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Prius v Two will not start

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Mason5882, Jun 13, 2021.

  1. Mason5882

    Mason5882 Junior Member

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    Prius v wagon Two. 2012 with ~ 125,000 miles. Over the last day or so the FOB didn't unlock doors consistently and then today I was unable to start my car. My trouble-shooting steps + results:
    - I tried both FOB's and 3-4 batteries that all seemed to be OK when measuring with multimeter.
    - My 12V battery is 3.5 years old, but seemed OK with multimeter.
    - I was able to start my car by holding the Toyota emblem on the FOB up to the start button.

    I've saw this thread 2012 prius v three not starting newer battery says full | PriusChat. I am not familiar with IPM. Could I be experiencing something similar or am I missing something obvious? Thank you!
     
  2. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Have any relevant inverter motor generator TSBs been accomplished?
     
  3. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    What exactly does "seems OK" mean ?
    Do you have a battery charger ??
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    fob battery should be 3.3 volts. do you have two fobs?

    12v should be at least 12.4 at rest, and not go below 12 volts after the headlights have been on for 5 minutes.
    test at the jump point under the hood. the age of batteries is mostly irrelevant
     
  5. Mason5882

    Mason5882 Junior Member

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    Thank you for the response, Air_Boss. I haven't done anything beyond what I listed in my original quote and "relevant inverter motor generator TSBs" are potentially further than my mechanical knowledge + skill set. I'll look that up to better determine if that is correct or not, but any elaboration would be appreciated.
     
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i don't see a relationship to the inverter if the car starts by holding the fob to the power button, someone please correct me
     
  7. Mason5882

    Mason5882 Junior Member

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    Sorry for lack of clarity. I measured it at rest and it was in excess of 12V. I do not have a battery charger.

    FOB's: Good on the batteries and I do have 2 FOB's. Tried both with multiple batteries.

    I measured the 12+V (analog) at the battery itself and not at the jump point under the hood. I did not measure it after the headlights had been on for 5-minutes. I can try this and confirm more precisely.

    Thank you both for your responses + help.
     
  8. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    "in excess of 12 V" is not a good enough measurement.
    At 12.0 volts, it is about half discharged.

    The first thing you need to do is take the battery out and get it tested.....and check the main connections.
    Or borrow a battery charger from someone.

    Based on about a million stories similar to yours, the odds are great that your battery is weak and needs to be replaced.
     
  9. Mason5882

    Mason5882 Junior Member

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    Thanks sam spade 2. I hope you are correct will pursue that route first.
     
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'd peg 12.0 as in bad shape. A volt meter gives some idea, but I would confirm with an electronic load tester*. They require input as to vehicle's battery type, and rated cold cranking amps. They do a test, report voltage AND as-tested CCA, then give a verdict, say "pass", "pass but recharge and test again", or "fail".

    * Dealerships have these, but will likely charge, anywhere between $50~100. Automotive retailers, especially those selling batteries, have such testers as well, and will usual test for free. You can also purchase prosumer level tester of this ilk (Solar BA9 is one example).
     
  11. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    If the IMG TSB has not been done, it is a ticking clock. The car is due for the IMG TSB at the dealer.
     
  12. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    What’s that, inverter related?
     
  13. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Yes, Inverter Motor Generator IMG
     
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  14. Mason5882

    Mason5882 Junior Member

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    UPDATE -
    Thank you to everyone for your feedback. In appreciation I wanted to report back on how things ended up going yesterday:
    - Went to Autozone and they tested out the 12V with their electronic load tester. Things tested out fine.
    - Car acting worse to the point where the manual key would no longer trigger the door locks.
    - I took the car to the dealer and they put a new battery in the FOB and they say (I haven't seen it yet) things now work fine.

    I am a bit confused because I tried both FOB's. I used 5 different batteries, 3 of which were new. I confirmed all of the batteries were at least 3.3V (albeit with my analog multimeter). The new batteries were Panasonic. The dealer said it may not matter what the voltage measurement is as some brands of batteries just do not play nice with the Toyota FOBs. I haven't heard of this before, but I hopefully do have a functional car again.
     
  15. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Total BS.
    Your ordeal might not be over yet.
     
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  16. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

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    Just like the 12v battery, the real test for any battery is under load. Obviously a coin battery is hard to measure in its working environment. To me the bottom line is their new coin battery works. I can't believe they would have done anything further and not charge you.
     
  17. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    A couple of the parts in there are known as the IPM (intelligent power module) and the MG ECU (which sits right above it). "IMG" is probably what you get if you kind of run those two part names together, but it might tend to flummox people who try to look up the bulletin, as "IMG" isn't really what Toyota calls anything in there, as far as I know.
     
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  18. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Right, it is incipient or actual failures to components on those two boards that control IMG function that are at issue, which require either hardware replacement, and if not yet failed the firmware update.
     
  19. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Again, IMG is kind of a non-Toyota term; people can find the relevant literature more easily if we stick to things like inverter, IPM, and MG ECU, which are the names that will show up in the bulletins and service campaigns.
     
  20. Air_Boss

    Air_Boss Senior Member

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    Form over function, whatever.