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Has this happened to anyone else?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by xbdude, Oct 11, 2006.

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  1. xbdude

    xbdude opticat

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    I parked my '06 Prius with 5 blue bars left on the battery according to the MFD. It remained in my garage for the entire next day. When I started it this morning, it had only one purple bar left on the battery indicator. Nothing electrical was left on, such as a dome light. I went away for about 5 days previously and left the car garaged, and upon my return everything seemed normal. The car just turned 10,000 miles on the odometer. After about a two mile drive, the battery was in its regular operating range again, and everything worked just fine. Is this normal??
     
    #1 xbdude, Oct 11, 2006
  2. eagle33199

    eagle33199 Platinum Member

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    No, it's not normal. Keep an eye on it, see if it happens again.

    That being said, did you by chance leave the car on? When the car is turned off, the hybrid batteries are disconnected from the rest of the car for safety, and as such even if you did leave a dome light or the headlights on, you wouldn't see a drain there. the 12V aux battery would be dead, but not the hybrid batteries.

    If you continue to experience unexplainable drains on the battery like this, take it to the dealer and have it checked out.
     
    #2 eagle33199, Oct 11, 2006
  3. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Leaving it on is the most common cause for this sort of thing.

    Tom
     
    #3 qbee42, Oct 11, 2006
  4. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Agreed.
    You provide info indicating that you know as a fact that everything was shut down properly. Given that information, something somewhere is drawing power off the HV battery when the car is powered off and that's just plain bad.

    Keep us posted.
     
    #4 TonyPSchaefer, Oct 11, 2006
  5. Charles Suitt

    Charles Suitt Senior Member

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    :rolleyes: One of the easiest things overlooked that drain the 12v battery is the Cargo Area light (left side) which will remain on if the hatch is not completly closed.
     
    #5 Charles Suitt, Oct 11, 2006
  6. longjohn931

    longjohn931 New Member

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    My 05 does this occasionally as well. I have checked for left on lights etc... but have not found anything. I believe it may have to do with temperature conditions changing the battery density???? This is not happening all that often and the battery seems to recover full charge without any problems.
     
    #6 longjohn931, Oct 11, 2006
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Oct 11 2006, 03:18 PM) [snapback]331399[/snapback]</div>
    That will NOT drain the HV battery. My dad left the hatch open overnight when the car was only a few weeks old. The car started up fine the next morning.

    This drain isn't normal. I would watch it over the next few days and whether it displays the same symptoms.
     
    #7 Tideland Prius, Oct 11, 2006
  8. xbdude

    xbdude opticat

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    Thanks, everyone. It's parked in the garage now, and I will use the Tacoma tomorrow if I need to go out. If you leave it "ON", doesn't it somehow automatically shut itself "OFF"?
     
    #8 xbdude, Oct 11, 2006
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    nope. The engine will just come on and run whenever the battery needs charging so it'll keep cycling until you run out of fuel or turn off the car.
     
    #9 Tideland Prius, Oct 11, 2006
  10. Rancid13

    Rancid13 Cool Chick with a Black Prius

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(xbdude @ Oct 11 2006, 04:14 PM) [snapback]331434[/snapback]</div>
    Nope, it'll stay on until you hit the Power button to power it off. And like Tideland said, the engine will cycle on and off to keep several bars on the battery, using gas in the process...if you're already low on the tank of gas and the car does this cycling all night, you risk running out of gas.
     
    #10 Rancid13, Oct 11, 2006
  11. xbdude

    xbdude opticat

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    Interesting, Tideland and Rancid13. I'm sure if it started itself in the garage during the night I would have heard it, as it doesn't take a whole lot to wake me up. So I'm pretty sure that I did power it down.
     
    #11 xbdude, Oct 11, 2006
  12. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    It is also possible that you left it in "IG-ON", in which case the HV battery can be drained and the engine will not run to recharge it. Always lock the car when you leave it, no matter where it is; in most circumstances, if anything is amiss (for example, the car is not OFF) it will give an extended beep of complaint.
     
    #12 richard schumacher, Oct 11, 2006
  13. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Yeah, no smell of exhaust fumes in the morning?

    I left the car in IG-ON once for 1-2 hours and had the fan going at LO speed. I never saw the HV battery meter drop. I was more concerned with the 12V battery!
     
    #13 Tideland Prius, Oct 12, 2006
  14. Cheap!

    Cheap! New Member

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    The manual says that if you keep your electronic key too close to the car when it is parked it could be a cause of loosing battery power. I don't have the chaper right now but it is there. I think the distance can be up to 25 feet. Are you keeping your fob too close to the car. I mean it is normal to drive it in to the bedroom and tuck it in. Right?

    Just a thought. If not, then I really don't know what it could be.
     
    #14 Cheap!, Oct 12, 2006
  15. bee13

    bee13 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(richard schumacher @ Oct 11 2006, 10:46 PM) [snapback]331521[/snapback]</div>
    I'm in the habit of locking the car and have been chastised on more than one occasion (long beep) when trying to lock the doors after absent-mindedly leaving the ignition on. I recommend locking the vehicle each time you walk away to avoid the IGN ON situation...
     
    #15 bee13, Oct 12, 2006
  16. silentak1

    silentak1 Since 2005

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    I've left my car OFF with my headlights ON for 6 hours and the car started up fine. I've also left many lights many times on overnight and everything turned on fine.

    Not that you should try it, but this car seems to have a "high tolerance" for stupid mistakes. At least with me...
     
    #16 silentak1, Oct 12, 2006
  17. Bill Merchant

    Bill Merchant absit invidia

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    The OP, xbdude, specifically asked a question regarding the charge of the HV battery. There is no regular display of the charge of the 12V battery. All this chatter about lights and fans (though not the AC compressor) has nothing directly to do with the HV battery, since they are all powered by 12V.

    Unless the Prius is in Ready or Ig-ON, the HV battery is disconnected by a power relay, operated by the 12V battery. This is why, if you do leave lights and the radio and the fan on, and run down the 12V battery, you can't start your car to charge the little battery, even though the HV battery has a full charge.

    Trying to lock your car, even in your own garage, is an excellent way to make sure the HV battery is disconnected. If you can't lock it, the car is most likely still on.
     
    #17 Bill Merchant, Oct 12, 2006
  18. xbdude

    xbdude opticat

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    I'm definitely not above "leaving things on", and perhaps I did leave it in the Ig-ON mode. The concept of always locking it sounds like a good solution for that, even though the car is garaged. Consider it done from now on! And as you said, Bill, I can find no way of finding out the status of the 12V battery.
     
    #18 xbdude, Oct 12, 2006
  19. ScottY

    ScottY New Member

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    I thought the HV battery relay isn't energized unless you are in READY mode. If the HV battery is "connected" to the rest of the electrical system in IG-ON, that sort of leave the HV battery in a very dangerous state. The engine will not start to charge the HV battery in IG-ON mode if SOC goes low.

    But I could be wrong.
     
    #19 ScottY, Oct 12, 2006
  20. 4chi

    4chi New Member

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    Did you notice your avg MPG was way lower when you got in the next day? This is what made me aware that I'm an idiot an left it on overnight. Went from 45 avg down to 35. Idiot.
     
    #20 4chi, Oct 12, 2006
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