SERIOUS issues with my 2002

Hi all....as you can see this is my first post and I am hoping ya'll might be able to help.
Please, be patient as I am 'mechanically challenged' and the only way I know to go about this is to give all the details as they happened.

I'm having what I can only assume is a SERIOUS problem with my 2002 Prius. At the very least, it sounds really bad to me. (Keep in mind as you skim through this...I drove the car 2 days before, approximately 50 miles round trip, with not a hint of trouble.)
Yesterday, I had to make a trip and of course wanted to drive my Prius...got in, turned the key....cranks up, no problem. I put the car in reverse and back up...again, no problem, but I have now noticed that the CHECK ENGINE light is on(no other warning lights)...odd. When I put it into drive and mashed the gas....nothing. Ok, moved my foot and tried again....nothing. Suddenly, this horrible clunking (imagine the stereotypical cartoon car KACHUNKKACHUNKpopKADUNKshudder) and the engine dies.
I crank the car again, try putting it back into drive, same response. Nothing when I try to accelerate and it shudders and dies. Ok, I have got to go somewhere...let's push the car out of the way so we can take out the gas guzzling truck. Wait...wouldn't it be easier to just put the car in reverse and back it out of the way? Sure! This time, it won't accelerate in reverse either. Put the car in N (did not turn the key off), push it back, put it in PARK and it shudders and sputters and clunks that horrible death not even in a gear! Now there are beeps and whistles and alarms going off everywhere, but not really telling me anything (IE no specific error message).
Now my car is sitting in the yard like a sad blue dream that once was.
Please...anyone with any ideas? I'm coming here first rather than my dealership because, well many reasons. The main ones being I'm a student with an expired warranty and no money. I just want to know if there is a place to start that doesn't involve a tow bill and a dealership planning to expand their store off what I'm about to pay in repair bills!
As I stated at the beginning, I'm mechanically challenged but I know where to find help if I need it. Problem is, popping the hood on a Prius can intimidate some of the best mechanics I know so, I thought I would come to the experts first and see what they advised; but please...speak slowly and use the small words so I can relay the information to the ones with the tools!
Thanks much in advance for taking the time!

 

The oil is changed regularly and has been since the day I purchased the car with 32 miles on it. This shouldn't be an issue, but...to be on the safe side, that was one of the first things we checked when the car klunked at us to begin with.

I'll try this and see if I come up with any new results. Thank you.

Mr. Wilson, this is an extraordinary offer. I'm not sure that I'm "anywhere close" however. Then again, we are southern and "a ways/a bit/and down yonder" could mean 5 minutes down the road or 5 hours!
I'm about an hour south of Birmingham so...you tell me...is that too far out of the way? I understand completely if it is and my next question would be...have some friends in South Alabama?

 

After speaking with Mr. Wilson, he suggested I post this here as well to see what ya'lls input might be as well. Again....thanks to everyone for their time and wisdom!



Mr. Wilson;

If you decide to come down, just let me know when and where, and we will make arrangements on our end. I wanted to bring you up to date on where things stand with the car right now though so...here goes.
I have marked an arrow on the picture you used for the throttle cleaning walk thru. We did check the throttle plate today and it seems to be fine. What we did find however, appears to be a set of ground wires coming off that main wire harness (to the right of the air filter ) that is severed. They are white/blue wires, at least 2 maybe 3 wires, bolted to the right side of the motor. By the picture here, it seems to be a similiar hookup, so you might be able to find the bolt location I'm talking about by looking directly underneath/behind the wire harness I've marked on the photo. The harness itself seems to carry some wires to part of the fuel injection (found under the right corner of the air filter). I'm not sure if something has managed to get into the engine block and gnaw through them, or something popped up from the road with enough force and velocity to actually cut it (seems unlikely), but it does appear to be new since the wires don't even have dust on the severed ends at this point.
Also, after using some of the cleaner on the throttle plate, we cranked the engine to try and let it idle. Being the one cranking the car, I noticed when I attempted to mash the gas peddle, there was no change in the idle and it felt as though it were just a dummy peddle, attached to nothing.
From outside the car, watching the throttle as it was cranked, it didn't seem to matter if the throttle plate was wide open, or allowed to open slightly on its own, the car would only idle for approximately 15-20 seconds then suck for air and come to a shuddering halt.
Yes, I realize that some of the symptoms I'm describing sound as if there is no gas, but there is just over a half a tank of gas in the car so that shouldn't be the issue at all. What does seem to be a problem is the engine actually accessing the gas in the tank.
After talking to someone else they agreed that it does sound like it's a fuel problem, but 1) with all the electrical humming the car makes when it's cranked, it's impossible to hear the fuel pump cut on or off and 2) we're not sure how to test the fuel pump to make sure that is the actual problem.
Any thoughts, advice, input with this new info?
Thanks again for all your time!
Take care,
whyuh

 

I certainly can't discount anything at this point, but I have to say what you're describing and what I'm experiencing don't seem to match. Mashing on the gas does absolutely nothing. In fact, the pedal feels like it is dead; just a dummy pedal there for nothing but looks. Now I know this is not the case as I drove the car just fine last week...but that's how it feels at this point.
But thank you for taking a look and pointing out another possibility!

 

Alright, I attempted to take some photos. You'll have to forgive the quality as I'm having to try and get to the wires with one hand and take pictures with the other....difficult at best.



This one points to the exact location of the severed wires. You may be able to make out the copper (barely) showing. There is one wire completely cut/gnawed in two. Another is not in two pieces but the plastic covering has been nicked open.



With this one I attempted to get a shot of the wires themselves. For the life of me I cannot get the wires turned far enough with the space I have right now to show the 2 colors. I did check them again though and it appears to be white with a navy blue stripe on it. Also, as I mentioned one wire is totally cut, one is nicked, and there does look to be a third wire that hasn't been touched at all. You can't really see the bolt that these wires go to, but it is at the tip of my top finger in this picture, and all the wires are going to it.
Hopefully this will help a little more. We are going to attempt to remove the air cleaner assembly to see if we can get the wires repaired this evening or tomorrow. I'll keep ya'll updated.
Thanks again for all the help!

 

Alrighty....
GREAT news!
We managed to get to the wires today (without having to remove any assemblies by the way ) and the car not only cranked and stayed cranked....but I actually DROVE it! For several minutes I might add.
We disconnected the battery to reset the computer and get rid of the check engine light...or be able to tell if there were additional problems if it came back on; which it did not!
So, for the moment...all is well in my world. The car is running at 100%, as far as we can tell, and it didn't cost anything more than a couple of bucks, a good bit a time/energy, two sets of scraped hands, and a few choice words!
Thank you all for your time and input! I really do appreciate all the advice and possible options ya'll offered. You all ROCK!
Thanks again,
whyuh