Starts but will NOT shift into drive.

Purchased a used 2005 with some front end damage. My first Prius so I'm a beginner at all the procedures, lights, etc. Turns out the inverter pump hose was pinched and cut in the accident. The guy that repaired the damage didn't know it, drove it for for several miles on the freeway and smoked the pump, since it didn't have any coolant left in the system. He replaced it and the hose. When I got it back, I had a "grinding" noise in the front, at low speeds, which was obviously the regenerator. A Toyota dealership confirmed it and blamed the lack of cooling. Their estimate $6500 for a new transmission/regenerator. I located a used unit (39k miles) from a reputable recycler. I drove the car about 5 miles to the transmission shop (the dealer would not touch a used unit) for the replacement and parked it. Several minutes after I left, the shop called and said the car would not shift from nuetral to drive or reverse and the dash did not display the READY light. The battery indicated half charge. The dealer said it was either a fuse or the transmission finally quit. So it was rolled in and the transmission was replaced. The shop test drove it (about two miles) and then parked it for me to pick up. I got in the car, started it up (everything normal) and drove away. I stopped for gas after about 3 miles, uneventful, and then drove away. After about 2 more miles a red warning triangle came on in the dash. The triangle has a ! mark in the middle of it. The car drove and sounded normal, but I pulled over. I turned it off and then started it again. Everything was normal (all lights, guages, etc. lit up) except it would not go from neutral into drive or reverse. There is also a orange pic of a car with a line in the center of it located in the upper left corner of the LCD panel. The READY light is not lit and the power button light is orange.

I don't have an owners manual, so I don't know what the warning lights mean, not that it would probably help much. I assume there is something seriously wrong for the computer to prevent the car from going into drive.

Anyone have a similar experience. I would like to know BEFORE I haul it off to the dealer. I'm sure they will have great fun at my expense, literally!

 

The regenerator is the name that is called out in the parts list for the transaxel by the Toyota techs and on their computer? From now on, I use transaxle and inverter in the forum.

The transaxel grinding started 200 miles before the no shift problem started.

The grinding started after the inverter cooling pump smoked because of the broken hose leaking all of the fluid. So, I think it is safe to say that the lack of cooling did cause the transaxel/inverter grinding.

I think the shift problem is unrelated to heating because there was no overheating warning and the shift problem seems to be the same with the old transaxel and the new transaxel. Also, the shift problem doesn't go away after cooling down overnight.

One thought. The transmission shop followed a very specific power disconnection / disarming sequence pulished by Toyota. If power was diconnected to the "computer", then maybe the shift lock-out was reset and just needed time to trip again. Is that plausible?

I will try to get the codes, but by that time the dealer will have it firmly in their grip. I can't find anyone local in Phoenix other than a dealer that has experience with the Prius.