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Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by ronlewis, Feb 12, 2021.

  1. ronlewis

    ronlewis Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2016
    797
    166
    1
    Location:
    texas
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Driving along just fine and the car goes completely dead. No lights, nothing. Tried to jump and nothing - no dome light, no trunk light.

    Background: I have an Optima battery that my son ordered with the terminals on the wrong side. So, I bought a cheap lawn mower battery at Walmart to fit in the car, then have the Optima next to it in the trunk connected with jumper cables to the cheapo battery. Been like that for months with no problems.

    When I popped the trunk, the Optima battery had tilted over and was leaning on the cheapo battery. I'm thinking that the terminals made contact and blew out my main fuse. Does anyone know any other reason the car would die like that? Is there any other fuse that makes everything die?

    I've replaced a main fuse before, and they're a PITA. Also cost about $50 - for a fuse. *)&^$*%()(_& So, I don't want to do that again and have it not fix the problem. I've got to do it in the parking lot where I pushed it after it died.
     
  2. ronlewis

    ronlewis Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2016
    797
    166
    1
    Location:
    texas
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    One
    LOL, thanks for everyone's help. Looks like this forum is dead. LONG LIVE GEN 1!!!

    syk, the problem was my battery's ground cable. It came lose at the body connection. But, didn't figure that out until I'd taken the fuse box out trying to replace the fusible link. I'd forgotten how it worked except I knew it unbolted from the bottom. I thought the entire fuse was under there and I couldn't see if it was bad without taking out the fuse box. Once I had it out, and there was no fuse to be seen, I could see that it was just the bolt that was underneath. The fuse itself faces up so that I could have seen it wasn't blown without taking anything off.

    Geezus, I'm a doofus.

    Anyway, after putting it back together, I started over, rechecking the fuses on the battery terminal, and they were still good. Then I thought to lift up the carpet and check the ground connection. I could move it all by hand, but still didn't think that was the problem. When I tightened up, the trunk light came on and the depth of my stupidity revealed.
     
    mroberds, WHCSC and bisco like this.
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    well done! (y)
     
    ronlewis likes this.
  4. ronlewis

    ronlewis Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2016
    797
    166
    1
    Location:
    texas
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Well, not really, but done for sure. Thx. Don't like working on one that does nothing. Love my data and codes.
     
    bisco likes this.
  5. dabard051

    dabard051 Tinkerer-in-Charge

    Joined:
    May 19, 2009
    232
    84
    0
    Location:
    Rochester, NY USA
    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    <bump> for a vehicle which is on the order of 20 years old, a ground fault (or ground connection failure) needs to move up on the possibility of fault checklist. Particularly in salt-rich regions of the country.
    I'm in the process of troubleshooting a 2000 Ford Mustang which kept showing an intermittent fault code. After replacing a bunch of parts (unsuccessfully) and much subsequent head scratching, the current best guess is that a ground connection to the chassis (one of several) occasionally gets jostled, setting off the code. Strategy is to remove & replace ALL the hardware that connects the wiring harness to the chassis ground and clean up/remove corrosion from all the ground points. Fault has not returned; but we are vigilant, still.

    "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
    --Sherlock Holmes, "The Sign of Four"