Prius Dashboard lights came on when started at 0degrees Farenheit!!

are you confusing the 12 volt battery with the hybrid battery? how are you reading the hybrid battery voltage?
how old is your 12 volt? you may want to consider replacing it.

 

also give car a couple minutes to warm up to give batt a little charge before you take off to be kind and gentle to the battery

 

no, there's a normal 12 volt battery in the right side of the hatch, under the floor. that is the battery test you get on the screen. there's no way it's 12 years old though. they don't last that long. how long have you owned the car?

 

i'm saying that is the 12 volts you're getting on the mfd test. 12 is a bit low and may need replacing. but all it does is fire up the computers and close the high voltage relay to make the car ready, so it has nothing to do with your initial problem. then the hybrid battery (which cannot be tested except by toyota techstream software on a laptop) starts the engine and powers the car.

 

correct. and you can also boost it from the jump point under the hood, which is wired all the way to the back. they put the battery back there, because there wasn't any room under the hood.

 

Hi Ana, I have been following this thread and I think you may be getting lead astray a little bit, due to the confusion about which battery is being discussed.

There are two batteries in the car a high voltage (HV) battery and a 12 V low voltage (LV) battery.

The symbol (the one you called "the little orange/pink symbol") is referring to the Hybrid system which includes the HV battery.

The tests you were asked to do were to see what the voltages of the LV battery were. The advice that the your LV battery voltages were a little low, but nothing to worry about is not necessarily correct. The results you posted were:

Let me give you an analysis of the above information.

The step #1 and step #2 voltages are the important ones that give a hint about the health of your LV battery.

The step #1 voltage (11.9 V) is close (enough for our purposes) to a resting voltage. It should be 12.7 V or better (12.9-13.1) on a new healthy AGM 12 V battery. 12.7 V, though represents 75% discharged. Your voltage (11.9 V) represents completely flat, in lead/acid battery terms. You need to obtain a battery charger (whether you buy one or borrow one) that has a setting for AGM batteries and charge your battery immediately. Lead/acid batteries do not like being in a state of discharge and a length of time at any depth of discharge is to be avoided. I would not be surprised if your battery is unrecoverable as I would guess it has been in a state of severe discharge for too long.

The step #2 voltage is what we are using as a load voltage and depending what accessories you have on, will be a light (no accessories on) to a medium load. There should be a voltage drop once load is applied, but just as important is that once the load is established the battery should be able to hold the voltage for several minutes. If you do not see the voltage settle, but continue to decrease over a period of 10's of seconds through 10 V and then continue on though 9 V etc, is a sign of very poor health. You indicated 11.5-11.6 V and if holds that voltage over several minutes, there may be hope that you might be able to recover some more useful life out of this battery.

The step #3 voltage is what we are using to determine if the inverter is supplying a healthy charge current to the 12 V battery. The good news is that yours shows the inverter is working correctly (Score!).

So in summary, I believe your battery reading indicates your LV (12 V) battery is in poor condition and if after charging over a 24 hour period does not show signs that it can hold the voltage (in the low to mid 12 V range), you will need to replace the 12 V sooner than later, if not immediately.

In regards to what battery charger you should get, expensive doesn't necessarily mean better, but what you are looking for is a fully automatic 12 V charger that has an AGM setting. Going by other discussions I have had, I believe in the USA you can get a perfectly good charger in the $30-$50 range, but can also pay $80 or more too.

Finally, in regards to the "the little orange/pink symbol", it may be genuine, (you have said it went away) but more likely it could have been caused by low voltage fluctuations on the 12 V electrical bus creating bogus faults in the various computers. This being caused by your 12 V battery that is poor state of health.

Advice on which battery to get is probably as many as there are members here on PriusChat, but do a search on 12 V battery and let the fun begin. My personal opinion is go for the Exide 51JIS AGM or the genuine Toyota TrueStart AGM. There also seems to be penchant for the Optima yellow top, but only because it is cheaper; there have been a few horror stories with these due to poor QA at the factory.

Sorry for the long post, but hope that helps and good luck solving your problems.

 

The mechanic needs a Toyota-specific scan tool to read Toyota's Prius-specific codes. The generic shop scanners read only industry standard codes. The Prius has many non-standard codes with the hybrid system (hundreds of them). There's a reason the manual says to contact Toyota, but there are a few independent mechanics who specialize in hybrids. The family mechanic probably isn't one of them. (Many hobbyists, like those responding on this site, use a $25 tool that requires an old laptop and some computer skill to load and use. Search Mini VCI.)

The recommended action, without a complete DTC read-out, is a shot in the dark. The coolant flush, especially, is probably throwing money in the wrong direction at this point.

 

12 volt batteries for the prius are expensive. around $200. at the dealer plus install if necessary, though it's an easy diy, and as low as $150. for after market from auto parts or battery plus stores. also online, optima yellow top. any replacement battery should be tested before installing, and if below 13 volts, put on a trickle charger overnight.

 

a trickle charger is a battery charger that charges the battery very slowly, so as not to damage it. you can find recommendations here, for a model appropriate to the prius. (around $60. amazon) yes, a cheap digital volt meter is perfect for testing the battery voltage. easiest under the hood in the fuse box.

 

The Mini VCI comes with Techstream software that works specifically for Toyota, Lexus and Scion vehicles. There are posts here about needing a dedicated 32 bit XP machine, and some difficulties unzipping .rar files. Techstream gives you active testing control over parts of the car (you can test the battery cooling fan, for instance), and you can customize some features. The Mini VCI allows the DIYer to change engine and inverter coolant, and brake fluid. I have no experience with the bluetooth system.

 

Yes.

Yes.

Most modern chargers have a method to select either std or AGM battery types. Although an older ordinary lead/acid 12 V battery will charge it better than nothing. It just won't ever fully charge it. So, if you are buying a new charger, get one that can do AGM batteries.

Your links do not show anything, so am able to comment.

Here is a link to a thread (albeit a few years old) that discusses Which battery charger would you recommend?

Hope that helps.