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Gen 2 Prius Won't Start-not the 12 V Battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by DrBob4248, Jul 26, 2020.

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  1. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    Hi All,
    I have a 2007 Prius, 192k miles. Had the hybrid battery replaced with a reconditioned unit March of this year. Has been running fine. Yesterday, I drove it and it worked fine. Then later I went out and it was dead. This is the behavior:
    • Fob does not lock/unlock doors but when hitting unlock, there is a beeping noise from the car.
    • Dome light works but nothing else
    • With foot on brake, pressing power button, light on button goes green but nothing happens.
    • With foot still on brake, pressing power button again, light on button goes orange, check engine light illuminates on dash, and humming noise from under hood (just like when starting it normally)
    • Pressing power button a third time shuts everything back down.
    • Behavior is the same with fob inserted into slot.
    • I have two fobs. Both behave the same way.
    I have checked every fuse both under the hood and under the dash. Two under the hood were blown (a 10a and a 15a), which I replaced without change in the problem.
    The 12 V battery is good. I did try to jump it using the terminal under the hood (did NOT reverse the polarity) and it changes nothing.

    I am open to suggestions. Please!
    Bob
     
    #1 DrBob4248, Jul 26, 2020
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  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I would say you have a bad 12v battery
     
    #2 JC91006, Jul 26, 2020
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  3. ttou68

    ttou68 Active Member

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    What was the 2 blown fuse for?
    And have you checked again and see if still good?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #3 ttou68, Jul 26, 2020
  4. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    The 12 V battery is good. I connected it to a charger and it shows fully charged.
    I do not remember which two fuses were blown, but I replaced them and they are still fine.
     
    #4 DrBob4248, Jul 26, 2020
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    You have a bad 12 volt battery.

    I’m with TTOU what’s the deal with the blown fuses? You did a jump start
    Directly to the battery itself in the trunk didn’t you lol?

    Turn on the cars headlights, if no headlights you either have a blown 100 amp fuse in the positivevbattery terminal assy or you blew the 100 amp hardwire link under the clear plastic cover in the front fuse box that has the jump terminal in it.
    Pray pray you didn’t smoke the inverter like hundreds of others we have seen on this site,
     
    #5 edthefox5, Jul 26, 2020
  6. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    I absolutely did NOT jump directly to the battery terminals. I jumped to the charging post under the hood.
    I checked the fusible link visually and it appears normal.
     
    #6 DrBob4248, Jul 26, 2020
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the 12v battery is good. but is it good enough?
     
    #7 bisco, Jul 26, 2020
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  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    headlight test should of answered that but....

    That crazy 12 volt battery.
     
    #8 edthefox5, Jul 26, 2020
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  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Just because a 12v battery shows it's fully charged on a charger, does not mean it's a good battery. A load test would be needed to test the battery. But if the battery is over 5 years old, I wouldn't even waste time in testing it, just replace it. They don't last forever
     
    #9 JC91006, Jul 26, 2020
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  10. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    THIS ^^

    BUT.....the 12 V battery could be good.

    "reconditioned" HV batteries are not known for a particularly long life and they sometimes fail differently on subsequent runs.
    My guess here is the HV battery.
    But some additional tests are needed.
     
    #10 sam spade 2, Jul 27, 2020
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  11. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    Well, I appreciate the thoughts. I'll try replacing the 12 V battery first. If not, my hybrid battery is covered by warranty. Fingers crossed. I have owned 4 Priuses and have replaced several 12 V batteries and they never behaved like this. Don't understand why it wouldn't take a jump.
    Bob
     
    #11 DrBob4248, Jul 27, 2020
  12. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    I replaced the 12 volt battery. No change in the car. It does not start. With the brake pedal depressed, a press of the Power button seems to do nothing. Pressing it a second time causes the Check Engine light to come on on the dash (the only light present), a humming noise under the hood, and I can feel pressure on the brake pedal increase. The only lights working are the dome lights. The headlights do not work.
    The 120 Amp fuse on the positive battery terminal is intact.
    Any more ideas? Any chance it's the hybrid battery?
     
    #12 DrBob4248, Jul 27, 2020
  13. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Of course. Since the HV battery is REQUIRED to start the gas engine......AND to make the car move WITHOUT the gas engine......

    Note: You do know that the 12 V battery could have been tested......right ??
     
    #13 sam spade 2, Jul 27, 2020
  14. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    I do.
     
    #14 DrBob4248, Jul 27, 2020
  15. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    check the AM2 FUSE in the engine compartment. see if it's blown.

    If the fuse is blown, do not put a new one in without disconnecting the inverter coolant pump. That part has shorted and if you replace the fuse, it'll just blow again
     
    #15 JC91006, Jul 27, 2020
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  16. DrBob4248

    DrBob4248 Junior Member

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    AM2 is intact.
    I wanted to see if it may be the hybrid battery so I got a code reader but it does not power on when plugged into the port in the car. Works fine in my other Prius.
    If no one has other thoughts, I guess I'm going to have to have it towed, which stinks since the nearest Toyota dealer is 40 minutes away.
     
    #16 DrBob4248, Jul 27, 2020
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    buy a volt meter
     
    #17 bisco, Jul 27, 2020
  18. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Power to the diagnostic port appears on pin 16. It is not switched; it should be showing battery voltage at all times.

    If there's no power at that pin, a glance at the wiring diagram (more info) should show you what fuse that's derived from; it's possible there's one somewhere you didn't check.

    Once you can get a code reader to work, you can find out what engine code(s) might be behind the check-engine light.

    That light would not generally be the only one on if you had a traction battery problem. Anything detected by the battery ECU or HV ECU would light the master warning light. (And you would still want to proceed to get the trouble codes, to start figuring what is really going on.)
     
    #18 ChapmanF, Jul 27, 2020
  19. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Turn on the headlights. Do the headlights work.
     
    #19 edthefox5, Jul 27, 2020
  20. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This is not making much sense. If you drove the car one day and parked it. It should start again without issue unless the 12v battery is bad. Only thing I can think of is you may have rodent problems. There could be a chance the combination meter is not functioning and you can't see the dash display. However when this happens, your headlights would still work (and yours doesn't)

    The 2 fuses you found blown may be holding the answer to why the car is not starting.
     
    #20 JC91006, Jul 27, 2020
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