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Other concerns addressed?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Celtic Blue, Jan 13, 2009.

  1. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    Toyota has made a number of improvements, but has Toyota addressed issues such as:
    1. Jumpstart/12V drain concerns--especially protecting from reversed polarity, but also dealing with long term storage drain/trickle charging?

    2. Display for coolant temps (engine and inverter)? ICE rpm?
    3. So the bladder is gone :clap2: but what is the capacity of the new tank?
     
  2. spwolf

    spwolf Senior Member

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    1/2 no more than in every other car on the road, 3. no idea :).
     
  3. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    Gotta disagree with that. The inverter can be fried by reverse polarity jumps, a far worse thing than any other vehicle I've ever worked with. Plus, my other vehicles had temp gauges for coolant.
     
  4. rusty houndog

    rusty houndog mountain rider

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    Right on!

    There was a time when reverse polarity jump starts, in fact a time when any jump start, could fry ignition modules or CCC units. The remedy today is the same as the remedy then; a good lawyer's letter.

    A cursory read of the owner's manual shows exactly where under the hood to put the cables and supply enough voltage to start the computer. Once the computer starts, the main battery and associated circuitry supply the juice to run the computer and recharge the 12 volt battery.

    You don't really "jump start" a Prius. A stack of D cells will do the job.
     
  5. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    How many ways can one contradict oneself in a single response?
     
  6. rusty houndog

    rusty houndog mountain rider

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    Geeze, I don't know. How many can you detail? Be sure and keep the valences correct as you do that.
     
  7. spwolf

    spwolf Senior Member

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    i have seen complete cars fried from reverse polarity jumps (all the ecu's, etc).
     
  8. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Most likely the fuel tank will be 45 litres like the previous model's non-bladder tank used outside North America.

    The others for people who deserve to live are non issues.
    1/ be careful if you run the battery flat like you should be with any car. Switch off SKS if leaving the car for several weeks.
    2/ You have no control so why monitor it? The car will let you know if there is a problem. Pre 1985 few cars had temp guages or tachos, it was a non issue then with a well maintained Toyota and many other cars.
    3/ As above.
     
  9. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    It is true that the Prius has a lot of electronics, so a lot of damage is done by reverse polarity. It is also true that every other new car has a lot of electronics. Reverse the polarity on any new car and you will be out thousands of dollars. Jumping a dead battery is a service procedure, should be treated as such, and done only by qualified individuals.

    The Prius auxiliary battery, being smaller than most, dies more quickly than the one in most cars. Auto-off headlights and interior lighting would help. I don't know if this has been addressed on the 2010.

    Tom
     
  10. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    Headlights are already auto-off when you open the door, however if they're turned off/on again, not so auto-off the second time around ;-)
     
  11. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    ...until the 12V gives out, at which point they are auto-off, and auto-dead. :D

    Tom
     
  12. carz89

    carz89 I study nuclear science...

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    I would hope that a "qualified individual" is anyone who has passed high school science class, where they teach about basic electric circuits. That should be most Americans. "+" goes with "+", "-" goes with "-", or even easier, match red to red and black to black. And don't let the leads touch any other metal or you could cause a short circuit.

    Or are most drivers too stupid to remember how a basic electric circuit works, or to apply their knowledge of a basic electric circuit to working on a car. I fear what the answer might be.

    If the average driver can't be trusted to jump start a car, that says something about the educational standards in the U.S.
     
  13. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    It's not exactly rocket science, is it? Judging from some of the posts on PC, even this simple procedure may be too technical for some people. These are probably the same people that think the CD drive on their computers is a cup holder.

    Tom
     
  14. timberwolf

    timberwolf New Member

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    Some posters have said that the Prius charging of the 12V Aux battery is apparently inadequate at keeping the battery fully charged up. It seems if you do a low annual mileage, or forget to shut the hatch/door properly, the 12V battery isn't going to be able to charge it to full capacity just by driving the car around a bit. As this car is partly sold on its environmental credentials, it doesn't fit that image to then hear that you've actually got to drive it a lot otherwise the 12V battery will die. There is a pre-delivery TSB that specifically covers making sure the 12V battery is fully charged before delivery to the customer, so it is known by Toyota that the design of the car is weak in this area.
     
  15. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    You are such an idiot & troll.
     
  16. ronhowell

    ronhowell Active Member

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    Are you telling me Rick that on my 2008/pkg 2 Prius, if I open the driver's door then switch on the headlights, then close the door, the lights will not auto-off?

    If that is the case, then the time-delay circuitry needs revision doesn't it?
     
  17. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    On my 2004, if I open the door, then turn on the headlights, they will stay on. I'm sure that's a "feature" by design for those who "need" lights w/o the car.

    I rarely rely upon the auto-off upon door open, but it is convenient.
     
  18. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Why would anyone open the door then turn on the headlights and expect them to turn off automatically? The current system works very well. Far out, you don't even have to put the Prius in park, it does that for you too, I guess that's a fault too?
     
  19. ronhowell

    ronhowell Active Member

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    So if the car is powered off, the doors are all closed, but the drivers side window is down, and I reach in and turn the lights on, they do not automatically turn off after a certain delay?

    I can imagine a number of instances when that could be inconvenient. OTOH it does protect against a dead 12V battery, if they do auto-off.

    Maybe I should just go and try it!
     
  20. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    There is no time delay circuitry. Opening the driver's door immediately turns off the headlights. If you turn them on after the door is open, there is no signal to turn off the lights. They stay on until the battery dies.

    Tom