battery not holding charge

We need the codes the check engine light is showing. Those are Hybrid specific codes so an auto parts store cannot read them. Only the dealer has the software to read them. Take the car to the dealer. They charge $125. Make sure you get a written copy of ALL the codes and then report back here.

In the meantime it would be wise to check if the Inverter Coolant pump has failed which is a common problem.
Make car READY then open hood and open the black cap to the container to the left of the Inverter. That is the Inverter Coolant reservoir. It is filled with pink coolant. Look down in the fluid while in READY and see if it has turbulence or good flow/movement reflecting the pump is operational. If the fluid is sitting still the pump has failed and your overheating the Inverter & transmission.

That and how many times has the 12 volt battery gone dead? How many jumps in its life?

 

Rilone, If you are in the LA area, or near any of the indepent shops mentioned above, you should consider visiting one of them for a diagnostic of your Prius.

 

There are several problems that can take a Prius down with the symptoms you described. The inverter water pump is a common problem and is not to hard to diagnose. Otherwise we will need to have the car tell us why it isn't feeling well. This requires equipment to communicate with the car and retrieve codes which we can use to help you out. While every dealer has equipment that can do so, so do many independent shops as well as members here. You might try searching for an independent hybrid repair shop near you, or share your location with us and we might be able to help you find one.

 

Hello...have you or anyone else been able to answer your question regarding your prius battery. I just had this same situation occur with my prius this evening but the car just wont drive at all. I have been out of the country for 3 months and I think my family maybe started the car once the whole time I was away. I noticed when I came back that when I started the car it made some weird noises so I let it run for a while and the noises went away, but as I tried to drive the car these past 2 weeks I noticed that the battery wasn't charging all of the way and the dash light/console wouldn't come on (I couldn't see the mileage, gas, or odometer). This has been occurring for 2 weeks now and then this evening I am driving my car home and the check engine light comes on along with another light (car with an exlamation light) and the car stops accelerating. This is the first time this has never happend to me before. I am curious to know what was the results and what you ended up doing for your car. I don't want to take it to the dealership as I know they are going to charge me an arm a leg and maybe an index finger...

Thanks

 

Your combination meter may have failed (Luscious Garage | Blog | LG TV - Prius Dead Dashboard) and you may be covered by the warranty extension at Combination Meter Warranty Enhancement | PriusChat.

As for the bolded part, if that's all they did, your 12 volt battery is totally drained and likely permanently damaged. See the PDF at Battery Pack problems if Prius is not operated for 3 months? | PriusChat for what Toyota recommends when storing a Gen 2 Prius.

Are you on the original 12 volt? If so, even w/o that trip it's probably toast and can cause all sorts of weird problems if low. Let the car sit overnight and tell us the values via the test at Weird stuff happening? MPGs dropping? Test The Battery | PriusChat. You should be telling us voltages from 3 different steps. If you have HIDs, you can save them by only going between off and parking lights.

As for the check engine lights and so on, we can't tell you anything until you get us the codes. No codes == us taking blind shots in the dark.

 

I would say use this $40 coupon at advanced auto parts and replace your 12V battery with a YellowTop Optima.

coupon code: DOTW52

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