More Battery Problem

If you jumped it backward, something would have gone poof, like the inverter. Normally you blow the big fuse. If you did jump it backward, it would have been dead from that point onward, not later.

Tom

 

Hi sarahap,
I don't understand. This is a 2010; a new car. The 3 year warranty surely covers a battery that won't hold a charge. A good dealer would put in a new battery, under warranty, and apologize for your trouble. A bad dealer would put in a new battery, under warranty, and curse the bad battery, which isn't made by Toyota. Let us know what happens.
-mort

 

If you had jumped it backwards, It wouldn't have started at all. All of the DC circuits controlling EVERYTHING connected would have been reverse-polarity and would never have functioned, even to start the vehicle. If you had the jump connected when you started the car, you had it right. Your dealer is clueless..

 

Sarahap, here's the thread describing Maintenance Mode: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...y-check-without-switching-headlights-off.html

A better course of action would have been to trickle charge your battery then check the voltages. Once you saw that the battery won't hold a charge then a trip to the dealer is in order but now you can rattle off the low voltage readings to the Service Writer. Knowing what you are talking about seems to cut down the BS. Before leaving the dealer with the new battery check the voltages.

This should have been 1 relatively short trip. Sorry it's an adventure.

 

Depends if the wiring was loose. That is probably how the electrical work got damaged. I'm guessing that despite the wiring getting damaged, driving it around must have moved around some of the wires and there was a 'bare part' that touched the metal body.

Even though my profile says "Ohio" (that's where my family lives), I live and work in Indianapolis too. Did you take it to Butler Toyota (96th Street) up north ? I've heard negative things about that dealership.

 

sara; my 2010 also died for one day for no real reason... well, it actually sat for 9 days, but that "shouldnt" be a factor.

but unlike yours, i used my portable jump box, it fired right up and have not had an issue since. as far as jumping goes, if you are using a 12 volt power source to jump a 12 volt power source, it will either work or not. since your car started and ran, it worked. there is no in between.

u have two battery connections to make, there is only 4 possible choices and two of them have one end not connected which would not do anything. so the other two choices is correct polarity or incorrect polarity. if its incorrect polarity and you are using a portable jump box, you might not see anything at all; no sparks, no fireworks, etc. but you would also see no running car either.

take your car in, there is definitely something wrong

 

My guess is you did no damage jumping you battery.

My other guess is your problem is stemming from something that happened as either a result of the accident, or the repair of your vehicle.

If all the work was done at a reputable, certified bodyshop then your warranty shouldn't be voided. Being in wreck and having damage repaired doesn't void your warranty.

The problem is the dealership still doesn't really know what the problem actually is, once they determine what is causing the problem then connections to possible damage done in an accident or improper body shop work might be made, but to blame the bodywork before even knowing what the problem actually is, is putting the cart before the Horse.

 

Please ask them to write down on your service ticket everything found and in particular the codes. Some of us have maintenance manuals and you are one of the first to report this problem so we're curious.

Also, there is an independent shop, AutoBeYours, that handles rebuilding NHW20, 2004-09 Prius and they are about 85 miles away. If you get a lot of grief, I would recommend giving them a call and explaining what is going on. They have a lot Prius expertise and I would trust their judgment (tell them PriusChat recommended them. <grins>)

Thanks and GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

i did not see the accident post. sounds like accident may have damaged the ground somewhere which could cause high leakage current that would slowly drain a battery. if jumping it allows the car to start and run, its something that is causing a slow drain or slight voltage drop, so nothing shorted, opened or "completely" broken and is one of the toughest things to find.

 

I would call the dealer up and tell them to put anything they have apart back together and not touch it again!!! and take it to another dealer. They blame you then blame the body shop, who's next? And how do you blame when you don't know what the problem is? Please post the dealers name so we all can avoid it at all costs. Sound slike a place that will be replacing alot of parts and trying to make you pay for them.

 

Ugh. Is it possible that the car will stay happily in Ready after disconnecting the 12V ground wire? This seems to be what you describe in your original post and the diagnosis by the dealer. But it is astonishing that after 5+ hours of diagnostic work and a battery swap that the tech didn't notice that the 12V ground connection was loose and/or corroded. When doing a service that involves disconnecting the battery (i.e. the body shop people), it is easier to disconnect the ground wire from the body, rather than the ground terminal from the battery post. For the dealer explanation to make sense, the body shop people either undertightened or overtightened and stripped the little bolt that connects the wire to the body.

 

see my post above, it makes perfect sense that its a loose ground. glad they found it, those are one of the toughest fixes due to their intermittent fault status.

in any situation where electrical things work a bit then fail, work a bit and fail, its usually a failing motor or a bad ground. grounds must be a clean, tight connection or they create additional resistance (this resistance is like leaving a light on. it slowly saps away the power of your battery)

let us know how things go after the fix is in place and you have a few miles on it!