1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

'05 Prius - Bizarre Symptoms then dead

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by aaronlife, Mar 21, 2010.

  1. aaronlife

    aaronlife Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2008
    66
    19
    0
    Location:
    Massachusetts and Florida
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    So, the car was fine. I pulled it into the driveway, parked it, locked it. Came back shortly thereafter to get the mileage reading from the odometer (I keep track for business reasons). Opened the passenger door, turned on the car holding down brake, got the mileage, turned the car off holding down brake, and locked the passenger door.

    Came out a few hours later to walk the dogs and heard a faint horn beeping/clicking from under the hood. Car would not unlock, I had to unlock manually. Opened the driver door and the left signal and door open display came on flashing, the door locks were also clicking in unison. The car wouldn't start. The interior lights came on but dimly...

    I unplugged fuse 39 and this stopped the clicking door actuator behavior. I plugged it back in and it started again with the faint horn beeping. I unplugged it, waited, plugged the fuse back in and it stayed stopped.

    The car doesn't start with the smart system, so i put the key in, the park light came on the button, but the car wouldn't start. the check engine light came on and stayed on.

    I tested the 12v battery and it's at 3 volts. I hooked up my booster pack to try jumping it and the alarm started going as soon as it had 12 volts, and windshield washer started going. I must have turned that on when i was trying everything to stop the signal from clicking.

    What am I looking at here? In the morning, I'll put the key in the dash, hoping that will keep the alarm from going on, and hook up the booster pack and try starting it.

    What would have caused the crazy symptom to begin with that ran down the battery? Am I in for serious problems?

    Of course the car is parked head-in so it won't be towed out easily...

    Couldn't find anything like this searching on priuschat.

    Thanks,
    Aaron
     
    #1 aaronlife, Mar 21, 2010
  2. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2004
    12,755
    5,245
    57
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Like with others who own a Prius that many years old, you beg the question of when the 12-volt battery was replaced... since its time has come. If the answer is never, that's your next step. They wear out and cannot retain much charge when old.
    .
     
    #2 john1701a, Mar 22, 2010
  3. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2007
    1,540
    92
    0
    Location:
    Virginia
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    3 volts? on a 12 volt battery? I don't think thats possible unless the battery was on its last legs!
     
    #3 Bob64, Mar 22, 2010
  4. aaronlife

    aaronlife Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2008
    66
    19
    0
    Location:
    Massachusetts and Florida
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    yeah, at 5 years, if i can get it started, i'll head over to toyota and get a new battery in the morning, might as well. if not, good thing i kept the old saab around as a spare... i'm guessing something goes haywire when battery low? or did something short-circuit in central lock or brake actuator system when i turned off and locked car and ran down battery?
     
    #4 aaronlife, Mar 22, 2010
  5. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2008
    3,033
    708
    75
    Location:
    Ballamer, Merlin
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    +1 on a new 12V battery. Was that the original battery?

    Entering the locked car via the pax door may have contributed. I'm
    really fuzzy on this, IIRC it was mentioned about two years ago
    connected with headlights not turning off if the pax door is the last one
    closed and then locked. It confuses some logic programing in the
    software apparently. But I can't see just what started the sequence.
    My best guess is the battery was very close to failure anyway, and the
    12V bus being fed by the DC-to-DC converted during your last trip just
    masked the problem. But I'd expect the 12V bus to be low, say ~10V
    but not 3!

    By the way, reaching the brake pedal from the pax seat must have
    been a real stretch!

    Since you always locked the car, the problem shouldn't be associated
    with the door courtesy lights or the rear hatch area light. But, it could
    be an overhead light left on.

    Getting any response from the car at ~3V seems remarkable. It is
    generally understood that the CPUs wont boot up at 10V. The list of
    weird things that can signal a dying/dead 12V battery is amazing;
    random horn beeps, headlights flashing, windshield wipers going on by
    themselves, etc...

    and now add the windshield washer pump running.
     
    #5 Rokeby, Mar 22, 2010
  6. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2006
    18,058
    3,074
    7
    Location:
    Northern Michigan
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Last legs? That battery left its feet a long time ago. I'd guess it has been on its hands and knees for awhile. ;)

    Tom
     
    #6 qbee42, Mar 22, 2010
  7. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2008
    3,033
    708
    75
    Location:
    Ballamer, Merlin
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Yeah, I'd say it was prostrate...

    That is unless it is a female battery. :D
     
    #7 Rokeby, Mar 22, 2010
  8. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2004
    7,663
    1,038
    0
    Location:
    United States
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Since you were able to lock it, either the battery was dying from sheer age or you left the headlights on (they shut off automatically only if you leave through the driver's door).

    Don't sweat it. It didn't have long to live either way. With a new battery everything will be back to normal (well, except the radio will have forgotten your presets, the window won't remember to all the way up automatically, etc.; just like when it was new :_> ).
     
    #8 richard schumacher, Mar 22, 2010
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,200
    6,474
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I agree that your car needs a new 12V battery.

    BTW, if you want to check the odometer reading, it is not necessary to depress the brake pedal to make the car READY. From IG-OFF, just press the POWER button 2x to make the car IG-ON and read the odometer.

    Then press the POWER button once more to make the car IG-OFF (don't leave the car IG-ON very long as that places a high current drain on the battery.)
     
    #9 Patrick Wong, Mar 22, 2010
  10. bredekamp

    bredekamp Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2007
    569
    12
    10
    Location:
    Somerset West, South Africa
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Old battery, internal shorts, sulphation....

    Just replace it.
     
    #10 bredekamp, Mar 22, 2010
  11. aaronlife

    aaronlife Junior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 6, 2008
    66
    19
    0
    Location:
    Massachusetts and Florida
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    wow, thanks for all the great info. this morning i measured voltage at the terminals under the hood and got 2.9 volts. hooked up my booster pack with the key already in the dash and it sprang to life. i had left the wipers on, so that was my bad not an internal fault. the passenger door lock/headlight programming is interesting, i do leave my headlight switch on religiously, so i'm gonna check that out, though i've locked the passenger door last before and never had a problem.

    once it was jumpstarted i ran it for a bit and it worked fine, then i drove straight to the dealer and bought a new battery. installed it and so far so great. it might be my imagination but the engine seems to run less (i.e. not at all) at stoplights, but I didn't have the AC on, so it might have been my imagination, time will tell..

    all in all, great to know the 12 volt was due for replacement, and i feel better already.

    thanks
    aaron
     
    #11 aaronlife, Mar 22, 2010
  12. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2008
    18,200
    6,474
    0
    Location:
    Green Valley, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I would say that the reason your 12V battery died is because the headlights were on even after you made the car IG-OFF and locked the car.

    If you feel the need to leave the headlight switch on, then you must enter and leave the car via the driver's door - or else the lights will come on and stay on.
     
    #12 Patrick Wong, Mar 23, 2010
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)