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Battery dies within minutes

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by [email protected], Nov 16, 2011.

  1. mcazares@san.rr.com

    [email protected] New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2009
    4
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    Location:
    san diego
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    On 2 occasions now my 08 Prius battery has died mysteriously and quickly. The circumstances were similar both times.

    I'd been driving in a parking lot for a while searching for a space. Then parked for about 15 minutes. Then started the car, but decided instead I needed to make a phone call. Maybe started the call while it was still running, but then turned car off (don't remember for sure). It was hot & the call was taking a while, so I rolled down the windows half way on driver & passenger sides. Then opened driver door for more air flow. After about ten minutes, I go to the start the car and it's DEAD! Both times had to call AAA to get a jump.

    After the first incidence I took it to Toyota dealer to check the battery, they said it was fine. Is there some bad combination of open door (light on), headlights on, bluetooth, proximity key & an ipod cable (just the cable) plugged into console that could cause the battery to drain in ten minutes???
     
  2. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2005
    12,544
    2,123
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    Location:
    SF Bay Area, CA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
  3. seilerts

    seilerts Battery Curmudgeon

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2010
    3,326
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    Location:
    Santa Fe, NM
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Have you replace the 12V yet? Problem is, it takes so long for the car to charge it, that a jump and go leaves you at high risk for having it go dead again. Best approach is to trickle charge the battery for several hours at 2-4 amps. If it dies again, just bite the bullet and get a new one.
     
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