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total electrical failure - key related?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by noctiluca, Jul 17, 2017.

  1. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    I was driving my Prius on the highway and the red triangle light came on, the car was driving normally for about 10 minutes and then all the dash icon lights came on and it lost power. When I try to turn it on, different things happen on the display every time but it basically won't turn on. Sometimes I can see the normal display, sometimes I can only see the square outlines of the gear shifter display (not the p, n, d or b). It's just acting shifty and weird and definitely won't start.

    Is there any chance this is related to the key? I flooded it recently and when I went to drive it tonight, the remote didn't work (despite a new battery) and it didn't take long of having it in the slot for these issues to start.

    Any other ideas what it might be?
     
  2. Lucifer

    Lucifer Senior Member

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    Is the 12v battery original?
    A dying 12v causes those symptoms, if you have a 2 amp trickle charger, charge the 12v for a day, then try to start the car.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no, it doesn't need the key after you turn it on. how many miles on her? you need to get the codes read, it sounds fairly serious.
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If the triangle came on and you continued driving it for another 10 minutes before if completely shut down, will probably be a heat related problem. Probably an inverter pump failure, which now could be inverter damage. See what happens after you let the car cool for 5+ hours

    But this is all guess work. Best to read the codes on the car.
     
  5. Texas Hybrid Batteries

    Texas Hybrid Batteries Senior Member

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    Any burned electrical smells? Check the AM2 fuse under the hood. If it's blown you have an inverter pump that shorted out.
     
  6. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    no observable smells. thanks for the info all! getting sick of paying to have the electrical codes read :(
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    time to trade up?
     
  8. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Yet you've never answered any of their questions. <shruggs>
     
  9. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    200,000
     
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  10. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    i bought it second hand, not sure if its original. does it need to be a 2amp? i have a 15amp charger but not a 2amp.
     
  11. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    No, that's too high and more for like jumpstarting (quick charge). You can get fairly cheap 1-2amp chargers at walmart, etc that are marketed more for maintaining a battery and/or motorcycles (battery tender brand for example).
     
  12. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    I'd aim for the maximum Toyota recommended 4A that you can get, preferably one that is fully automatic with an AGM setting and one that reverts to trickle maintenance charge once the battery reaches full charge.
     
    #12 dolj, Jul 28, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 28, 2017
  13. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Except for the 4A part, that's what those do. Very popular among the two wheel crowd. Since our Gen 2 is mainly used for short trips, I use one about once a month with a quick disconnect line (included) installed and routed along the 12V drain tube to the exterior where I can easily reach it. They take a little longer so I let it run overnight.

    IMG_2170.JPG.jpeg
     
  14. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Even if the 12v auxiliary battery is low on charge or dead, the fact is that the problem presented after the car was operating normally in Ready, so the car would have been operating off the DC to DC inverter and the high voltage traction battery.

    The OP should have the inverter coolant pump and or the inverter checked. Another possible scenario is that the inverter coolant radiator was damaged by a rock or some other debris resulting in the loss of coolant and resulting in overheating of the inverter.
     
  15. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    The problem with the maintainer/trickle chargers is that they are meant to maintain and top up relatively healthy batteries, not recover heavily discharged batteries. A maintainer/trickle charger wouldn't be able to charge a severely discharged battery, no matter how long you leave it on. For that, you need something with more amps.

    A high amp charger could be used for a short period of time, but would have to be discontinued when the electrolyte starts to heat up and "boil" to prevent damage. Once the battery cools down, then a lower amp charger could be used.
     
  16. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    So am2 was blown, pulled out the pump but the new one I bought doesn't look like the old one. I'm not missing anything right, this is not the correct part sitting next to the old one? don't know how it could be but I thought I'd check just in case.

    [​IMG]




     
  17. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    Never mind, I figured out this is a different, similarly named part that also came up as an error code so I guess I'm replacing both.
     
  18. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    So I ended up replacing the coolant control valve and inverter pump (and fuse and coolant). Red triangle of death went off for about 10 miles, then is coming back on intermittently at slow speeds, mostly constant at freeway speeds, mostly off when stopped. The battery seems to be charging slower than usual but I could be wrong about that.

    Anyone familiar with this set of issues?
     
  19. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Check your oil level.
     
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  20. noctiluca

    noctiluca Junior Member

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    It's fine :(