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Newb Here - Question

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by 2J_Rob, Mar 4, 2015.

  1. 2J_Rob

    2J_Rob New Member

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    2008 Prius
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    N/A
    Hi. I'm new to this forum. I'm a big yota fan and happened to marry a lady who owns one too -- an '08 Prius to be exact. I have an '85 Celica Supra garage queen and an '04 IS300 daily driver. I must admit, I'm not terribly fond of driving the Prius -- It has a certain disconnected feel. I can say however, that it is extremely practical.

    The reason I joined is because I would like to ask for some assistance. I will also ask in the appropriate section but I thought I'd ask here as well.

    The Prius suffers from the hatch rubber turning to tar and making the hatch difficult to open. Nothing new. Lately though, the 12v battery has been going flat. I had to jump the car a couple of weeks ago and the car started right up and ran fine. I just figured my wife left a door ajar or a light on or something. Then yesterday, it happened again.

    My question is this: If the hatch release were depressed for an extended length of time due to the sticky rubber, would this cause the battery to die?

    Thanks in advance,
    Rob
     
    #1 2J_Rob, Mar 4, 2015
  2. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    #2 valde3, Mar 4, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2015
  3. Yakoma

    Yakoma Active Member

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    I'm not sure the answer is No.

    I can imagine if the hatch switch were stuck in the OPEN position, it might be be a continuous drain on the battery. I'm not certain if that is a momentary switch or not.

    If this is the original battery, it's likely that it is simply at end of life.

    Valde's links to the solutions are certainly good ones to remedy the situation(s).
     
    #3 Yakoma, Mar 4, 2015
  4. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    If the switch would be stuck in the open position you wouldn’t be able to lock the doors and OP would probably inform us about that.
     
    #4 valde3, Mar 4, 2015
  5. 2J_Rob

    2J_Rob New Member

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    2008 Prius
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    N/A
    Thanks for the replies. We are still able to lock the doors (when the battery isn't dead) I am going to go ahead and replace the switch and see if that solves the problem. It is the original battery so I might as well replace that as well. Thanks for the links Valde.
     
    #5 2J_Rob, Mar 4, 2015
  6. Yakoma

    Yakoma Active Member

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    ^^^ good plan

    You can get that switch off eBay from a Toyota dealer for about $70, I believe. Installation is relatively simple.

    I got a Toyota OEM battery for mine recently through a dealer parts sale and got it for about $150. There have been some issues reported on the Optima batteries on PC...can't report first-hand on that though. I figured the sale price of the OEM was competitive with the Optima so I went OEM.
     
    #6 Yakoma, Mar 4, 2015
  7. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Welcome aboard and enjoy the ride. I had an 84 Supra for a short while.
     
    #7 spiderman, Mar 4, 2015
  8. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    Montana & Nashville, TN
    Vehicle:
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    Once your 12v battery weakens (like being discharged), you will start to see lots of weird things happen. Most interesting is that your mileage will start to drop, as the car tries to rev to recharge. The prudent thing to do is consider that after 4 years you might as well get rid of it and get a new one.
    . . . and Welcome!
    .
     
    #8 hill, Mar 5, 2015
    Last edited: Mar 5, 2015
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