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08 Prius NO START, New 12v all fuses good.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by stuffyloaf14, Apr 12, 2024.

  1. stuffyloaf14

    stuffyloaf14 New Member

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    Hi all, I recently picked up a 2008 prius in non running condition. The kind lady I bought the car from stated that everything ran good until one day the car wouldn't start so she took it to the toyota dealership which told her it might be a gauge cluster that need to be replaced. She didn't want to spend the 3500 they were quoting her so she just decided to sell it as is. It sat for a month before I picked it up. It's a clean title and just hit 150k miles on the odometer before this issue came. I picked up a new agm 12v battery from napa and it reads 12.85v but only the dome lights and door locks work electrically. The light on the start button does not come on whatsoever and the only lights that come on, on the dash are the door ajar light and the hazards when turned on. The security light is on and turns off when the key is inserted into the key slot. The car chimes if the door is open with the key inserted to the slot. I have checked all of the fuses for continuity both under the steering wheel and under the hood. I also checked the two fuses on the positive terminal on the 12v battery and all of the relays are working. I've heard that it might be an inverter pump but I can't even get the car into accessory mode. I don't know what other things my cause the issue, any help is highly appreciated thank you!
     

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  2. stuffyloaf14

    stuffyloaf14 New Member

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    Also forgot to mention that I got a new battery for the key fob but no luck when starting
     
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Now you need to check the underhood fuse box the big main white relay I don't know what they call that thing It's long like 4 in I think it's got a wire bolted to it but you can't see that till you start to almost take it out I think but that's like a master control fuse All of those little bridges in there need to be not burnt You can look at them with magnifying glasses or you have good eyes whichever there's a way to test it etc but generally you can see it's blown and if it is then that needs to be dealt with because your Dora jar light is working that means when you finally get the start button to power up You should have a display as long as that door ajar light is lighting when you open the door You don't now because you have some major electrical nonsense more than likely this big fuse one of the tangs or bridges is burnt maybe not it's just a guess from here I imagine if you plugged up tech software right now It would be telling you something about a communication error among other things I'm sure
     
  4. stuffyloaf14

    stuffyloaf14 New Member

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    I was hoping the fusible like would be the issue but I just checked it and all the connections were still solid I also checked the continuity with a multimeter. I'm assuming its going to be some wiring issue. I'll find some diagrams online and start troubleshooting today. Thank you for the reply
     
  5. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    Double check the AM2 fuse in the fusebox under the hood.
     
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  6. stuffyloaf14

    stuffyloaf14 New Member

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    Just checked am2 along with some grounds for the push button start system and no luck the fuse is good and the grounds make good contact. I'm going to check some more grounds later today.
     
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  7. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    I would use a capable scantool (such as the Autel AP200) to see what systems respond - and check for codes.

    even if the car won't turn on you should be able to communicate with: BCM, immobilizer, gateway, Power Source Control, and SKS - smart key (if equipped).

    https://priuschat.com/index.php?posts/3246758

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  8. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    I would start here. The gauge cluster is a known issue on gen2
     
  9. stuffyloaf14

    stuffyloaf14 New Member

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    Sucess!!!
    The prius fired up today. I was looking to buy the walmart version of the ap200 (the ht200) but couldn't find one in stock nearby so I pickup up the hyper tough HT500, I plugged it up and before it finished syncing all the data, I hit the windshield wiper stock and boom the wipers were turning and everything turned on and the car started right up. I drove it around a bit, maybe 7 miles. The check engine and triangle of death were on along with oil and abs light. Don't know if I have to drive the car a bit more since its been sitting for approximately 2 months. But the thing turned on and I'm happy about that, big thank you to all of you who replied with helpful tips. Definetly gonna do a tune up next. This is my first prius and I'm hoping it will last me a while. Feels good to be part of the the Prius Fam!
     
  10. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    The suspense is killing us, so, what codes did you get on the HT500?
     
  11. stuffyloaf14

    stuffyloaf14 New Member

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    Update:
    A couple hours after the pirus started, I went to turn it on again and same symptoms of no response when pushing start button. I tried to scan the codes again but couldn't communicate with the systems. I was stumped but I decided to return the scanner and get a new unit of the same HT500. I get home plug it up and boom the car starts again. I was able to turn it off and on but later in the day like before it wouldn't start, again. I repeated the process again and got a new scanner, plugged it up but this time it wouldn't wake the computer up like before, yet maybe 3 minutes later the dash came on again and the car started fine. Not sure which system could be the problem area because there are 39 codes that its giving me. I've attached screenshots
     

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  12. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    In all likelihood, the reason you're having trouble reading codes is all the Uxxxx codes (Lost Comms to various system ECUs) you got when you were able to read them.

    Check all fuse with your multimeter for continuity. If any of the ECUs do not have power that would cause a problem connecting to it.