Best 12v Battery

I haven't noticed any dropoff in MPG between my old original traction battery and the recon battery. In this case, almost all local driving on short trips, and brand new tires seems a better explanation for what I'm observing. I'm also having new brake pads put in, a new 12v coming in a few days, and just replaced both air filters.

And this is a little OT for the thread, but I thought the traction battery doesn't really "fade" over time - it dies suddenly. This is what happened with my original traction battery. Same MPG through its life, then a module failed. Isn't this the case?

 

While we're at it, what settings will be lost during the 12v installation? I am aware there are ways to save them, but that adds a level of complexity (and potentially danger) to the operation that don't seem worth the trouble to me.

Is this a compete list of settings lost (sourced from a post by Mendel Leisk):
1. Radio presets gone.
2. Trip meters lost.
3. Displays reset to defaults. (Meaning which displays, btw?)
4. Window auto up/down sometimes lost. (Fixable by holding switch for 10+ seconds in up, then 10+ seconds in down position)
5. Odd behaviour on start up, the next few times: excess rev-up, like the car is relearning throttle response or something

How about these:
6. Nav Presets/Settings?
7. Bluetooth Pairing?
8. SKS/Door Lock settings?

 

Thanks DMC.

Can you or anyone confirm/elaborate on what will happen with #3 (which Displays to Default?), #6 (Nav totally wiped?), and #7 (Bluetooth pairings wiped?).

And #11 is what I meant by "SKS/Door Lock" settings. The key fob functionality will otherwise remain fine?

 

The Ac Delco battery arrived today, looks great. I tested the voltage with multimeter, it read 13.0v, meaning it's fully charged. (I'm using an analog multimeter, which appears to run a little "hot" on these readings - I'm assuming 12.8v is a fully charged battery.)

But how can I verify the battery's age? What am I looking for? There's no sticker or code that's obviously the date - attached are two photos of all the codes/stickers on the battery.

 

A good theory. Or maybe is the 20518 in the Barcode possibly 5/18, or May 2018?

 

Amazon. Unlikely.

 

Thanks DMC. I also have to think that 0818 is key here. I would imagine that if trying to simplify reading of the date instead of burying it, they would conform to normal date representation, meaning month/year. Weeks would make it confusing. Thus, if this is true, that would also point to the expiration date, I. E. August 2018. This would also be a more useful bit of info for sellers; it cuts through the ambiguity of when to recycle the battery if there is simply an expiration date.

All this is theory, of course. But if 0818 is either manu date or sell by, either way my batt is fine, right?

BTW I charged it overnight, no problems. It only took a few hours, confirming that it shipped nearly fully charged.

 

I successfully installed the new AC Delco. Notes:

1. Install took around 40 minutes. This is the first time I've replaced a 12v, so could probably be a bunch faster, but not bad.
2. Most difficult part was indeed reattaching the vent screw. I didn't want to drop it, and don't have magnetic tools, so I improvised a solution by taping the screw to the ratchet head with some electric tape. It worked.
3. Reattaching the vent hose to the new battery, I saw that somehow the vent hose had pulled entirely free from the floor hole. Uh, ok. I fed it back into the floor hole, and attached to battery, and it seems fine. Is this something to be concerned about?
4. The AC Delco battery was an exact and trouble-free fit in every respect for the Gen 2.

The car started up again without any problem.
-The SKS didn't lose its all-door open setting.
-The Nav and Bluetooth didn't lose settings either, though the "Previous" memory in the Nav was wiped. The "Memory" presets in the Nav were all intact. I haven't looked at phone book or calendar, because, uh, I never use that stuff anyway.
-The Display appears not to have been reset; color and brightness remained.
-Radio Presets were wiped, needed reset obviously.
-Clock needed reset.
-The Reverse Beep had to be fixed.
-The Power window Auto Up/Down lost function, and took a moment to reset and get working right, but figured it out.
-The gas gauge was blinking empty for awhile, but I took the car for a ride around the block and it is now recalibrated and reading the correct amount of gas (nearly full).

Lastly, I ran a quick voltage check using the onboard menu test, and got:
12.6v (Test 1)
12.4 v (Test 2)
14.0 (Engine Running)

 

Quick update - the AC Delco Battery has been behaving great so far. This first tank, the car is back over 50-51 MPG.

The only thing I've noticed is that the hybrid battery fan (the intake beside rear passenger seat) came on once and ran for about 3 minutes on starting the Prius, which it really hasn't done much at all in the past. This wasn't on a hot day either. Could this mean the AC Delco battery "runs hotter" than the Toyota OEM 12v?

 

Thanks Bisco. Yes, I meant the vent beside rear passenger seat. That is not for the 12v? I thought it was.

Does that vent running more often signal a hybrid battery issue? Again it only ran this one time, and the mpg has been good and SOC on the MFD has been totally normal.