Car won’t start, only check engine light on

new to the forum but passive stalker since I’ve had my Prius for a few years. I saw similar threads and the advice was somewhat all over the place. Let me preface by saying I’m a moron and I don’t know much about the nuances of owning a Prius.

I’ll try to be concise. I have a 2008 Prius w/230k miles. It’s parked in Michigan as I don’t drive it much now that I live in Chicago. I told my dad to drive it every week or so to keep the battery in good shape. I got home for Thanksgiving and low and behold, he didn’t move it since I was last home a month ago and now it wont start.

I tried jumping, but when connected, I just got the green/red light on the ignition, the green parking light as wellas well as the check engine light. Everything else is dead. Took battery to autozone and it’s fine.

So, I don’t have an OBD2 reader but I can buy one at autozone for $60. I’m assuming this will give some insight as to the problem, but it will be towed regardless. The closest Toyota dealership is about 25 miles away. There are a few body shops within 10 miles (I’m in the sticks). My concern is I buy the reader, get it towed for $150-200 and then I’m also out who knows what to fix (one person said “it could be $.50 to several thousand dollars). I got a good deal on the car from a friend 3 years back ($2,500) and put about 35k miles on it. I hate to send it to the graveyard since it was running fine before I left town.

Thoughts? Specifically:
-is it worth it to buy the OBD2 reader?
-do we have a relative idea on issue/cost
-is it time to send this to the graveyard

 

I reinstalled the battery after charging it and testing at Autozone and it the problem persists. So it isn't the battery (or is it?). I can't believe that a fully charged battery wouldn't at least permit some of the functions to work, even if marginally (clock radio, display, etc).

I got an OBD2 reader - it wouldn't read from the port. I checked it on my CRV to make sure it wasn't a faulty reader, and it worked fine on there.

I also got a multimeter to check the battery, and the reading was 12.28 (see pic). I also checked the small fuses. On the reader, it went down to zero on all of them except for the ones listed below, where I got .0L reading (I assume that means the fuse is blown).

Assuming this is correct, the blown fuses are for:

14 - ETCS Electronic throttle control system
17 - DOME Audio system, interior lights, smart entry and start system, gauge and meter, turn signal lights, luggage room light, clock
9 - AM2 "IGN" fuse, ignition system

Again, this is based on my crude understanding of the multimeter, but I wasn't getting 0.00 readings on those fuses. I don't know if this is causing the issue, or the effect of the issue.

 

Also, I'm not sure if it's relevant, but when I put the smart key in and hit start, nothing happens, as covered above; however, I do feel resistance on the brake pedal, e.g., it is coming towards me. I do hear some clicking coming from the engine, but its not very prominent. I don't know if that helps eliminate other issues.

 

Confirming your question - the only lights I see are on the rectangle parking button next to ignition. When I press ignition once, I get green light. Again, orange/red light, and then the check engine light comes on. No other functionality anywhere. I am going to go home again this weekend and post some more pics and troubleshoot further. I ran out of time and had to head back to Chicago.

Side note, is there any downside to it being without power for an extended period of time - meaning if I don't get around to this for a few weeks, is that going to make the problem worse?

Second side note, when I was jumping it, my dad monkeyed with the positive terminal b/c he didn't think it was connected. Knowing what I know about jumping Prius' I about scissor kicked him. I did see a spark, but would that have damaged the fuse?

Question that I couldn't figure out even with google - what is the ICWP, and is there a link on how I can get to it / unplug it?

Thanks everyone - the internet is an amazing place (sometimes)

 

I agree - No clue. Unless it had something to do with the jump itself.

 

More info - I also checked the voltage at the battery itself - it was reading close to the same. 12.30v. Seems like if it was full charged it would be at 12.7, correct? It couldn't have drained that much in one day.

Autozone said it was ok. I watched them hook it up too. But given the fact that the battery is powering the check engine light and the park / ignition light, it seems like the battery is not the issue, and there is something between the battery and the ignition that is causing the problem. That's my "I-went-to-law-school-and-know-where-to-put-the-wiper-fluid" diagnostic of the problem.

 

I don’t think so. I have a cable that plugs in at the middle of it. So you can plug in the running car first, then hook up the dead car, and then connect in the middle. I think when I was jumping my dad took the positive and tried to connect it better and it sparked up, but that’s all I really saw.

 

Any way to isolate whether this is the issue? My concern is that I’m gonna have to have it towed to a mechanic which is about 20 miles away.

I also did some research that it could be the long fuse, and that was NOT a diy job.

 

I made it back home to try some more things. When I I start it, it makes a buzz. See link:

Testing the fuses again now.