Charging a Dead Prius C Battery

This is best done by someone with a fair amount of automotive and/or electrical experience and is only appropriate when you have an electrical outlet nearby. To avoid removing the rear seat to access the 12 volt starting battery directly, open the hood; then pop the lid on the triangular shaped fuse box at the driver's side near the windshield. You'll see a thick white cable. You don't need to disconnect it. Stick the positive probe of a test meter in the connector so it touches the metal terminal of the cable connector. The probe should stay in place. This is a direct 12 volt positive connection to your battery. Then, touch the negative probe to any part of the "Hybrid Synergy Drive" unit next to the fuse box or any non-painted metal part. Confirm you have about 12 volts reading on the meter. Then, disconnect the positive probe from the meter leaving the other end in the thick white cable and connect the positive lead of a 12 volt battery charger to the probe. You don't need the negative probe. Clamp the negative terminal of your 12 volt battery charger to the "Hybrid Synergy Drive" or other bare metal surface under the hood. You are not hooking up to the "Hybrid Synergy Drive," just using its large metal surface as a negative ground point. When your charger in turned on, it should indicate a normal rate of charge of, say, 5 amps or so diminishing as the battery charges up. This is not appropriate for jump starts as the current drain is too high for the thin gauge meter probe unless you find a way to connect a jumper cable directly to the heavy white positive cable but it will get your dead battery charged and your Prius c going in a few hours.

 

--- Good photo. I should have specified, use a low rate charger or one with a low (1 to 5 amp) setting. Mine is 5 amps and it seems to work fine. Also, and this should be obvious, be careful to keep to leads from touching.---

 

--- I should have specified, use a low rate (1 to 5amp) charger. Mine is 5 amps and it seems to work fine. Also, and this should be obvious, be careful to keep to leads from touching. ---