BATTERY LIFE PROBLEMS WITH PRIUS PLUG-IN

Two weeks is hardly months on end, and if I had parked my brand new car and come back from a trip to a dead battery I'd have been pretty irritated too. 3-4 weeks+ is expected for a car that doesn't have problems.

The suggestion of disabling the Smart Entry is a good one, but I'd like to know exactly how much that reduces the drain. If nobody knows I guess I will get my meter out this week and find out.

 

Ok, in looking for how to disable the Smart Entry I came across this post Will park at LAX for 13 days. Dead battery for sure? | PriusChat

Disabling it manually is a major PITA, fortunately this thread pointed me at the owners manual where it states that the Smart Entry automatically disables itself after 5 days, and may go into an even lower power mode after 14 (at which point you can only open the car from the driver's door or with the remote).

In the above thread, someone monitored the voltage and drain for 12 days on a Gen III and it started at about 32mA drain and fell to about 27mA after 5 days. If that's the case, then even with a 40Ah battery 25-30 days of sitting should be no problem, and perhaps longer given that the 12v battery in the Prius doesn't have to turn the starter, it just needs to engage the electronics to activate the traction battery.

Ronbo -

If you car definitively has 50mA drain even after many hours off, that would seem to be a bit high. It sounds like your tech is on the right track, but in my experience there are VAST differences in the electrical troubleshooting capabilities of different shops. If you don't get satisfaction from this dealer, don't be afraid to try another.

 

1.
You don't need to use all caps for your thread title. Please forgive me for being a grammar nazi but it is a bit distracting
2.
This is a Prius issue in general ... not just a pip issue.
3.
"Not widely known or discussed" ? The weakness of the 12v aux battery has in fact been discussed ad nauseum for about a decade - as well as a simple solution. The search tool can be your friend. Using it you will discover those folks who need to store their car for an extended amount of time simply install the Optima battery.
4.
Considering how common this truly is - the question then becomes why is it that when you, " met with very competent Toyota technical team " ... they didn't bother to tell you what so many here on PC have known for so many years.

Anyway you'll be glad to know that once you switch over to the Optima battery you can store your Prius for many months, and it'll be no big deal.

 

I just went and looked at the battery in my PIP. It is labeled as 45Ah. The Optima Yellow Top replacement is only 38Ah. Not going to make things better.

 

Personally I'd just have a friend start it and drive it around the block every week while it was stored.

 

Not even driving it around, by means of turning the vehicle on until the engine stops during its warm-up cycle is more than sufficient to recharge the aux battery while the vehicle is at rest.

 

One aspect that is particular to the PIP:
Don't leave the charge timer on when storing the car, it may add a tiny bit to the draining current.

 

i don't know if that is the only factor. i would have to hear from yellow top owners regarding their experiences. most of what i have heard is anecdotal.

 

Are we again talking to ourselves??

 

Once again, newly registered poster writing bad stuffs and no follow up post.

 

Yes.
The thread starter is reporting of 13 days draining his 12V battery, which is abnormally short.
This can be a result of the way he/his garage attendants are treating the car when parked. Placement of smart key-fob is one possibility (as I assume he is leaving the key with the attendants), these attendants may be trustworthy but not knowledgeable with the specifics of the PIP.
However, lack of follow-up by him may indicate a non-genuine report that should be ignored, but maybe I am wrong.

 

Would plugging in the charger after returning from an extended vacation be enough to charge the 12v battery if the HV battery was left empty as Toyota recommends? This assumes the 12v has been run down sufficiently enough to be unable to start the car.

 

The manual lists situations in which the charging time may increase, among them:
"The charge in the 12-volt battery is low, for example due to the vehicle being left unused for a long period of time"
From this I deduct that the answer is yes (never tried it though, hope the OP will - next time it happens to him - and report here).

 

I doubt it would help. I think that if the 12v battery is dead then there is no way for the car to detect when the plug is connected. Maybe there is a fine line between having enough power to start the car and having enough to start a charge.

Mike

 

Guess I'll find out soon enough. Going to FL next month for three weeks with the car parked in my garage at home and will see what happens when I return. Hopefully, the car won't notice I've been gone and will start right up.

 

Just RTFM and you'll be fine.

 

Halfway through the trip have a friend come take it for a drive around the block. Then you won't even have to worry about it.

 

The12v battery does not crank the ICE during the start up process. In fact there is no starter motor in the car. You only need 12v. to boot up the computers, this is a miniscule load on the12v source. I also believe that the cigarette lighter is connected to the 12v buss, so it's a good spot to attach a trikle charger. Speaking of poor design, try to open the trunk lid with no 12v



97D ?