12v battery Issues

The battery in my '06 is in my mower, yes, fill it with distilled water, charge it and try it, but... start hunting up a new one, it's always going to be using juice for a charge, and it's going to die easily.
It's a deep cell so you can keep using it, but it's going to lower you overall mpg's.

 

You will need distilled water. Though it probably makes little difference as the battery is only going to last perhaps another three years.
Peal the label off the battery. You will find the original "fill holes" under that. -IF- you can remove and replace the plugs over those fill holes you can add water. There may be a piece of clear plastic glued over the caps. There is no indication of how much water you should add. I put in enough to get the liquid about 2-3 mm over the mats/plates.
If you succeed in adding water, DO make sure the chamber those caps are in is once again sealed. That is the vent system for the 12V battery (that chamber must be sealed so any gases go out the vent tube). Even a good vinyl tape can provide a good seal. But you must ensure the top of the battery is dry and clean when you are about to seal it again.

If you have no experience dealing with sulfuric acid and explosive gases it may be best to just replace the battery.

 

Christian, I would just start researching for a new battery, either same as the one in there (Yuasa in ours, in Canada), through a dealership, or compatible from third-party manufacturers. Optima and Exide are two that make batteries compatible in size, post diameter, are AGM type and have the proper vent tube connection.

 

I've done lots of research on the 12V battery a few months ago. Check my signature for 12V battery info. You're not limited to the OEM 46B24R battery. I have a group 25 AGM battery on mine.

 

why not charge it up and see how it holds? 5 years isn't that old.

 

I got the optima a few months back. It's advertised CCA is a lot higher than the OEM Yuasa. It has a different appearance, but the dimensions, posts and vent are 100% compatible. I charged it before install, and checked it's CCA, the latter was higher than advertised.Really can't say regarding long term reliability, I'll just see how it goes.

DS46B24R YELLOWTOP® Prius® Auxiliary Battery 8171-767 | OPTIMABATTERIES

 

The oem battery from Toyota is sourced from the lowest bid, just like the shocks, they suck, the 12v sucks, just to be blunt...
Any aftermarket battery that is AGM and fit's is good.
Pity but penny wise pound foolish on Toyota's part, makes it a throw away car, kidding but makes it a tinker toy.

 

if you can find it, there is a thread here about rehydrating the battery. by britprius maybe?

 

This mod with this battery will give you the most powerful battery that can fit in a gen 3 Prius. Total cost would be about $75 to $150 on top of the cost of a traditional replacement Prius battery. The battery doesn't have an external vent tube but I've talked to the manufacturer about installing inside the cab. They said that the battery doesn't vent until the charging system hits above 15V. So far my scangauge never went above 14.4V. It is safe to install inside the cab. This mod is totally reversible back to 100% stock as long as you keep all the original parts.

 

A "powerful" 12-V battery is a total waste of money and useless dead weight in a Prius, which never demands high power. The claim about not venting below 15 volts is pretty much true of any AGM battery---unless it develops a shorted cell in old age.

 

That's why I can listen to my radio for an hour and still be able to start my car. Good luck doing that with the stock battery. It may be waste to you but for someone like me and other owners that demand power would benefit from a large battery. I have absolutely no fear of accidentally leaving the door or trunk open or the visor light on over night or for a day or 2.

 

Yes, leaving a door open, even if all lights (including door-actuated door-edge lights and overhead lights) are off or disconnected, will severely discharge the stock battery or any similar capacity battery within 3 days---less if any of those lights are on. Longer time to discharge would require more energy from the battery, not more power.

Yes, using the radio for long when not "READY" can create a problem, but that's not primarily because the radio runs down the battery. It's because the "ACC" mode of the power switch consumes several times the current that the (basic) radio itself does, even when no accessory is on. That waste of battery capacity, in my opinion, is a major drawback of the SKS system vs. a conventional mechanical ignition switch.

 

ANY car battery that lasts 5 years did good. Speaking as a Mechanic, owner of two Prius and many, many cars over the years...just go buy one of the stock type replacements and only use your radio in ready mode like the rest of the world. I just put a new 12VDC battery from Toyota in my 2010 proactively right at the 5 year mark. If you are having the problems you say, adding water is not going to realistically extend the life. YMMV

 

my 2005 dakota battery is alive and well at 29,000 miles. the thing is a beast.

 

If you are looking for a reliable repair and not to continue having troubles starting your car, the solution would be a battery replacement. Why prolong the pain?

 

Yea, we've all had one or two batteries that out lasted the curve, however 5 years is pretty much the bar...and his is giving up it's ghost.

 

Not sure. If you have Multi Function Display I think you can display the 12 volt battery display more-or-less at rest, in accessory mode. I would just get another digital display multimeter. For more of a "health check", there are meters that measure voltage and Cold Cranking Amps. The Solar BA5 is the one I got.