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Car won't go into gear

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Tammomny, Jul 16, 2018.

  1. Tammomny

    Tammomny New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2018
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    Location:
    Indiana
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    So on Saturday all the sudden as I was driving all the warning lights came on. I immediately thought I had accidentally run it out of gas, but I still had two bars on the gas guage. Still it acted like it was out of gas, so I pulled off and but almost four gallons in.

    Now the car registers four bars on the gas guage but it won't fully start or go into gear. All the warning lights are on, and the power button is orange.

    At this point I have no idea what to do!!
     
    #1 Tammomny, Jul 16, 2018
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
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    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    The car has thrown a fatal warning light in addition to others which forces the car into limp mode.

    It’s usually one of these reasons:

    The inverter coolant pump has failed and not circulating inverter coolant. The inverter over heats and basicly shuts off. Open the hood and just to the left of the big silver cover there is a little white tank with black cap.
    It’s very slim and rectangular. Start the car. Take cap off and with flashlight look in the tank and look at the pink coolant. It should look like it’s bubbling or show some movement like it’s moving and circulating.

    If it’s not circulating the pump needs to be replaced.

    If it is circulating it’s probably the hybrid battery the big hybrid $$$$ battery in the trunk. #1 post on this site now. This is the main power battery. Without that battery in good shape the car will not start or move.

    You have a lot of reading to do.

    Use search forum button up top. Search Hybrid battery and read the hundreds and hundreds of posts about what to do.

    Or have it towed to the dealer and pay $140 diagnostic fee and have them pull all the codes the car is throwing. Have them list in writing every single code in writing and post them back here.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Jul 16, 2018
  3. Tammomny

    Tammomny New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2018
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    Location:
    Indiana
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Called AAA and had it towed to a repair place....but it will be tomorrow morning before they can look at it....

    Tried starting it again and now there are no lights at all like the battery is dead....five minutes later the lights are all working....

    Repair shop thought it might be a battery cell....
     
    #3 Tammomny, Jul 17, 2018
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
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    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    They are probably right. The hybrid battery failure is very very common given the age of your car and mine. Its the #1 post now.
    Its a real pain to deal with if your not a handy guy. The only foolproof repair is a brand new spanky brand new battery from the dealer installed prices vary but around $3500 out the door.

    There's many unscrupulous people who will "rebuild" it for $500. Lots on Craigslist. But there using the same age battery's that just failed on you they happened to not have failed yet so 2 months down the road and $500 later it goes out again.
     
    #4 edthefox5, Jul 17, 2018
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