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help prius just died. completely shut off no warning lights

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Jkpriusaz, Sep 24, 2013.

  1. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    My 08 prius completely shut off while driving on the california freeways today. No warnings no lights on the dash nothing. Just powered off. Will not start the ready light of any dash lights for that matter work.. tried to jump it.. nothing working.

    What the he'll can cause thus.. I'm about 500 miles from home with a car just parked

    Could a 12v battery cause this no start issue?

    Thanks much
     
  2. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    One of the possibilities is that the inverter coolant pump has failed shorted. That can blow fusible links that can render the car as you describe it. That is a safety issue which required Toyota to address the situation. Did you have the inverter coolant pump recall done?

    If not, then Toyota will do it at no cost.

    How about headlights, do they come on?

    Check the fuses at the 12V battery, under the red cover. If they are OK, then there is a fusible link in the engine compartment which is possibly blown.
     
  3. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    Headlights. Dome lights. Horn all work .. the car does not have power to the fall it seems. No ready light.. the LCD screen remains dark.. basically no power to the ignition. This prius in as n 08 with about 150 k on the clock. I don't really want to throw cash at at on a new auxiliary battery
     
  4. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    Hopefully I can trouble shoot this by 7am pat
     
  5. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    I doubt it is the 12V. Did you have the inverter pump recall done?
     
  6. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    I bought it used a year ago.. so I have no idea... does Toyota still honor this recall?


    Was just odd. Everything's great the no warning lights or anything b as by car just dies in its tracks. Right now no dash no ready light no diagnostics being run
     
  7. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    Yes, Toyota is still honoring the recall. Just bring it in to a dealer somewhere and they are supposed to take care of the pump replacement, no charge to you.

    I suspect the 100 amp fusible link in the engine compartment is blown, which is not easy to get at. They should take care of that also.
     
  8. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    The cause of your current problems are almost undoubtedly the fusible link being blown. Your constant use of ACC mode however will kill your 12v battery lickedy split. So stop it. You can use some nice heavy gauge clips and jumper the fusible link. It is a lot easier to get to in the 2004-2009 models than in the GenIII's. If that allows the car to go READY, then there you go. It is just as easy to inspect it with a light. It looks just like a big fuse with the burn area stamped in copper so you will have a section not connected. If you have a DMM, that is the easiest and most accurate way of checking continuity.

    If that works, you can then limp it off of the freeway into the nearest parking lot for a tow truck. If the inverter pump is the problem or something else that blew the 100A fuse, you don't want to drive it.

    If you neglect maintenance, this sort of thing happens. Toyota sends out letters in the mail, emails, and phone calls, telling you to come in to the dealership for a free service because of Problem X. The letters are big and red, you can't miss them. After you get it fixed, keep ontop of these things.
     
  9. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    It's at the dealership.. it is eligible for two recall repairs..steering issue and the inverter pump. Keep your fingers crossed. Still wanting to know what caused this. Is it possible that the inverter pump could have caused this shut down without any dash lights going off? Seemed weird that it just shut down totally without warning.
     
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  10. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Glad to hear that you got it - and yourself - to the dealership.

    The others will no doubt provide more info more accurately, but I'm thinking that if the car blew a fuse, then there would be no warning lights because the lights were shut off by the blown fuse. Like instructing someone, "let me know when you're dead."
     
  11. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    Yes, in a few cases the pump failing shorted will blow the main fusible link. That is why the inverter pump problem was considered to be a safety issue and a high priority for Toyota to address.

    It is not the way I would have designed the circuit personally, but they never contacted me for advice.(n)
     
  12. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    Great news it was the inverter pump that caused the whole mess. Dealership said that the car powers off so as not to damage any thing else. Fixed under the recall. They did tell me it me that it could use a new belt cost and install totals $125.

    Thank you for letting me know about this
     
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  13. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Glad everything worked out for you in the end. :)

    SCH-I535
     
  14. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    The old "$125 needs a new belt ploy" is standard dealer upsell. Go for it if you are not mechanically inclined. Otherwise, it is a cheap belt and a pretty straightforward DIY install, if a bit cramped. The belts will show some minor cracks years before they let go. I have not seen any post here mentioning that the belt actually broke. Another point is that some, including myself, think that the factory spec for tightness of the belt is excessive and contributes to premature water pump leakage around the shaft. I backed mine way off and the pump spins just fine, no slippage, with much less tension.

    Also, the dealer saying that "the car powers off to avoid damage to anything else" is not really true. As we in engineering say, that's turning a fault into a feature. The pump can more commonly fail open, i.e. it just stops pumping, and the inverter/transaxle will begin to overheat, and will throw all the concomitant warnings and lights, but you will still have brakes and controls functioning. The blowing of the main fuse is just a poor design and could have been avoided, given the safety implications.

    You'll be back running soon I expect.
     
  15. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Now that you have it fixed, you need to figure out what to do in the future. If you received the Toyota notifications and just chose to ignore them, then breaking down on the freeway is deserved and you should learn to accept big red warning flags. If you received nothing, then you need to register with Toyota so that you do get them in the future.
     
  16. Jkpriusaz

    Jkpriusaz Junior Member

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    Yea I never received any notice on any recall I did register at the dealership for any tsb notice that may come out
     
  17. Priusking007

    Priusking007 New Member

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  18. Priusking007

    Priusking007 New Member

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    That just happened to my prius also same thing. I changed my 12 v today and the 120v fuse and still no power