My 2005 Prius is dead according to my daughter who is borrowing it while I replace the fuel pump in her Pontiac, she called the Toyota dealer and he told her that she might be able to jump start it, how do you jump start it without damaging it?
If your daughter knows the difference between red and black, and + and -; and can hook up red to red, + to +, or red to + as appropriate (and do the same with black, -, and body ground) then she too can jump start a Prius. However you must be 100% sure that she can do this because the cost of a screw-up will be a four-digit repair bill (the inverter will likely be fried). If you have any doubt that she can make that distinction, then it would be better for you just to buy a new 12V battery and install it; or have the car towed to a place where this can be done for her. Your owner's manual will provide details about the jump start process (which can either occur at the battery located in the hatch floor or at the main relay/fuse box near the inverter) and you can also do a search here for numerous stories about jump start successes and failures. Good luck.
Considering the high dollar damage of a jump gone wrong. it seems like they should have included a protection relay that would electrically disconnect the jumper cable from the car if a reverse polarity jump was attempted. That could be a good thing to add as an accessory because sometimes chit happens, even to people who normally don't mess up.
jump starting is so easy. anyone who messes it up befuddles me. step a) the RED jumper cable, also known as the positive terminal in every country and language fathomable, goes to the jumping terminal in the fuse box, at least in a Gen III. if you don't know where your terminal is, look in the owners manual. step b) the BLACK jumper cable, known as the negative terminal in every country and language fathomable, goes on the FRAME of the car. It doesn't go to anything electrical related or any wire or nothing like that. just connect the black cable to a bolt or screw or the CV boot or anything metal that is connected to the body of the car. most people don't understand the concept of grounding and how the whole body of the car is the conduit for the negative charge to travel. step c) press power.
Pretty good Colonel, but not as precaution oriented for the newbie. It is unnecessary for the donor vehicles engine to run. Extra current supplied could harm the Prius! Also, as soon as Prius powers up, disconnect cables. and 3rd, caution is to run the car for at least 15 min, 30 min is better to bring the Battery up to previous parameters. You have the option of either driving it, or just leaving in ready with engine running periodically to charge the HV. In turn the HV will charge the 12V. AND last, monitor the 12V , either by the self check system or a multi-meter! WHAT, you don't have a multimeter! I urge you to buy one.
i tend to keep a jump box in my car just incase it dies. accidents do happen the jump box has a polarity correction... thing.. on it.. so if it's hooked up wrong, it won't turn on. it's easy enough to crawl into the hatch area, pop the hatch.. and hook it up.
I made a video on how to jump start a gen 2 prous. I always prefer to jump directly to the battery. I have helped repair more than one prius that was jumped backwards from the confusing under hood jump points. Also accessing the battery gets you one step closer to replacing the battery if needed.
