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2008 Prius having battery issues?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Thomas Halderman, Jul 18, 2023.

  1. Thomas Halderman

    Thomas Halderman New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2023
    1
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    Location:
    Columbia, MO
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Hey there, let me start off by saying that I am really new to owning a Prius. I bought the car on June 9th and have had no issues of this kind with it until now. It's currently at about 352,000 miles. The previous owner was kind enough to give me all of their records of the work they've done on it.

    Now to the issue: Again, no electrical issues with it until today. I usually drive it about two miles a day, just my commute to work. Today I drove it over to the local mall, which is about a 3 mile drive. It started fine, drove fine. When I parked and shut it off, I noticed the indicator for the key-fob being nearby wasn't lit up. I tried to turn it back on, obviously didn't work. I had a friend come to try and jump it with their car. The results were promising at first, the car would power on but would absolutely refuse to shift into drive. I eventually called a tow truck and the guy brought a jump box. This had the same result, car would power on but couldn't be put in drive, just switching to neutral with each attempt. We get it towed back to my place and he tries it again on a hunch, and this time it would shift into drive or reverse. And it seemed to be fine. Of course I made the mistake of shutting it off after driving it back and forth a bit, but it did make me feel a bit better. Really I'm just hoping for help with diagnosing the problem. The little display that shows how power moves indicated that the hybrid battery had plenty of charge. The fuel indicator was a bit odd though, I started the day with a nearly full tank but when this issue came up and the car was powered on it showed it to be at half. Any insight would be appreciated and if more details are needed on the car's history, I will try to provide as I can from the previous owner's records.
     
  2. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,645
    3,858
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    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    What is the voltage of the 12 V battery and what is its state of health? You might want to take it to an auto parts store that will test the 12 V battery for you.

    Your usage pattern is not the best for keeping the 12 V battery fully charged. It could be a good time to invest in a good fully automatic multi-stage charger (like the CTEK MXS 5 or equivalent) and use it often when you do your short drives.
     
  3. JoeDog99

    JoeDog99 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2022
    25
    1
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    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    Most auto stores will test the 12v for free. try bringing it in