Is My '05 Toast?

Wow that was hard to read. So much information that really didn't amount to much information.

Just change the 12v battery and your problems would go away. Assuming none of these problems existed until 48 hours ago.

 

I don't think your Fob battery was the issue, but changing it out won't hurt.

 

Your car could be driven after it was jumped. Therefore there was nothing wrong with the jumpstart process and that caused no harm to your car.

The warning lights that were on probably are indicative of low voltage on the 12V bus. This might be because the 12V battery was so far gone (with a shorted cell or two) that it was putting a heavy load on the bus, depressing the voltage.

For your future reference, if the 12V battery could be successfully charged (which probably is not the case with your battery), 30 minutes is insufficient time. 8 hours or more would be more like it.

To effect a charge, the car does not have to be driven - it could just be sitting in your driveway, left READY. Obviously you need to make sure the fuel tank contains sufficient fuel so that the gasoline engine can run from time to time while the Prius is sitting there, motionless.

In any event, it would be best to replace the 12V battery now, especially if it is more than four years old. The new battery should be fully-charged prior to installation. Many owners have reported their newly purchased batteries were received in a partially discharged state, Optima seems to be plagued by this issue in particular.

If the fob did not produce the red light when a button was pressed, then it was past-due to replace the fob battery.

 

Your battery was most likely marginally dead and the cold weather sealed the deal. 60miles south of you we have been hovering around -10C tonight and that is good enough to freeze a battery making it even worse. Replace the battery, move on with life.

 

2k1, do you chime in on all the 'toast' threads?

 

Dealers will love you for this; keep buying new parts until it works. But seriously, you are in need of a good, trusted mechanic. I wish you luck if you haven't found one.

 

Generally speaking, any mechanic who replaces parts until the car starts working again, doesn't have a clue about what he is doing.

 

OP. I'd suggest to get a smart charger, something around 3 amps, with status lights for feedback. And a decent digital multimeter, to read the battery's voltage, one measure (albeit not the full story) of it's health.

And read up on batteries, monitor yours, give it a top-up charge periodically.

Maybe your current one's toast, hard to tell. But if you get involved in it's maintenance then you'll know.

 

On every forum on the whole world interwebs!

 

you don't need a battery tender unless your car sits for days at a time, or you only drive a mile or two a day. and even the second premise is questionable.

 

You also don't need a charger if you never leave headlights or even a map light on, or a door ajar. And none of your friends or family do either.

Just saying.

 

If Bisco doesn't use a tender, nobody really needs one.

 

It is more of an AND statement, not an OR statement.

If the car sits for prolonged periods AND you drive short distances, then you need to supplement the battery with an external charger.
If the car sits for prolonged periods then you need to either supplement the battery with an external charger OR drive longer distances.

My Prius is the weekend mountain goat. It generally sits for 5 days minimum. Sometimes a few weeks and the SKS remains on. However, when it is driven it is driven for at least 100 miles usually closer to 200. It's last commission was after sitting for about a month, it went on an 1800mile road trip. And it has sat there parked since we got back.

 

I wonder why no one has ever mentioned a battery power pack? I have one with a sealed flooded 12 V battery in it. Would one of these work? I got the pic from a Pep Boys Ad $49.99 My pack isn't this one however. Most have a charger port, plug it into the cigar outlet and keep it charged. When the old 12V battery dies, this should work in a pinch. Either lift the hood and connect to jump, or remove the battery cover in back and clip on the clamps over the battery terminals.

 

Yes that will get you going. However by the time the Prius refuses to start, the battery is well beyond dead. It takes the Prius roughly 8 hours to recharge the battery. So that jump starter plus 8 hours of READY mode will be sufficient. However I doubt most people want to leave the Prius ready for 8 hours after a dead battery. So the easy solution is to grid charge the battery overnight and most of those can "jump" if needed as well.