No it wont run without the hybrid system and battery as you need the hybrid system to start the engine. The electric motors in the trans are what starts the engine and are run off the hybrid battery.

There are some safety switches that if unplugged will cause the hybrid system not to start. One is under the 2nd row seating on the driver side. It's the master disconnect for the hybrid battery. If it was towed the tow truck driver might have pulled it for safety. Make sure its seated all the way. It's rather large. There are a couple more plugs under the hood that can cause a no start if un plugged. You'll need a manual to find them.

I use the Chiltondiy.com manual. It covers the hybrid system fairly well.

 

Also the vehicle wont start if the hybrid battery is totally drained. There is a procedure to charge it thru the 12v system but I dont remember the details.

 

Im having a problem with my 2009

 

checked all the fuses? took off the main circut in the back seat behind the drivers side ,put it back in cleaned all the battery posts, but all it does now is crank a qwarter the way and seems not to have enough power to crank it all the way over? any suggestions? anthing would help?desperatly needing advice?

 

This is a pretty old post and I have since got rid of the Aspen. The engine blew up about a year after this and I didn't bother fixing it. I suspect either the timing chain jumped or a cam/valvetrain issue as it would not run and wouldn't hold compression on #1 cylinder. It was very hard to diagnose as the engine cranks over on the hybrid system battery. Once the hybrid battery was dead I could not crank the engine to diagnose it.

It sounds like your hybrid battery doesn't have enough juice to crank the engine over. Did it sit a long time in storage or did you try cranking it so much without it successfully starting that it ran the battery down?

There is a way for the dealer to charge the hybrid battery thru the 12v battery by activating it with a scan tool. I have a high end scan tool and had the option on for it on my scan tool but it never worked for me. I did manage to partially charge the hybrid battery manually by taking the cover off the battery, disconnecting all the individual cells, and charging them in pairs with a 12v charger by carefully watching the voltages. It took a LONG time and was very tedious and you need to be really careful and comfortable with ignoring all the warning symbols on the battery pack saying not the **** with it.

In the end I got enough juice into the battery pack to crank it over enough times to confirm the engine was toast. The engine has a different cam to work with the hybrid system so a regular 5.7 will not work. In the end even if I fixed the engine I still would have had to fight with getting the hybrid system charged up.

In the end I threw in the towel and sent it to the scrap yard.