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2008 prius started smoking while warming up

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018.

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  1. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    I accidentally left my prius warming up too long(close to an hour) and when i went to shut it off there was smoke in cabin of car. The car wont start or has any lights show up on dashboard. I read other articles and i think it could be my inverter coolant pump. I read where someone said to take the AM2 fuse out and replace it with one of the spare fuses there so you could drive it a short distance perhaps. Well when i did this i started to see smoke coming from behind my drivers side headlight. I immediately pulled out the spare fuse and then it stopped smoking. Please help im desperate for an answer..ive been carless too long now. Thanks
     
    #1 Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    #2 SFO, Jan 22, 2018
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  3. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    Unfortunately i left it running and then me and my wife left in her vehicle forgetting that i started the prius to warm it up because we were gonna be gone for a week. When i finally realized i had my car running it was about 45 min later. So i called my neighbor to shut my car off. I know...duhhh me. Anyway i think that is what it is too. Thank you SFO!
     
    #3 Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018
  4. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    WOW!! Good thing you remembered before it got worse. I agree with @SFO on the inverter pump possibility. Hopefully the wiring harness is undamaged.
     
    #4 jerrymildred, Jan 22, 2018
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  5. Dxta

    Dxta Senior Member

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    But I'm still trying to get over this. A car left running for close to an hour, suddenly had its inverter problematic?

    Can anyone tell me the link pls?

    Or is the smoke from the headlight location a sign of a failed inverter?

    Smoke coming from the headlight location, might be that you mistakenly put a fuse that allowed too much of a current flowing into that harness.

    That's my thinking though.


    Dxta
     
    #5 Dxta, Jan 22, 2018
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    how many miles on her?
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 22, 2018
  7. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    265000 miles bisco....dxta i replaced the am2 fuse with the spare 15 like the am2 fuse was. Should i try the foglight fuse because its a 15 also?
     
    #7 Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018
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  8. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    If you don't believe its the inverter pump then please find a "hybrid compatible" OBD scanner and pull the trouble codes, then post them here for further help.
     
    #8 SFO, Jan 22, 2018
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  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Sounds like a failed shorted pump. If you did the recall, the pump shouldn't short out like this. If you haven't done the recall, then drive it to Toyota and get a free pump
     
    #9 JC91006, Jan 22, 2018
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  10. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    "smoke in the cabin of the car" so how can a shorted pump under the hood at the front of the car fill the cabin with smoke?
    leaving the car on for 45 mins is nothing, we camp in ours with the ac on all night..
    start looking for burned wires under the dash..
    in the rear by the battery ect..
     
    #10 Beachbummm, Jan 22, 2018
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  11. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    Burnt wires under the dash could be a possibility because its been 2 weeks and i can still smell the smoke that lingered in there. Is there a way of checking under the dash so i can check for burnt wires? Doubt it was battery because i just replaced the 12v in it. I can lock and unlock all doors, the lights work...just nothing on dash panel comes on at all.
     
    #11 Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    have you checked all the fuses.
     
    #12 bisco, Jan 22, 2018
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  13. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    I think I'd start by hiding all the packs of cigarettes which are obviously being left laying around! :rolleyes: (…sorry, but I've only just noticed the thread title! I hope others have better suggestions than mine! (…sorry, but I just couldn't resist!)) ;)
     
    #13 WilDavis, Jan 22, 2018
  14. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    Im a nonsmoker Wil ...good try lol
     
    #14 Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018
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  15. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    The am2 fuse is only fuse ive checked...im not even sure if that fuse was bad or not because im not sure what a bad fuse looks like
     
    #15 Shawnboskie, Jan 22, 2018
  16. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...does suggest a safety need for smoke or CO alarm if you are going to run for extended period as many do for emergency power, camping etc. rare but you never know
     
    #16 wjtracy, Jan 22, 2018
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  17. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    Ok put the spare fuse back in am2 fuse slot and no smoke this time. Able to start car now but have red triangle and a red light sybol that looks like a car with an exclamation point in the middle of it. I looked at manual and it means hybrid system warning. Can anyone give me some clarification to what this means? Also looks like both of my coolant reservoirs look dry. You think theres a possibility i ran out of coolant totally?
     
    #17 Shawnboskie, Jan 23, 2018
  18. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    It can mean several things and reading the codes will narrow it down without any guessing.

    GOOD LUCK!
     
    #18 fotomoto, Jan 23, 2018
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  19. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If it's dry, you have an issue. You have to first determine where all the coolant went.
     
    #19 JC91006, Jan 23, 2018
  20. Shawnboskie

    Shawnboskie Junior Member

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    If i can get it to orileys or autozone can they read the codes for me there?
     
    #20 Shawnboskie, Jan 23, 2018
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