04 Prius won't start, thinking its electrical

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by DebbyD, Sep 13, 2013.

  1. DebbyD

    DebbyD Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2013
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    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    2 days ago prius would'nt start, tried jumping it, lights came on but would not start, made a kind of clicking sound comming from the fuses box in the front under the hood. Have heard this before upon entering the car but car ran okay. Put charger on the 12 volt battery which is only 4 months old and the charger started charging it but then said there was a problem. Got rear ended earlier in the springand the car did the same thing, changed the battery and it ran fine till now. No real damage shown when rear ended. Do not know where to start looking, cant afford to take it in. Dead in the water :(
     
    #1 DebbyD, Sep 13, 2013
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
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    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    That's not good.

    Battery may be shot even though it's new. You need to measure the voltage at the front jump points.
    Bad news is your car may have experienced the Prius Achilles heel which is major electrical damage after jump starting. Hundreds of horror stories on this site about this. Caused by reverse polarity jumping and or big current rush from donor car ie: racing the donor car engine or by big AAA charging truck. Takes very little jump energy to boot the car and that energy should be limited if possible to minimize inrush current. If not sometimes results in blown fuses and destroyed Inverter.

    Check the 10 amp dome fuse. Check all the fuses. Check the big 100 amp hardwire fuse in the fuse box under the hood on the right.

    If no blown fuses you may disconnect the battery ground lead off the 12 volt battery then hook the battery charger to the front jump points and using the charger as your 12 volt source see if the car will READY.

    Btw, you're not "starting" the car you're making it READY. That's what it says on the dash when it boots up.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Sep 13, 2013
    DebbyD likes this.
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