When your car is running normally everything is fine, nevertheless if it begins to have frequent complications you might begin to worry, specifically if your motor vehicle won’t start. In this article we will show you where the starter of a Toyota Prius is, it will help you to solve your ignition complications. To get this done, we will first explain the function of a starter, then, where is the starter on a Toyota Prius , and, at last, how to change the starter of a motor vehicle.

find-starter-toyota-prius

Function of the starter on your Toyota Prius

We begin this content page by explaining the function of the starter motor on your Toyota Prius. The starter is an electric motor which is powered by your battery, its job will be to make your engine run at a high enough speed to start it (usually around 300/400 rpm). It is composed of three most important parts:

  • The Solenoid: This component is an electrical relay that will act as a switch, it will be activated by the key of your Toyota Prius and let the current from your battery to the engine of your alternator.
  • The engine: Most important component of your alternator, it is the one that will drive the flywheel of your Toyota Prius and generate enough speed for your engine to begin.

  • The engagement pinion: This is the last part of your starter, it is the toothed wheel that will be in direct contact with the flywheel, it enables to send the force from the starter to the engine.

Where is the starter on a Toyota Prius?

Now that we have fairly quickly detailed what a starter is and how it functions, we will answer the question that most of you have to ask yourselves where is the starter located on a Toyota Prius? It is quite easy to discover a starter, indeed, it is a large part that will almost constantly be placed in a similar place. We let you see the two possible locations for your motor vehicle starter down below.

Location of the starter on classic Toyota Prius

First and most common circumstance, where to discover the starter of a Toyota Prius with a conventional motor (implied without start and stop). The starter has a specific function, to start the engine of your motor vehicle, for that, it must constantly be near the engine flywheel of this one because it is the part that it actuates when it is used. The flywheel is located at the junction between your gearbox and your engine.

Location of the starter to Toyota Prius with start and stop

And now second possible starter location of your Toyota Prius . This case is much less frequent. It just concerns engines equipped with start and stop, and a good part of them will be equipped with a starter placed close to the flywheel. However, on some specific series or engines, the starter of your Toyota Prius may be built in in your alternator, it is then known as a starter-alternator, to discover it nothing much easier, locate your accessory belt and you should find out the big starter block.

How to change the starter on a Toyota Prius?

Finally, we’ll show you to you actually quite fairly quickly how to change the starter of a Toyota Prius. This process is not necessarily complex, it can be considered by people who have a lowest of simple mechanical experience and adapted tools. Follow down below the most important steps to perform this intervention:

  • Disconnect the battery on your Toyota Prius, if you don’t know how to do it, don’t hesitate to consult our content page which details how to do it without taking any risk.
  • After locating your starter, loosen the fasteners that hold it in your engine block, there will in most cases be 2 or 3
  • .

  • It will be time to disconnect the power cables from the starter motor of your Toyota Prius, nevertheless before doing so we suggest you to take a picture of the installation to avoid making a mistake when reassembling.
  • It’s possible that to remove it you might need to remove parts like the gimbal.
  • Remount the new starter, being careful when connecting the connectors.
  • Reconnect your battery and test your starter.

To find more tips on the Toyota Prius, take a look at the Toyota Prius category.