Beep???

Recently my 2004 Prius has begun doing something it never did before: Maybe half (?) the time, when I shut the car off, it makes one long beep. The other times, it does not.

No other symptoms, no apparent problems. It shuts down properly, and starts up again when I want to start it.

I'm shutting down as I always have: Press the Power button while stepping on the brake. (I do not put it in Park first, and never have.) I keep my foot on the brake until the dash lights turn off.

Any ideas as to what it might be beeping about?

 

Wow! Once again, PriusChat rules!

My 12-v battery was replaced a year or so ago (I don't remember the reason, but it seemed reasonable at the time, given its age.)

But my fob battery has never been replaced. It's not immediately apparent to me how to replace it. Can it only be done by the dealer? Or does it come apart if I pry at the little hole with a screwdriver?

 

Hmmm. I can see where it's supposed to slide. The back moves easily the tiniest bit, just enough to slide the narrowest eyeglasses screwdriver blade in, but then it stops as though it's catching on something. I can even lift up the back, but I cannot slide it free. I tried on the spare also, the one that's always been in a drawer, never exposed to dirt, and it behaves the same. Is there some other trick to getting it open? It really does not seem to be sticky with grime. It seems to be catching on something after it slides the width of a fine pen line.

 

I can see how it's supposed to slide, because it slides that teeny tiny fraction. But even getting the screwdriver into the space and prying does not move it further.

I considered switching fobs. (No point in switching batteries, when I can just put the one I've been using in storage and use the one I've been storing.) But I figure the battery probably loses more from age than from use. They're probably both near depleted. So I'll replace one battery, since the spare fob is only if I lose the primary one, and the spare does not need a battery since it can always go into the slot.

But first I have to get it open. And neither one of them wants to open. Both seem to be jamming against something after sliding the thickness of a business card.

 

I got it! It turns out there's a tiny latch under the cover, actually part of the slide that releases the key. It might be possible to release it by sliding the key release, but I had to pry it up with a screwdriver while pulling back on the cover. Maybe because the chronic pain at the base of my thumb prevents me from pulling hard enough on the key release. In any case, merely sliding the back cover doesn't do it (unless maybe you've previously broken the latch).

So I got the battery out and will buy a new one before I need to drive the Prius again

Thanks everyone!

 

This is SKS. It sounds like the same long beep you get if you try to lock the door with the door-handle button when the car is still on. Except that it happens as I shut the car off. I never tried it with SKS off and the fob in the slot.

I got the new battery this morning and put it in and the fob works, but I only tested it opening and closing the doors. I didn't turn the car on. I'll probably go to Coeur d'Alene again next weekend, so I'll have to drive the Prius, and I'll find out whether the beep is gone. C d'A is too far for the Xebra. Once I have the electric Porsche the Prius will be relegated to summer road trips to Canada and maybe those few days when we have ice on the roads here.