Prius died, later restarted, new question

[Jeri]

With the insight given here, I planned to call the dealership tomorrow and ask about reprogramming. This afternoon, just to be sure I checked the oil level and all was fine. In doing so I had to back the car out of the garage. As I was doing that the check engine light went out. ??? When I was driving, if a I assume the battery was drained by the oil change mechanic leaving the door open and the radio playing plus my leaving the lights on; why didn't the engine recharge the battery even though I only went just a few miles? When the card died, I could hear the engine trying to start with nothing happening. What would a battery discharge sufficient to keep the car from being operational? Do I still need to call the dealership?

[Bill Merchant]

I don't know if you need to call the dealership, but you need to give us a lot more detail if you want advice and help. What do you mean, "When the card died, I could hear the engine trying to start with nothing happening"?It's very unlikely that you could hear the car trying to start. Do you have fuel? What's the battry display level? What makes you say the car "died"?

[Jeri]

Since I don't remember the display for the original incident, I don't know the battery reading. Cars not running tend me make me panic. The car did not respond to pressing on the gas pedal, just coasted to a stop at the side of the road. When I pressed the gas pedal, it did sound like an engine trying to rev up with no response from the car. I tried this a few times and then I shut the car off, realizing the lights were still on. I turned off the lights, and then the car started just fine. I am conufsed as I thought if the battery was low that the engine would come on to recharge it even if you only drive 25-30 mph (city driving). It wouldn't make sense that you can't drive at city speeds with the lights on without discharging the battery to the point that the car wouldn't start. So I am wondering if the car is having problems with recharging. The Pri is just short of 20,000 miles

[qbee42]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jeri @ Apr 30 2007, 08:31 AM) [snapback]432467[/snapback]</div>

Since I don't remember the display for the original incident, I don't know the battery reading. Cars not running tend me make me panic. The car did not respond to pressing on the gas pedal, just coasted to a stop at the side of the road. When I pressed the gas pedal, it did sound like an engine trying to rev up with no response from the car. I tried this a few times and then I shut the car off, realizing the lights were still on. I turned off the lights, and then the car started just fine. I am conufsed as I thought if the battery was low that the engine would come on to recharge it even if you only drive 25-30 mph (city driving). It wouldn't make sense that you can't drive at city speeds with the lights on without discharging the battery to the point that the car wouldn't start. So I am wondering if the car is having problems with recharging. The Pri is just short of 20,000 miles
[/b]

This is some general information to help you understand your problem:

There are two batteries. The first is the small 12V battery that boots the computers and powers the radios, lights, stereo, etc. The second battery is the high voltage battery the powers the electric motors. The 12V battery is charged by the high voltage battery.

Details:

1) If the 12V battery is dead, nothing works. You can't power up, back up, drive, shift into gear, etc. It's dead.

2) If the 12V battery is low, but not dead, freaky things can happen. If there is enough juice left in the 12V battery, the Prius should run okay once it boots. At that point the high voltage system takes over supplying the 12V bus, so things usually work okay until the next time you shut down.

3) If the high voltage battery is dead, you are SOL. The high voltage battery is needed to start the ICE, and the ICE is needed to charge the high voltage battery. A dead high voltage battery requires a tow to the nearest Toyota dealership for a charge on their special high voltage charger.

4) If you are out of gas, the ICE can't run. Lots of warning lights will come on with dire warnings about the end of the earth. The Prius will still move because of the electric motors, but don't try to go very far. Get off the road right away and get some gas.

Hope this helps. If you need more information, try to be a bit more specific about the nature of your problem.

Tom

[galaxee]

wait. so you're saying that you were driving along and the gas engine cut out. right? and you restarted and all is ok now? now THAT sounds a lot like the SSC 50P recall issue, which is fixed by doing an ECU reflash at the dealership.

please try to make things more clear next time, i had a hard time understanding what's wrong. figuring out your car's problem is hard enough over the internet without details