My 2007 Prius suddenly lost power and all lights on the dash board light up. I had a "problem" error as well. Eventually a message came up stating there was a transmission P lock mechanism problem. Long story short, realized the 12volt was dead and replaced it. However, the car is still not running after replacing the battery. It went once around the block fine, and then the same thing happened with all the lights (check engine, VSC, break system, and !) and P lock mechanism warning. Disconnected the battery for 15 minutes and tried again. No luck. Before having it towed to the shop, was wondering if there is some other DIY trouble shooting I can do. I've read several posts about fuses and bad combo meters. Thanks!
could be you didn't tighten the battery terminals enough, the negative to body should be checked, and you should test the battery, new ones don't mean good ones. if that doesn't do it, go to auto zone and have them pull the dtc's.
either that, or buy a digital volt meter for ten dollars or so. how did you figure out the old one was bad?
Welcome to PC! Like Bisco says get a volt meter and measure across the front under hood jump points. Or...Quick test is turn on the headlights. No headlights or really dim the 12 is bad again. Whats the deal on the car? Is it a salvage title perhaps? Mileage?
From under the hood? The battery is located in the trunk. Bought used 3 years ago from Toyota dealership. No problems until now. Mileage is 90,000. Lights do come on. The car does actually "turn on" but all warning lights are on and it won't even let you put it in neutral. We took the old battery and it was completely dead. Thought this new one would solve the problem.
Yes under the hood. These are jump start points. On right side is black plastic fuse box. Take cover off. Little red plastic cover. Flips up. Reveals a little metal L bracket thats bolted down. That L bracket is connected to the 12 positive post on the battery in the hatch. You attach your + jump cable clamp to that L bracket. Use the bolt head right above the box thats bolted to the strut as the - ground clamp connection. Its in the owners manual. You of course can measure the battery 12 there.
Hmm... I suppose the obvious is that perhaps the original codes and problem wasn't related to your 12 volt battery. Perhaps the transmission P lock mechanism problem is actually a Transmission P Lock mechanism problem? The battery could be of been unnecessary or coincidence. The first step that you are at now, IS determining that your new battery is good, and installed correctly. Then if that checks out? You're back at square one, with "codes" and a problem. Guess your best hope is that it was the battery, and again IS the battery.
Its not multiple problems. Its usually one that affects all the circuits that are in alarm. Usually its the 12 volt. Car throws all the alarms when that goes bad. Its a mystery until the codes are harvested. With those we can tell you pretty close why the car is unhappy.
