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Effect of power line falling on 2010 prius

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by capepetrel, Apr 28, 2016.

  1. capepetrel

    capepetrel New Member

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    Hi I'm new to this chat. But I own a 2010 Prius II and on 7 April the power company knocked a power line onto my car and 6 others in our parking lot at work. My car was on because I was int it! I was about to leave for an appointment. It caused the car to shut off and then it siad several errors. First it would not recognize the key. Then it would not once on. The radio was buzzing too so the car must have been on. There was a live line sparking on the flat spot on the hood. Finally the line men noticed me and had me turn on the car and back out. But when I did that, the car said it did not recognize the hybrid drive and it had the giant exclamation point on the left side of the display. The car smelled of burned electrical wires. It drove though and i immediately took it to the Toyota dealer but they say they can't replicate the errors, although they saw the error when it arrived. The computer is not showing any codes. So they say the car is fine. I'm concerned about the safety of this car and the long term repercussions of the voltage. It was 60,000 volts. Any ideas.
     
    bisco likes this.
  2. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Have you documented your situation. I would want my insurance company to know there might be a claim. I would want to get names and licenses of the linemen. Have you notified the power company you might have a claim?

    Your witnesses memories are not getting any clearer. (linemen, mechanics at the dealership, etc)

    Now, with that over, there are two major subsystems that may have failed: The High Voltage inverter, transaxle motors, and HV battery. Failure of any of these should cause codes. (and will probably total the car)
    Low voltage electronics include the entertainment systems, A/C, light, instrument panel, etc.
    There are a lot of electrical parts that may be dead and you need test each one.
    These will be cheaper than the High Voltage parts but there are many of them and you need to know.

    Personally I think you would know if anything was not working, but all you can do now is Document, Document, Document.
     
  3. alanclarkeau

    alanclarkeau Senior Member

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    Sounds scary. You mention "There was a live line sparking on the flat spot on the hood" - is there any damage to the paint, or to areas like hinges bonnet catches etc. If so, contact with the power company would be a good place to start.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    wow, that's wild! glad you weren't injured. i would definitely contact my insurance co, police and the power company. who knows what might happen in the future. all the best!(y)
     
  5. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Wow.
    Don't park in garage or adjacent to house if you can do that. Cars catching fire due to electric problems is quite common. In this case it would be serious concern at least for the next x month(s).
    Some cars (not Prius) apparently say not to park in garage or near house, and that's without any damage making the problem worse.

    I wanna say someone owes me a new hybrid after that.
     
    #5 wjtracy, Apr 28, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 28, 2016
  6. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Maybe the electrical smell was the line - rather than the car ... especially if you see no paint burn marks. That said - since all the codes cleared - where the shop can no longer track it - their scan tool should still have recorded what the codes were. So you ought to be able to get that from them. Anyway - if there was no paint burn - it might be that the prius experienced a high rf burst - HV power lines carry enough unwanted radio waves to interfere with transmitters hundreds of feet away. So your car was likely exposed, albeit just a short time, to even higher RF levels - being at point blank range.
    Since the car's HV system is isolated, that may well be why the codes weren't permanent. Time will tell .... like bisco said ... glad you weren't hurt!
    .
     
    #6 hill, Apr 29, 2016
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2016
  7. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

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  8. capepetrel

    capepetrel New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
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    Two
    Toyota ran a "health check" and said the car is ok. But the person at the desk does not even know what the items above are. Any suggestions.