Back up warning alarm recommendations needed

Me too.

I'm also looking for a back-up alarm like the one on the inside. Don't know where to start except to ask at Pep Boys, Kragen, etc and I expect they'll tell me it will work just to sell it and then I'll find it doesn't work on a Prius.

I'm going to the dealership and I'll ask there.

I can't believe they didn't think of this. The car is so quiet you need a beep on the outside. Maybe on the next redesign.

 

Seems the easiest might be to add a weatherproof annunciator to the existing alarm with a enable/disable switch (so the neighbors don't hate you at night). Anyone know if there's a separate annunciator for the back-up alarm or if it's piped through the audio speakers?

 

Actually it comes out of the combination meter assembly, along with the other inside buzzer (beep) noises not AV related. The beeps coming out of the speakers are the ones from the MFD.

 

What I've found out so far.

Not knowing where to start, I went to Pep Boys and asked them if there was something that would beep when I backed up. The guy said sure, there was a light you could use to replace the taillight.

I then told him I had a Prius and I didn't think I could replace the taillight.

He suggested I contact Tweeter. I thought they were just home stereos but apparently they are everything audio for cars as well. He said to ask about a backup sensor. So I'll be calling Tweeter to find out if there is anything that can be added to the car to beep when it backs up. And if the dealer has to do it or if they can do it.

 

After disabling the instrument panel reverse beep, I bought and installed a Radio Shack part #273-080 ($6.39) piezo buzzer. It is NOT an annoying high-pitched beep, it is a medium frequency (300 Hz) buzzer that automatically pulsates on and off once per second. If you're not sure if you'll like the sound, have the Radio Shack saleperson power-up the buzzer so you can hear it before you buy it.

By removing the left rear tailight access cover (inside the luggage compartment), you can reach the back-up lamp wires [red (+12 VDC when in reverse), and White w/Black Stripe (Vehicle Ground)]. Splice into the wiring up-stream of the white connector, so your modification will not interfere with the removal of the tailight assembly in the future.

After extending the buzzer wires, I used thin cable ties to mount the buzzer just above the left rear tailight (inside the car), strapping it to the side of the large wiring harness. The sound is still plainly heard both outside and inside the car, even though the buzzer is surrounded by metal, plastic, and carpeting.

 

This is excellent.

Thank you so much. This is excellent and exactly what I needed. I can do this. I've got a radio shack nearby and you've given me great directions. I'll take a look and see if I want to solder or just use caps. My Dad is an electrical engineer (retired) so if I get in over my head I can always show him what you wrote and what I did and he can make it work.

If I do manage to do this myself my mother will be thrilled!

One more question. Do I have to disable the current beep? And if so...how? Through the display or manually by disconnecting something?

Thanks again.

 

Godiva,

No, you do not have to disable the instrument panel reverse beep, but you will probably want to, as many people find it to be annoying.

This topic has been discussed so many times here on PriusChat, I will not repeat the steps to disable the instrument panel reverse beep - just use the search engine to find the instructions.

Also, it sounds as if you are not to sure about your "electrical abilities" so I recommend inviting your Dad over to help you, as you suggested. The back up light wires are quite thin, and have a very tough plastic insulation, thus working with them requires patience.

You also mentioned using "caps" to splice into the wires; I think you are talking about "wire nuts"? If so, don't use them - a car is a very high vibration environment, and a wire nut can easily loosen and fall off, causing a short circuit.

When I work with automotive wiring, I remove a small section of insulation from the wire to be tapped (about 3/16") - without cutting or nicking the wire itself, by using a sharp hobby knife to cut into (but not through) the insulation and then removing the insulation with needle-nose plyers. This keeps the original wire intact. The new wire is wrapped around this exposed section, making a good mechanical connection, and then soldered. Then the splice is wrapped with high-quality electrical tape (Scotch 33+); and to prevent the tape from ever unwrapping, put a small plastic cable tie over the whole thing. If the cable tie is not appropriate, another method of preventing electrical tape from unwrapping is to paint a small amount of clear PVC pipe cement over the splice.

Good Luck

 

Wow! Even more excellent and more thanks!

I've done quite a bit of electrical wiring in the house and rewired several lamps and light fixtures, but never done wiring for the car.

I did find the directions on disabling the beep. With your directions I can do this easily. But I will probably do it at my Dad's house because he has a solder gun for this kind of delicate wiring. All I have to solder with is a rod for stained glass. Kinda like threading a needle with cooking tongs.

This is such a doable thing. I'm going to put all of the directions on one page to print out.

Thank you so much.

 

Perhaps an even better method of splicing a beeper to a backup light circuit is to use the splicing clips (also available from Radio Shack, I think) that let you lay your new wire next to the wire you want to tap, squeeze the splicer with a pliers, driving a sharp metal bridge through the insulation on both wires, and then closing the plastic body of the splicer. It makes a good strong mechanical and electircal connection for low power applications like this, and you don't have to be a contortionist with a soldering iron.

 

Voilá. And no solder on the carpet!

Done! My first modification! (Well, aside from the decals.)

Thanks for the suggestion of the splicing chips, Bill!

Works great and all for less than $10. Why this isn't standard in the car, I don't know.

I took pictures along the way and at some point might make some detailed step by step directions with pictures.

But I am so proud of myself. It was easy once I pulled the wires out for a better look and the clips make it look very clean. The beep can be heard inside and outside. If it's not loud enough for Mom...too bad.

 

Okay. I've written some step by step directions with pictures and saved it as a pdf document. I have no idea if there is anyplace here to save that sort of stuff so I am going to try to add it as an attachment to this post.

I've never added an attachment, so we'll see how it goes.

 

Congratulations on a well done, neat job! Thanks for the write-up and pictures.

 

I can't see any way to put it in the Knowledge Base.

I did upload it to the Knowledge base discussion forum.

And I'll try to put it in the File Library.

 

You get to the actual KB using the navigation selector in the upper left side of the forum page.

 

I found the Knowledge Base. I even read through some of it.

I just didn't find any way to add to it. No new topic or reply buttons. Not like here.

I put it in the file library and the knowledge base discussion. I'm sure if someone does a search they'll find it. If anyone wants to put it in the actual Knowledge Base that's fine with me but I think it's findable.

 

Look at the title at the top of the page
[align=center:d485595bfe]Knowledge Base
Click on Category to add Article Search[/align:d485595bfe]

It is easy to scroll down and miss it