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Reversed jumper cables blew 100A fuse in engine compartment

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by ammdb, May 2, 2020.

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  1. ammdb

    ammdb Active Member

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    My daughter tried jump starting our 2001 gen 1 Prius, but got the polarity reversed. (In hind sight now I know why they always recommend hooking the negative to a metal part of the car and not the battery terminal.)

    Now it's completely dead. Even with a good battery there's no lights on the dash or display panel. Checked and found the 100A fuse in the engine compartment fuse box was blown.

    Does anyone have some good step by step instructions for replacing this fuse. It's bolt in, but I can't figure out how to get the fuse box out to take off the bottom cover to get to the screws.

    Thanks in advance.

    David
     
    #1 ammdb, May 2, 2020
  2. Sandy Meyers

    Sandy Meyers Member

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    David,
    Well at least now I’m now the last one to make this silly error on my 2002 Prius.

    Search my posts or do a search for your keywords and you’ll find help here. It’s a less than $10 part for the fuse, you can buy online. With patience and perseverance you can wrangle the fuse box components out to release the amp. It “should” have protected the inverter by blowing the fuse, but stranger things do happen.
    Keep us posted.
    Good luck.
     
    #2 Sandy Meyers, May 2, 2020
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  3. Q*bertZ

    Q*bertZ Member

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    yeah, I did the same thing. that 100 amp fuse is bolted in. it's not easy but with a lot of patience it can be done. it's just a real pain.
     
    #3 Q*bertZ, May 27, 2020
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  4. ammdb

    ammdb Active Member

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    Success!

    Following steps from the post quoted below I replaced the 100A fuse, along with a couple of other blown 15A fuses in the engine compartment fusebox, and the car is running again.

    Until this happened, I wasn't aware that Toyota, and other manufacturers have a high amp fuses or fusible link to protect the starting system, (in the case of my Hybrid, the DC to DC converter). It's a real pain DIY repair, but didn't require any specialized tools. For anyone that reverses jumper cables, make sure to check the fuse before agreeing to any more expensive repairs done by a dealer or repair shop.

    As I mentioned, the car was completely dead, including the dash lights and display screen. After fixing the fuse, it was still completely dead, and I was thinking there might be another fuse in another location, but after sitting for a couple of minutes connected to a good 12V battery, it came back to life. I'm guessing there's some large capacitors that were drained and needed to be recharged before the car would start.

    The attached photos are used with permission from a junk yard eBay listing:

    s-l1601.jpg s-l1603.jpg
     
    #4 ammdb, May 29, 2020
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  5. ammdb

    ammdb Active Member

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    A few pictures I took while replacing the fuse:

    IMG_20200509_110835006.jpg IMG_20200509_111428505.jpg IMG_20200509_114038202_HDR.jpg IMG_20200509_114044184_HDR.jpg IMG_20200509_124949629_HDR.jpg
     

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    #5 ammdb, May 31, 2020
  6. Sandy Meyers

    Sandy Meyers Member

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    Yeah, another success story!
    So happy for you.
     
    #6 Sandy Meyers, Jun 8, 2020
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  7. Q*bertZ

    Q*bertZ Member

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    Yes, that fuse is bolted in. It cannot be simply replaced by pulling it out with a fuse puller.
     
    #7 Q*bertZ, Jun 11, 2020
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