Ready for this? I hit a deer doing 40mph. Front drivers hood/grill damage. AC refrigerant all leaked out. No other fluids leaking. I'm worried that the radiator fans might not be working, but don't know how to test. You all know the vehicle engine doesn't run while idling. Drove 20+miles after accident to my house and haven't really driven since. The vehicles combination meter doesn't work and hasn't worked for almost a year. This might hinder troubleshooting and is worth mentioning. I drive 175 miles 6 days per week for work and don't want to get stranded. I drive blood samples up north to a laboratory and cannot have my engine lock up while working. Currently driving my crap backup vehicle. 2008 base Prius - 250k miles, second hybrid battery, fluids religiously changed, 4th accident, she's my baby. Help please
Buy an obd2 dongle for about $30 on Amazon and Torque Android app for your phone (or an old Android cell phone). Then you can monitor engine temperature (and battery voltage cell-by-cell, state of charge (AKA "SOC"), timing advance, rpm, etc.) on the Android cellphone using the Torque Pro app. Link on Amazon to dongle that I use on my Gen2: Link to Torque App for Android (yes, there is a free version but really should spend the $4.95 and get the full version): Torque Pro (OBD 2 & Car) - Apps on Google Play PS If you have Amazon Prime, then will likely receive the dongle tomorrow (or the day after).
Wow? You drove a year without the combination meter? That sounds super dangerous! You can get it fixed cheaply here: Prius Speedometer Replacement As for the deer damage, sounds like you don't have a problem with driving a partially broken car, so just call around and find a mechanic who will make sure it will keep going and start visiting local junkyards for replacement parts.
Will the OBD2 dongle work to check engine temperature if the combination meter doesn't work? The way it looks doesn't bother me as I don't care how beat up it is.
No combo: no way to see if you have any obd codes and you will have many many codes. Its only $100 for a new one you install. Hope you checked the radiator fluid and engine oil and inverter coolant reservoir. Running empty on any of those will be $$$$$. Don't bother looking at the rad overflow tank that's meaningless. Take the black plastic cover off the top of the rad and open the rad cap on the top left. if the ac doesn't work that means the front condenser got hit hard which probably means the rad got hit hard too. Go on youtube and search: Prius Inspection it will show you the button push chicken dance to put the engine in inspection mode where the engine will idle continuously for inspection till you shut it off. 1000 miles a week wow. There's also a great video on youtube for the combo meter install: Prius Combo meter
If you were able to drive 20 miles you're good. I saw a car fry an engine in about 3 miles without coolant.
Probably not. Because: Joisey. If I'm accurately informed, you can keep roadkill in Joisey but you have to have a permit. Not sure what that means to somebody with a rumpled Prius but in many states you ARE allowed to keep a deer in some cases if it is struck by a car without much in the way of paperwork or BLM involvement. Other states are a little bit more of a .....um ......PITA about it. YMMV https://www.newsweek.com/it-ok-eat-roadkill A family member squished a doe large enough to have to call a tow truck (driving a 9 pax SUV) and when it was made clear that the carcass was up for grabs there was a good natured discussion among the responders about who should take home some venison...... HOWEVER (comma!!) This happened on a federal installation so....no meat for the humans this time.
