Total shut down while driving, cannot be jumped

maybe you need a 12 volt battery. or, vermin.

 

Check grounds

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Headlights maybe unrelated - I have 2 08's and both have experienced the headlights randomly dropping out and returning when turning off and on at the headlight stem. That was fixed by replacing both headlamp bulbs (HID). They are 50.00 a piece on Amazon. If you tow to dealership don't let them do the headlights for you - you can do that yourself for $100.00. The other items sound like you need a new 12V battery but you don't want to ruin that one if something is killing it.

 

There two type of HID blub if there flashing the end of t he blub to short stretch cotact so it touch the bulb

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Is there gas in the car?

 

Yeah my first thought was vermin gnawing on some wiring. But hands-down the low-hanging fruit: check the 12 volt, first.

 

With a volt meter at the jump point under the hood, or directly at the 12 Volt battery in the cargo area.

 

I've never heard of any shop that would take back a 12V battery. They have no way to know what might have happened to it. Besides, putting a volt meter on your battery is a heck of a lot easier than replacing the battery. Especially if you don't know the state of charge of the "new" battery. New isn't necessarily equal to fully charged.

I would say that chances are better than even that, if the 12V is low, charging or replacing it will get it running. But there is no guarantee that the car has no other problems. Replacing parts buy guess rather than test can get mighty expensive.

 

supposedly, if the car is running, you can disconnect the 12v, and it will keep running, because the inverter is supplying the necessary power.
so i'm not sure the 12v is the problem, irregardless of my post #2.

 

Regarding post # 2 I do not think they needed vermin. The 12 Volt battery would be more likely.

 

What I'm about to say might sound like exploiting the OP's misfortunes, and I don't mean it to sound that way, but one thing to see here is that this is a car that has been showing multiple, increasing signs of electrical issues for a year or so, where the earliest ones were annoying but not especially disruptive or dangerous.

One takeaway is that allowing unrepaired, minor issues to pile up over time in a car may lead to more serious issues later (total loss of power while driving could be very awkward in some traffic conditions). That can happen in various ways: an obvious way is when one or more of the overlooked minor issues directly contribute to a later failure. Another is where certain symptoms of the minor issues you're already ignoring keep you from noticing new symptoms of a different incipient failure. Yet another is where the accumulation of minor niggles just sort of depresses your whole attitude about the car, leading to a kind of spiral of taking less attentive care of it.

The other side of that coin is that, by staying on top of minor issues as they crop up, you stay on the up-side of all those effects: you reduce the chance of the minor issues progressing directly into something worse, you avoid missing any symptoms of new issues that may appear because they won't blend in with stuff you're already ignoring, and you just overall stay happier with the car, which helps keep you in the right mood to stay on top of minor issues as they crop up.

I know it's a little late to say this to the OP in this thread, but maybe it'll serve as motivation for some other PC reader.

-Chap

 

OP never stated and no one asked.

Does the vehicle have a salvage title?
Was the vehicle in a recent accident, requiring extensive electrical work?​

The first blown fuse, I would venture to say nearly everyone would just replace the fuse and just say "strange," but OK.
The second time, concern would begin to rise. At this point a small percentage may seek a solution. Others would just replace the fuse.
The THIRD time, "Houston, we have a PROBLEM!" Everyone, but OP and a few others, would seek a solution.
Recurrance 4-6, and no corrective action taken: Glutton for punishment, Millennial, W.T.F(rankfurter) were you thinking (or not thinking)?
I know I am not the only one thinking this is insanity: doing the same thing over and over [six times mind you] and expecting different results [albeit one result, working locks].

Chalk this to the HID ballast issue. No harm, no foul.

At a loss to try and come up with some plausible explanation on why/how one would ignore this issue.


All of this is akin to you having an unexplainable pain, say in your abdominal area. Initially you attribute it to some food you ate; a reasonable diagnosis. But the pain doesn't go away after a few days (say 3 days). In fact, it actually begins to get worse, but you just shrug it off. Instead of seeking professional, licensed medical help, at this point (worsening pain), you turn to the Internet and try out all kinds of quack, homeopathic, voodoo, Santería, alternatives. Next day, dead. Poor guy's appendix had burst; worst possible outcome when left untreated. Sadly, cases like this do occur; wish I were making this up.

OP, please for the love of God, Yahweh, Budda, Allah, Jehovah, or whatever you believe in, get problems checked out much sooner.

 

At least the OP didn't substitute in a high amp fuse for the one that keeps blowing.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I don't know. If op has/had comprehensive insurance, maybe an all consuming electrical fire would bring relief?

 

If you don't have AAA (which is pricey, relatively speaking), you could add towing service from your auto insurance provider. It is super cheap; just a few dollars for the policy term.

 

probably a loose ground, or vermin.