Running While Traction Battery is Off

unfortunately, no. the traction battery spins up the engine. if the 12v is the only thing that broke, you don't have to fear the traction battery voltage.

 

Are you sure the 12V battery broke? If the car detected a collision, it disabled the Hybrid system.

That happened on my 2017 prius that was T-boned by a 4Runner. The tow operator needed to use a special sequence to get the car out of Park since the parking pawl normally requires the car to be in Ready node.

 

The only way to turn-off the traction battery is to pull the safety disconnect, but as @bisco stated that is what's used to start the gas engine. Why don't you just replace the 12vdc battery? It's isolated from the traction battery, when the car isn't in 'ready mode'. The 12vdc battery closes two large relays to engage it - then the car goes into 'ready mode'.

Hope this helps....

 

The OP strongly implied a collision. Are they sure the 12V battery is the issue? If the car detects a collision it will disable the Hybrid system, disconnecting the traction battery.

 

I see what your saying, but he needs to check his systems first! Getting 12vdc to the car is the first step.......If the traction battery interrupt did trip or the main 12vdc fuse - it should be readily apparent, otherwise everything else should light up - including trouble codes.........

 

My car was damaged mainly in the front passenger door.All 3 side curtain airbags deployed. Out of habit, I put the car in Park & turned it off. After that, it turned on with a Hybrid error & could not be placed in Neutral. Apparently, holding down the break while holding the shifter in Neutral eventually places the car in Neutral so it can be towed.

 

are you buying it back from the insurance company? tbh, it sounds like you are in over your head.

 

Before my Prius was declared totalled, someone told be the body shop would need to work on it and a dealer would need to safety inspect before enabling the Hybrid system, At that time I was just researching my options.

 

it's not somethng to take lightly, especially for the inexperienced

 

To add insult to injury, now when you buy a new Toyota (I paid cash) if you opt out o Toyota US marketing they just change the language to say it is a transactional email because you own a Toyota.
Their Unsubscribe link sis only for marketing and you cannot opt out of the others even though they have marketing content. I ended up putting them in the SPAM folder & hope I do not miss any important recall information.

 

I looked in my new Camry manual to see if I missed that trick. Although they have a section with towing precautions, I do not see this trick mentioned anywhere. If I had known that when I got pushed into an oncoming traffic lane, I could have pushed the car onto the shoulder, out of the active roadway. Instead, we had people on both sides of the curved road controlling traffic.

@Tideland Prius if you are still maintaining a KB thread, this undocumented trick would be a good addition for others,

 

That looks like an easy fix, but I'm pretty handy. Check your strut tower and front wheel alignment. If you don't know what I'm talking about; your probably shouldn't try to repair it yourself. IMHO, most of that damage is due to the soft, pedestrian friendly front end - doesn't look like any frame damage occurred.
The tow company may have pulled the traction battery disconnection, and/or main relay/fuses. That's pretty much company policy for any electric/hybrid cars stored on their lot - liability/insurance issue. Check your glove box and trunk area for an orange plug.
If you have a short somewhere, the damage would've already been done in the minutes after the crash - electricity moves pretty fast!!

Hope this helps.....

 

He already got it to move out of Park by using the secret procedure. Modern Toyota hybrids disable the hybrid system upon sensing a collision. No need to pull the high voltage plug any more.

 

I doubt the traction battery disconnect was tripped. Most likely the 12vdc battery was drained due to all the damaged electrical components. He wouldn't be able restart the car and drive it to the side of the road or onto the tow truck, if it was tripped.
This is the reason the policy exists in tow yards, there's no guarantee the primary breaker will trip - but pulling the safety disconnect will ensure the car doesn't get energized.
There was multiple incidents where a wrecked hybrid/EV sat in a storage yard for days before igniting the battery pack.

 

Your fears are unfounded. The 12V battery is not connected to the hybrid battery.