any help, but guys, please don't tell me I should buy American, or vote for Trump, or sell the car, or burn incense. I've thought of just about all relevant approaches and right now I'm looking at fuses to help restore power to the car so I can start it and get it limping along for a while longer. We just bought a brand spanking new 2016 which my wife loves and I need this one to get me to the grocery store and such.

 

1. Start by replacing the 12V battery.
2. If you still have a problem, then worry about the fuses.

 

O.K. Will do. However it is a NEW 12 volt battery so it is either deeply discharged or there is some circuitry problem. This is assuming that the dealer actually put a new battery in. I suppose I'll find that out when I actually see the battery. Realistically I expect that he did replace the battery with the new one he charged me for ... he is incompetent, not fraudulent.

I'll get into the back, disconnect the battery, put it on a smart charger for a couple of days if necessary, and reconnect things to see if I get power back.

Thanks for your nearly instantaneous reply. ;-)