Say It Ain't So!! Is My Prius Really Dead??

Hey everyone- longtime fan of these boards, first-time poster. (I was hoping that my first post would be about reaching 300,000 miles, but I'm not quite there yet.)

Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone has any experience with a problem I'm experiencing with my Gen2 Prius (2006): one week ago, as I pulled into my driveway (thankfully it didn't happen on the highway), the car just completely shut off with no warning. The engine turned off, all of the consoles went black, power steering died, and the car was completely immobilized.

First of all, I thought it could be a 12V battery issue. The weird thing is, though, is that the headlights still work, the dome lights still work, and the power locks still work. It's only the center screen and the speedometer console that are black. And, of course, the power button won't restart the car. I tried some 2A trickle charging of the 12V battery over the past few days, but it made no difference- the car still won't start up.

I've had issues in the past with this car when it stopped in a similar fashion, but the difference was that the master warning light came on (along with numerous other warning lights) as the car stopped, and the center console screen and the speedometer cluster remained on.

I've also replaced the hybrid battery before (GreenBean), but never did the car die in this fashion- it's very mysterious.

As of today, when I once again attempt to start the car by pressing the start button, you can hear some faint, normal mechanical whirring as if it's going to start, but it never does (and the screens remain black).

Any idea as to what the problem might be?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Excellent- thanks, guys. I'm going to try all of this and get back to you.

 

OK, so I wasn't able to test the 12V battery yet, but I did see that you suggested checking the AM2 fuse (and reading the other thread you recommended about it). Sure enough, my AM2 is blown!

I just tried installing one of the spare fuses, and it promptly blew and started smoking. So I think we can say, based on the prevalence of these symptoms in these Priuses, that it's a classic case of a failed inverter coolant pump, right?

So, assuming that's the case, I'm just thinking about how I can get it replaced, if possible, since this was probably a defective part. I'm the original owner of this '06, and we never had the recall repair done, possibly because ours was not technically part of the affected VIN batch (I went ahead and checked Toyota's recall site, and it said "no outstanding recalls").

Do you think there's any chance a dealer would touch this at this late date, or at I going to have to DIY this or bite a pricey bullet?

Thanks again.

 

Awesome, thank you. I will give it a shot! It gives me confidence to know that so many others have done the pump replacement successfully, so that's definitely good. Hopefully I can get her up and running again soon so I can crack 300,000.

 

That's a good tip- thanks. I will see if I can get a hold of a real Toyota part.

Yeah, I had a feeling that there would be no way the warranty/recall would still be in effect after 15 years!

 

Just to follow up, I was able to drive the car a couple miles to a local mechanic after disconnecting the pump's electrical cable and replacing the blown fuse.

I brought him a genuine Toyota pump that I bought online and he installed it for me for $280.

The car is now back on the road! Thanks to everyone for your help.