2007 Prius 4H- Now it's running, but it won't accellerate.

welcome to priuschat. your son may have run down the 12 volt battery, and then the jump guy might have reversed the polarity of the charge cables which can fry the inverter. i would get a second opinion from the dealer. if they confirm, your mechanic should be able to find a used one pretty cheap. all the best!

 

Yep. 1st set of symptoms sound like a low 12 volt, esp. needing to jump it.

And yep, reversing the polarity frequently destroys the (expensive) inverter and yes, I've heard of some folks getting lucky and having it only blow a fuse or fusible link.

 

^^^
There is no inverter recall on Priuses AFAIK. There is a recall on the inverter coolant pump.

 

Geez, another reversed polarity jump! It has all the hallmarks. I just can't understand how it can happen, red and black being easy to tell apart. There has to be some common thread to all these stories.

Yes, get a used inverter, and you should be OK. For long periods of sitting inside while stopped, leave the car in Ready mode, and the engine will come on to keep things charged.

 

Some people don't have a clue and think that you should connect red to black.

I got that from someone on my floor in college (WAY before Prius existed) when my battery went dead. I think I left a light on. Fortunately, I knew better.

 

Not another one! We hear so many stories of tow truck operators (and others) frying Priuses with failed reverse polarity jump attempts that it's scary. It's just amazing how often this kind of stuff seems to happen.

I think some guys think you can do this stuff by trial and error. These stories frighten me so much that I'd never let anyone jump my Prius except myself these days.

 

Yep guarantied to flatten the little 12V battery.

It's an absolute certainty that one of the "jumps" reversed the polarity and blew your inverter. The blown fusible links are definite proof of this. At that point it goes from simple 12V battery recharge (or at worst a 12V battery replacement) to a major $3500+ expense.

Given that three tow trucks came to look at it, I don't see how you're going to know who did it. It was probably the very first one that attempted the jump, otherwise it would simply have started right there and then. But you've got pretty much zero chance of getting any compensation out of them if they simply deny doing it.

 

Toyota inverter 2007 Toyota Prius Base 1.5L in Car & Truck Parts | eBay

 

The inverters don't fail much on their own, so I don't think you will have a problem in that regard. You should replace the transaxle fluid (ATF), if that hasn't been done. If you haven't done the Toyota safety recalls, you should do so ASAP. You *might* have to deal with a new traction battery in the near future, but it may go a good while longer.

 

if you can afford it, it wouldn't hurt to look around at newer models. you might go another 50-100-150k miles without major repairs, but you might not. also, there will be a lot of smaller expenses at higher mileage as well.

 

Virtually no car will run without a 12 volt battery. You will note that the very first reply mentioned that you needed a new one. The computers can't store codes without a functioning 12 volt battery. (That is how you clear codes, unplug the 12 volt battery)

Had you replaced it yourself, it would have been about $180 USD Optima DS46B24R Optima battery direct fit replacement for Prius 2004 + & Plug-in Prius with Instructions

It would not surprise me if Dealer labor cost was not $125 an hour USD. (no clue if you are not in the US)

 

Yeah you need a healthy 12V battery in there. The price sounds a bit steep though, others in the US have mentioned prices ranging from about $220 to $350 for the dealer to replace that battery.

Do they have any more info regarding whether or not the inverter has failed? I suppose if you're lucky then maybe the 12V battery just failed really heavily and was enough of a short circuit to prevent it from taking a jump start. Let us know how it turns out.