05 Prius Won’t Start HELP!

You've probably discharged the hybrid vehicle battery (the big battery in the back) to such a low level (by driving the car without gas) that it can no longer turn the motor over.

You likely need to get the hybrid vehicle battery charged to > 210 V (225 V would be better) to get it back in service.

 

I imagine the 12 volt is probably completely dead I don't know how people do this You don't know when you've driven about 300 mi without a display with blinders on I know I've been about 300 miles just time wise sitting in the car two or three days at 25 miles apiece That's approximately 75 mi I mean yeah cool I guess I don't really understand this I drive my car all the time without displays gas gauges every which way except with blinders on I'm not Mr Magoo but yes you've run everything down now it needs to be brought back up. And finding people with 300 volt DC chargers well it's getting a little more popular but knowing how to connect them up to a battery like this may be problematic for most It's not a j standard plug for an electric car so when things like this happen it cost money because you've got to suss out people that have certain things shouldn't be too difficult just maybe it'll be a costly lesson to learn so that you don't do it again I don't know why people think some of these Prius are going to drive some kind of distance on electric motor power these little motors that are built in their transmissions are not really to take the car down the road at any kind of speed for any length of time really worthy of discussion till you get to the prime plug-in business where you can get 30 mi and then be working at a little less than hybrid duty on the engine I guess or something It's all trade-offs.

 

Does your mechanic have the capability to charge the HV (hybrid) battery? Very few shops can do that.

I like to perform thorough diagnostics but "running out of gas and driving until it stops" = discharged HV battery.

There might be more to this, however that likely possibility should be covered. Otherwise, you get it towed, he does his checkout, then what?

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No, not your 12 V however, it wouldn't hurt anything to check it and charge if required. It is your hybrid vehicle battery (the big one in the back) that is more than likely discharged and in need of recharging.

 

Yeah that's a good one I don't know many mobile people that go around charging up hybrid batteries that are sitting in cars for people to be honest about it You can make a 300 volt DC 2.4 amp charger I guess reasonably inexpensively if you were so pressed to do so or you do that kind of work I don't I bought one from somebody for a couple hundred bucks and funny thing I've maybe used it one time on a battery that's out of the car and in the shop on a table but in a car I've never had to do it usually I throw in a 12 volt push the button and the thing starts right up without checking voltages or nothing I've done this on cars sitting for a year and then I just let it run fill up the tires if that's a thing and drive it around the block with no tag on it a few times whoopty whoopty whoopty see if it charges then pull it back wherever and turn it off. But since that's not a thing rounding up a charger is or taking the battery out and taking it to a battery shop that works on hybrid batteries and let them at least charge it up and maybe while they have it out they can give you an overall health condition and whatever so that's a possibility that would be more of a reality than somebody showing up at your place with a 300 volt charger that charger hybrid battery I'm pretty sure

 

dealer, or buy a charger

 

he means that he puts in a fresh 12 volt, and the old cars he has tried it on have started right up most of the time.
he is not charging the hybrid battery.

 

No what I was saying was the I always have extra 12 volts to swap out to see if the one in the car I'm dealing with is actually failing badly shows voltage but doesn't have anything behind the voltage when you try to use it things go dead go blank etc people run around all day long thinking everything else is wrong is being caused by a fuse or something because they just don't understand the battery with nothing behind it that's why it's so heavy just isn't going to do anything and that's that so I stick another one in its place and the car boots up and everything's working and blah blah blah and they're like what the hell I mean what else can they do they've argued for two or three hours over No it can't be the battery so and so said okay well cool But all I've done is change the battery and everything's working in here we are. That'll be $348 because you help diagnose.

 

are you sure you have a good 12 volt? does it pass a load test? you can get a free test at auto zone.

 

No, no more than you. As Bisco said, you can buy a charger (Hybrid Automotive Prolong, Maxx Volts, or Venice Hybid Tech, for example) or build your own for less than $100.

 

You can also kill yourself very dead with a project like that if you're underprepared or take it too lightly.

 

Sorry, I don't live in Nashville. You would have to do research (google) to find a shop that would be able (and willing) to do that.

Most places that will work on hybrids would likely just recommend replacing the HV battery pack.

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