12V Battery Cable help ASAP

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Is there anyone that can make one of these replacement cable ends? I purchased an 08 a year ago and it has broken off at the connector.
If I can get a new end fabricated I think I can splice it with the existing cable end.

 

salvage?

 

Yep. Weather let up enough for me to make the drive out to a pickn pull and find the pigtail i needed. I was surprised given that prius' are usually stripped pretty fast. Just glad I got lucky and didn't have to drop 150 for a harness that i only needed 4 inches of.

Cross fingers that I can splice this together safely!

 

Exactly same thing happened to my battery connector, its melted. It's funny I did not smell a thing, may be I lost my sense of smell after covid lol. I badly need this cable with the connector. My 08 Prius is dead, it has no power whatsoever. I don't know the cause, I was only trying to jump start it after I replaced the HV battery and now this happened, I'm baffled and lost. I have not driven this car since I bought it. Please help me. Thanks

 

I'm desperate for some help, I can deal with Mechanical failures but I don't have the capacity for electrical failures. I'm in Houston if someone is willing to help, I will even pay for their services. Thanks

 

After you've made enough first posts here, you should be able to attach a photo. It might be helpful to see just what happened.

I am dismayed about the connector melting, given there is a fuse there that was supposed to melt first....

 

I can’t tell if the fuse link survived

 

That front fuse link looks ok to me (except for the plastic cover being broken above it; how did that happen?).

The one I was hoping would melt before that cable connection is the white 120 amp one right next to it in the battery + terminal fuse holder.

I wonder if corrosion is really what made the trouble there. Once enough strands have broken due to that, the ones left carrying all the current could melt, at lower currents than would melt the fuse.

 

Were there any aftermarket power cables for sound systems or camping inverters attached to the battery?

Generally a melted connector means it was not tight while carrying power. Perhaps when you jumped it an already loose connection got looser and then you drove it for a while heating it up as the system tried to charge the battery.

A reversed jump directly to the 12v battery would have given you a fireworks show but I am sure you would have noticed it.

The big connector can be replaced by itself. The harness cable is burned so you need to have a salvage harness portion spliced in. Might as well get everything at the salvage yard.

Any real mechanic or experienced diyer could fix this with the appropriate salvaged part(s). You should get the car to a mechanic.

Nothing hybrid about the 12v at this point. The mechanic will know how to splice the cable with a split bolt, Polaris splice or a splicer. The battery should be removed and load tested and charged.

After those steps it will either run or further fuse and Prius inverter diagnostics would be necessary.

 

I did not smell a thing, no sparks. Cad went silent and dead. I have not driven this cad an inch since I bought it. It’s been sitting on the driveway since I bought it. I fixed the HV battery and now this. Do you think it’s dead because of this burnt cable?

 

It was broken when I bought the car. I haven’t had any luck with this car. Sometimes I wonder why did I even buy an Hybrid in the first place.

 

You certainly need 12v or nothing will work. It is very unfortunate you bought it without being able to drive it.

Generally you have a runner and then one thing fails. You can focus on that and can usually get it running again 95% of the time. In this case there is no telling how many problems may be layered. Odds are the hv battery could still have an issue. A simple problem is a failure to completely engage the orange disconnect. But the hv battery is unlikely to make the car completely dead. Fix the 12v distribution.

You really need someone who can troubleshoot basic electrical as a starting point. They need drawings and a meter at a minimum.

I might consider jumping it from the fuse box on the wishful chance you can get a Ready. If that happened it might drive to a mechanic who can dig deeper. If you were near San Antonio, I could recommend an independent Prius mechanic who has his own Prius salvage.



In Houston, Hometown Hybrids would be a good starting point short of using the dealer.

 

So if I pull the cable out from the junkyard, can I solder it to my existing cable after I cut off the burnt wires? Also what would be the cut off point if I find a junk Prius? Thanks very much!

 

No you use a crimp or compression connector for the thicker wire. I showed a couple from Home Depot in the post above.

 

Ah ok thanks, time to start sourcing those items. I need to cut off bad part and splice it to the new cable.

I checked the battery, it had 2.5volts so definitely need a good charge, will take it to Autozone and have it checked out.

 

2.5 volts on a 12 volt battery might be beyond saving with a charge.

 

Especially if a lead acid battery is left discharged for any period of time.

JeffD

 

Damn, battery seems almost new.