2nd time - needed to jump start - starting battery drained -

[ifogel]

I have had my 2004 Prius for 6 months and have a mere 2400 miles (I live in Mahattan). The car is garaged and used a once every week or two. This is the second time I have had to jump start the car because the battery was dead. After I got it started I found the the big battery that runs the wheels was charged to the top of the blue lines - so that wasn't the issue.

After the first time it happened I started to turn off the A/C and radio before I stopped the car to make sure they weren't draining the battery - they shouldn't but you can never tell with a new car. I also check to make sure no lights are on or even the Door position.

I don't think a that a brand new car left unused for a couple of weeks should be a reason for draining the battery - has any body had a similar experience or heard of this as a common occurence?

[kidtwist]

Don't know about a car, but back when I rode a motorcycle this used to happen to me all the time. Two weeks was enough to drain the battery.

[DaveinOlyWA]

if you have SKS, then two weeks is plenty of time to drain the battery. you can disable SKS with button under dash by steering wheel.

[DanMan32]

A few have had premature battery drains. I think one poster indicated his dealer found many of the external amps were causing sporatic drains. If memory serves me, they couldn't solve his problem and ended up lemon lawing the car.

[DanMan32]

Strike that, it wasn't lemon lawed. Toyota preempted that and bought back the car.

Have a dealer check the standby idle current. It should be really low. Now there could be intermittent loads that won't show up during the dealer's standby load test, but that would be a start.

The car should be fine for two weeks, though that is close to the limit. If you have SKS, be sure it is either off, or the fob is at least 10 feet from the vehicle. Also turn off headlights all the way. Auto-Off does put some drain on the battery too.

Also, be sure you haven't foobared. I thought I drained my battery, only to realize I turned off SKS and was trying to turn the car on without it!
Dome light was lighting up OK, so that was my clue that the battery was OK.

[ifogel]

Thank you for answering - I only have Package 1 - no SKS so that is not the issue. The only ting I added to car was an IPOD2CAR. I do not leave my Ipod in the car so that would not be source of any drain.

One thing the garage might do is power the car down and leave the fob in the key slot - if the key is in the slot it might beep if the door was closed - I wouldn't think that would be enough to drain a battery after 2 weeks. If it is that, Toyota ought to put a timed kill on the beep and the battery drain.

[efusco]

So you don't park your own car? Are you even sure they're shutting it down properly each time?

Before I started blaming this on a problem with the Prius I'd be absolutely sure it isn't a problem with whoever is parking your car. I don't know what the consequence of leaving the fob in the car around the clock is, but certainly it was never intended that that would happen so I don't think Toyota has a responsibility to consider such an unusual situation.

Not being from Manhattan I guess this situation is a bit hard to comprehend, but there are any number of reasons the battery could be drained in the timeframe you mention if you're not there to assure that the car is properly close up, shut down, lights off, etc.

[tochatihu]

Not an expert on the newer Prius model but this is what I've heard about the little battery.

Current load when "off" should certainly be less than 50 milliamps. There were problems posted with one of the audio options that presented a higher load. So, this should be considered.

Your battery may have been discharged before you got the car, have heard of that also. In which case Toyota should replace it? One would hope that they would respond aggresively to any problem at such low odometer.

Possibly it was not fully recharged after the earlier run-down? This could take more than an hour in "ready" mode. I am not going to suggest a battery trickle charger, but others have done so, either here or in the Yahoo groups.

If you need a new 12v batt and have to pay for it, there are alternatives to the ones sold by Toyota, and at lower cost. I paid <$100 for a replacement in my 2001 Prius; the original having lasted 42 months.

[ifogel]

While I don't park my own car - every attendant who does has been carefully and generously($) trained in how to operate a Prius and have been told to remove the fob each time (just in case that's the issue).

As we all know even with the best of training and intentions it doesn't always work that way. This is where Toyota should anticipate the user. If a beep is on for 10 minutes or 2 hours (whatever's reasonable), Toyota should say to itself the user didn't hear the beep and left. Beeping away inside the car when one is there just won't help so we'll shut it off and not drain the poor guys battery.

Now it may work just the way I described - I don't know - I just know after 2 weeks the battery is drained on a brand new car.

I would hope that my 6 month/5000 miles maint. will find the issue and Toyota will replace the battery if needed. I just need to go into the dealer with all the possibilities and knowledge I can, so please keep making suggestions, they all help.

Thank you.

[rick57]

As tochatihu pointed out,the max draw for the electrical system, as Toyota has taught us, is 50ma. I checked a couple of 04 Prius' , SKS and non SKS , and found the draw to be about 12-18ma. In the dealer here, I have seen aftermarket installs causing drainage problems if you let it set 1-2 weeks. An example is a DVD player installed in a Land Cruiser and was draining the battery in about 1 week. The dealer should be able to check the draw and let you know what it is. They can also test the battery with a Midtronics tester we all have. It tests the storage capacity of the battery and is a real good indicator if it needs replace or is low on charge. 8)