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Prius just died after I parked- Good battery

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by GreenTerrorPrius, Aug 9, 2023.

  1. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    Just trying to get some ideas:
    Went to a store and parked.
    Turned Car off
    Went to manually lock the doors
    Wouldnt lock appeared all was dead.
    Sat back down and tried to start car for next 10 mins.....Nothing
    Got car jumped, and it started
    Was hot as hell and turned AC on and Car Died AGain.

    The randomly after a couple trys car started again.
    Went to Advance Auto and 12 V battery tested good.

    Any ideas?
    thank you so much!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    when it died again, was it totally dead like the first time? did a jump work again? how old is the good 12v?
     
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  3. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Those parts stores do NOT understand about the 12v Prius battery.
    It needs to read about 12.5v to be "good"
    If you have a 4 amp or less battery charger, you could charge it for 6 hours or so.
    How old it the 12v battery? Do you drive a lot of highway miles, or just city driving?

    Do you have a VOM? Check the battery at the battery. And next time it dies, check it.
    I'd bet it will be low.

     
  4. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    thanks for help all
    The battery report read
    12.74v 310 CCA (rated) 325 CCA (measured)
    Battery is a OEM Toyota and was installed August 2020. Have drove 30k miles since installed
    I would say mostly city miles.
    What is a VOM?

    When it died the 2nd time, I didnt have to jump again. it Just stareted after a few mintues and a few tries laterr, Weird
     
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  5. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Volt Ohm Meter
    That's plenty good.
    Sounds like a loose wire or something overheating...

     
  6. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    i did hav the EGR cleaned out recently but dont think that would cause anything. Will have to see how she behaves next few days
    thanks again for help
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    any movement in the inverter reservoir?
     
  8. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Okay, maybe check for a loose connection. It's happened before.
    Check both electrical and hoses...

     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    maybe it went into some type of protection mode when you hit the a/c because of the heat

    no trouble lights?
     
  10. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Not sure if this applies to Gen3 Prius, but if this were a Gen2 this is what I'd tell you:

    You'll likely be able to predict when this is going to happen again by watching the speedometer screen. When you turn the car off if it happens again the speedometer screen will go dark all at once. But if car is working normally it will turn off portions of the screen in a sequence with that last part to go out being the gear shift indicator.

    As far as we can tell this problem is caused by bad connections with all the electric circuits on top of the 12volt battery. So all you need to do to fix it is clean inspect all that gear and put it back together.
     
  11. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    Coolant level is good.
    New development, the AC is not blowing Cold Air now???
     
  12. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Is it blowing ANY air at all ?

    This sounds like an intermittent problem with the 12 V system.
    Either the battery itself OR with one of the main battery cables.
    The far end of the negative battery cable where it attaches to the
    body or frame is often a problem.
    But it could be a loose or corroded connection right at one of the battery posts.
     
  13. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    I think you may be right Sam Spade. The challenge is this is my Sons car and he is off to College,
    So new development, he let car sit for 3 days as he was out of town, so went to start it up and it would not.
    So he jumped it again and it ran him back home for a 2 hr car ride but still NO AC, The air is blowing just not cold.

    Even thought the 12 v battery checked good I may just send him to the Toyota dealer to get this all looked at, I wish the car was home with me as I have a good hybrid mechanic.
     
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  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    what year and how many miles?
     
  15. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    2012 160k
     
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    maybe a bad connection, are they jumping it under the hood, or at the battery?
     
  17. wirelessjava

    wirelessjava Member

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    If you have an battery other than Optima or Toyota OEM.... Suspect the battery. I have had a bad experience of intermittent starts with a 2 year old AAA battery. Go with OEM Toyota or Optima Yellow top.
     
  18. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    That HUGE bias you have against other brands of batteries is totally unjustified.

    As a matter of fact, there have been a lot of reports of bad experiences with Optimas too.
     
  19. GreenTerrorPrius

    GreenTerrorPrius Junior Member

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    So it was the 12 V battery. Even though it read good from Advance Auto Parts (so dont ever trust that) That is what the issue was.
    Battery was bought by prior owner and it was an 84 month warranty battery. Battery only lasted 3 years. The dealear would not honor the warranty which is BS IMO. That is the 2nd 84 month Toytota Priys OEM battery that has died quick, the other was only 2 years (on my other Prius) Thanks for all the help
     
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  20. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    See post #3....

    The reason it does is because they do not charge them. They sit and get weak.
    Which is not good. These batteries are different than the lead acis batteries.
    So it's best to give they a charge when you buy it.
    And unless you drive for a few hours after installing it, it won't be charged enough.

    You should have pushed them more to honor the warranty because there is a sticker on
    the battery, or should be. Sadly, most people do not keep the paperwork for the battery
    when the buy it. You should just keep it in the glove box. Sometimes there is a plastic
    sticker bag on the side of the battery that the put the paperwork in.

    At least your problem is resolved.