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Car won't start after dome light was left on

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by epimorphic, Dec 6, 2019.

  1. epimorphic

    epimorphic New Member

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    A few days ago, I accidentally left my dome light on in my 2015 Prius. I returned to the car two days later and was unable to get in with my electronic key and couldn't get the car started. I assume that my 12V battery is empty.

    Today, I had somebody help me jumpstart my car but that didn't work either -- the computer still didn't turn on and I was unable to get the car started. This person suggested to connect a charger to the battery and have it charge for 24h. Is this a reasonable thing to try next or is my battery gone for good? I never had any battery issues in the two years I've had the car but it already had 200k miles when I got it.

    Thanks for your help!
     
    #1 epimorphic, Dec 6, 2019
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2019
  2. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

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    Replace the 12v battery, your battery is probably drained to the point that it lost all its charges
     
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  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    I second the battery replacement. It's already 5 years old. If you try to charge it and use it, it most definitely will leave you in the same position again in the near future.
     
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  4. epimorphic

    epimorphic New Member

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    You guys were right. I just went to AutoZone to get a replacement battery, installed it, and everything's fine again. Thanks for your help!
     
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  5. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    This is why I replaced the original interior lights, all incandescent, with much lower current LED models. This gives 5X to 10X more time to discover such errors before the battery is too low to function. And whereas incandescent lamps draw more current as voltage drops and the filament dims and cools, LEDs do the opposite, drawing less current, extending battery life somewhat more. Though the details vary considerably depending on the particular design.

    I selected lamps specifically for low current, which also meant getting unidirectional lamps in different configurations, end-emitting and side-emitting. Many others converting to LEDs go for brighter light, and for omnidirection lamps so that one version fits all locations, and don't save nearly as much current as my scheme.
     
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  6. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    I recently did this for both my pri, cost was about $5 from the wish app
    Also got blue bulbs for a "cool" look :sneaky:
    about 4 months in and all are still working, so it was an easy and cheap diy "upgrade"
     
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  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I just turn off all the ones with switches. There's still a few without switches though: the foot well lights, the lights in the doors.
     
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  8. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    I always peak at the dash board and the led cob strip footwell glow upgrade that I threw in before walking away to make sure my 12v will last 15 years.
     
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  9. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    I bought a cheap led interior kit and it came with spares. The spares replaced the license plate lights and they last a year, on for 3 hours a week.
     
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  10. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    I decided against replacing the plate lights, only because led bulbs are tinted blue, and I dont need
    a reason for johnny law to be checking on me or my family.
     
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  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Around here there's pretty much no inspections, and older cars invariably have one or both license plate lights burnt out. Problem solved, lol.
     
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  12. Attila Fekete

    Attila Fekete Member

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    I bought cheap LEDs fron Ali. They last ~1 year. Now I can buy Osram or Philips, so I will replace with those one each that failed.
     
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  13. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Look for 4300 temp bulbs, they’re non blue.
     
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  14. dig4dirt

    dig4dirt MoonGlow

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    lol, i went with the "cool ice blue" to match my Persona blue floor lights. :confused:

    always sumpin' :cool: