How do you replace the 12v battery?

Sorry I could not have been of greater assistance, but I am glad to hear you seem to have the battery situation under control.

Good luck to you.

 

There is a lot of sealant in various places inside the Prius. I note a lot of it to the left of the backup power supply for the brake's. It is commonly used wherever joints or seam's of metal are located to help weatherproof the car. Of course, nothing is perfect. Water can leak through some really small cracks.

When I said what I did concerning a possible collision, I was speculating. I do know this, you are not the first person to discover moisture under the battery. However like I said earlier I haven't seen a photo like what you posted showing water coming in the vent for the traction battery.

You might find it is coming in around the tail light lens assembly and running down the inside of the fender to the vent. Or it could be something entirely different. You may have to remove the interior to discover where the leak is. Once you find it, use a good body sealer compound to seal it up.

If you think about it, and would like to do so let me know what the voltages are since Pepboy's charged that battery up for you. (Run the test again in the morning and post the three voltages). Again, good luck to you!

 

That's a shame, a new battery should really be higher than that. Does that battery have a date on it when it was manufactured? Those number's are at least .5 volts lower than a brand new one should read. They should be in the area of

12.6
12.4
13.9

Repeated charges might help it, but if it has set on a shelf for a long period of time before you bought, then the plates probably have some sulfate on them.

Sorry to hear you are still seeing number's like that. You might want to talk to Pepboys and see if they will swap the battery for a fresher one if you feel it is necessary. Or if you are comfortable, run with it. After all, they only last so long...

Something too that might help is to take a road trip up to Columbus and back or down to the hills in Kentucky. Any trip of a few hours should help to get the voltage up.

I will leave it in your ball court, and let you consider everything. I know everyone has their limits and I do respect that.

 

If you took those reading from the MFD I would try taking the voltages under the same conditions but with a volt meter.

I have come across vehicles where the MFD under reads the voltages by up to .5 volts. If the readings confirm the MFD readings I would return the battery for replacement as there have been a number of faulty Optima batteries reported here on PC in recent months.

As Dorunron correctly stated the voltages should be around 13 volts out of the box.

John (Britprius)