Wondering if anyone else has had this issue: car loses power and then won't start. The reliable 2003 (114,000 miles) died last week less than one mile after going through a local car wash. (Any ideas why? Water getting in the side vent thingy?) Had it towed to our house where we hoped putting a new auxiliary battery would do the trick. Aux battery helped some; at least we got the instrument lights on again, but still no power. In fact, hard to tell if the car is actually starting or not. I doubt it. Today we towed it to the dealer who says the ECU needs to be replaced. -- "...can't get accurate error codes to see what else might be wrong until after ECU is replaced." -- "...the problem may also be (1 in 10 chance) a bad transmission that has been damaged by brakes feeding back on themselves (?)." (I may not have this exactly right; that's the general gist anyway.) Wondering what other possibilities there might be. Thanks for any ideas!
Did you solve your problem? There are many "ECU's" in the Prius. In the old days ECU meant Engine Control Unit but now the term is used as Electronic Control Unit for any "computer box" in the car. Which one do they say is bad? Battery ECU? (inside Hybrid battery box) Hybrid ECU (under passenger floor), gas engine ECU (behind glovebox)? Power Steering ECU? Airbag ECU? Body ECU? If you need any of the above I have plenty of good used ones for sale.
