I did a search and found other threads of people pulling the dome light fuse. Recently while I was stupidly upgrading one of my dome lights while it was on (door open and yes stupid) I shorted it and blew the fuse. Of course jump in the drivers seat and go buy another fuse. To my amazement the car was dead. No power up starting, no door locks no fob operation or anything. The flashers and brake lights and horn worked fine and that was it. What a great single point immobilizer! Problem is you will lose clock, settings like reverse beep off, mpg, etc. I was dead in the water until I remembered in the engine fuse box there is a spare 15a fuse (and the fuse puller). The dome light fuse is there as well. Replaced the dome light fuse and all is well. Drove off like I had saved the world. Very strange. Looking at the wiring the junction block that the dome light fuse feeds also feeds LOTS of other areas of the car including the ECU. Just an FYI. Probably something for the way out there thread. Want to keep your kids from driving the car. Forget taking the keys. Pull the dome light fuse.
Yes, the DOME fuse provides 12V "keep alive" power to several ECUs. That fuse is pulled when the new Prius is shipped from Japan, then reinstalled upon port arrival in Long Beach, CA (or wherever.)
