[WinLange]

Got into my Prius, pushed the start button and everything came up, but nothing happens when I move the shifter into drive or reverse. My son said he moved it earlier to back it up a couple of feet, but now it won't drive. Battery shows full, tank is half full, headl6are on.

 

[Easy Rider]

IIRC, the action of the "shifter" is really electrical and not mechanical like with a conventional transmission.
That could mean that a wire is loose or the mechanism right under or behind the shifter is broken.
It might be a fairly simple fix for someone who knows how it works.......like a Toyota shop.

Did he force the shifter to move when the car was not "ON" ??

 

[WinLange]

Will have to ask him when I get home. I know it shifts electrically and not mechanically, but don't know where to look for connection problems.

 

[WinLange]

Called up my local mechanic and asked him and said it might me be the brake light switch, and to tap the brake pedal. Anybody got anything to add to that?

 

[WinLange]

I checked the brake pedal and it is pushing the switch. Then when pushing the start button, some electrical lights coming on, but not like it should. Figured the battery was down. Fob not working properly for locking and unlocking. Doesn't do a think for the hatch locking and unlocking. Had to crawl to it to unlock manually. Put charger on the battery as it was low voltage. When I went out this morning, nothing electrical is now working on the car. Totally dead. Disconnect battery charger and left to go to work. Hope someone here can tell what the **** is happening with my PRIOUS.

 

[WinLange]

What? H E L L is a bad word?

 

[WinLange]

I charged the battery directly at the rear of the car. Would that hurt charging there as I just read that you charge under the hood?

 

[Easy Rider]

I charged the battery directly at the rear of the car. Would that hurt charging there as I just read that you charge under the hood?

NO. But you might have loosened an already loose battery clamp even more by connecting to it.

Do you have a multi-meter to check voltages ?
If not, you need one.

With the additional details, it does sound like a failed 12 V battery........or a bad main cable connection.

 

[WinLange]

I just clamped over the connectors to the battery without loosening them. Now connecting charger through the engine compartment. Tried the start button to see if anything turned on. Nothing. Leaving it connected to see what if anything happens at all.

 

[Easy Rider]

I just clamped over the connectors to the battery without loosening them.

SIGH.

Just TOUCHING things sometimes disturbs them.
If the connection at the battery was marginal before, it might be totally bad now.

You NEED a meter.

 

[WinLange]

Alright, fixed. It was the battery. Yanked it out after my voltmeter showed little over 5 volts when charging all day in car. Put it on charger again on bench all night and it read over 12 volts and put it on test under load at Autozone and it failed. They quoted $200 for new battery. Bought a Optima at Pepboys for $234 as it's a better battery. Now everything works and it goes into drive.

 

[Easy Rider]

Bought a Optima at Pepboys for $234 as it's a better battery.

Another victim of creative marketing.

There really is noting inherently better about an Optima battery.
As a matter of fact, they have had some quality problems recently that causes failures in the first year.

I'm glad you got it fixed. I hope it holds up.

 

[WinLange]

Wasn't going by marketing but by several reviews when I did a search for battery comparisons and it wasn't the best but it was better than what was being offered by Autozone, O'Reilly's, or Walmart. Costco didn't have a battery that fit a Prius, and Amazon had the Delco for $174, but wait for delivery and where to go with warranty issues plus they did have the Same Optima for the same price and Pepboys is here and a place to go for warranty issues.

 

[WinLange]

So far so good. New battery and no more issues.

 

[WinLange]

Writing back to let everyone know that still no problems after battery replacement.

 

[Easy Rider]

Writing back to let everyone know that still no problems after battery replacement.

THANK YOU !!

It is very frustrating when we DON'T hear back on things like this.