Starter Fuse Blew While Car Was Running

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by garrick, May 3, 2025 at 11:34 PM.

  1. garrick

    garrick New Member

    Joined:
    Saturday
    2
    1
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I was waiting for food with my car running and I came back to a car that had turned off and a chlorine-like smell. Blinkers and all that seemed to work fine but the car wasnt starting so I concluded it was the starter fuse. Turns out I was right and when I replaced the fuse the car started right when I put it in but then I also saw a ton of smoke coming from underneath the fuse box. I quickly pulled the fuse and it stopped. The fuse I replaced was the 15A AM2 "IGN" fuse, ignition system fuse. Any ideas what this could be?
     
    #1 garrick, May 3, 2025 at 11:34 PM
    Last edited: May 3, 2025 at 11:44 PM
  2. MAX2

    MAX2 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2024
    1,360
    434
    101
    Location:
    Third planet from the Sun
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hybrid coolant pump. Water Pump Motor (Inverter)
     
    #2 MAX2, May 4, 2025 at 3:19 AM
    Brian1954 and garrick like this.
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    25,990
    16,963
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Right. As there is no starter, there is of course no "starter fuse", but the cooling pump motor for the hybrid electronics does occasionally fail in such a way that the magic smoke escapes, and when that happens it blows the AM2 fuse, which also supplies power to a few other things needed for the car to run.

    There is a connector you can unplug so that AM2 won't keep blowing while you get around to replacing the stinky pump. The pump cools the electronics; drive gently while it's unplugged.

    [​IMG]
     
    #3 ChapmanF, May 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
    garrick and Brian1954 like this.
  4. garrick

    garrick New Member

    Joined:
    Saturday
    2
    1
    0
    Location:
    Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Yeah the pump was my problem! Thank you guys.
     
    #4 garrick, May 4, 2025 at 6:17 PM
    Brian1954 likes this.
  5. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2021
    1,574
    608
    0
    Location:
    South Central PA, USA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Buy an OEM inverter cooling pump from a dealership for best results. A cheap aftermarket pump will only last a year or less.
     
    #5 Brian1954, May 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)