Engine lights and codes and more lights!

Not sure about the 2012 V but it was safe to drive on engine only on previous Prii. Short distance. But not extended use. I would look carefully at the last people that left tools in car, as you said what were they doing there? Also perhaps these idiots disconnected your High voltage disconnect switch and did not connect it properly again. It’s a little tricky, look up on line and then get familiar with this disconnect. Merry Christmas.

 

It sounds like your relays are not cutting in. There are 2 relays for each bank of High Voltage DC and one main relay to connect all High Voltage to inverter. The HV disconnect must be in properly.

 

No connect to inverter = no AC output to motors = Engine only operation.

 

Yes, get that done, it’s free. may fix problem.

 

In doing the tsb the dealer must unlock the High Voltage disconnect.

 

Autorun's engine won't start without the HV disconnect in place and most of the inverter section working.

 

OK doesn’t make sense tho, inverter is basically for EV propulsion., A remote possibility is that I finally understand this part of the theory of operation. maybe?

 

The inverter is actually called an "inverter converter" by Toyota. It is an amazing piece of electrical engineering, a real tour de force for Toyota, that they were able to patent and sell to Ford. In a nutshell, the car is started with 12v control of HV power via the HV motor using the inverter converter to regulate the HV power. For a college level look at the system, try this guy's senior level videos. He has many many videos. His school buys cars and tears them apart and puts them back together, including a brand new 2017 eco version.

This one is a good overview with actual equipment removed from a gen2 (around 26 min):

This one is 90 minutes, which is like a Tues or Thurs class.