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HELP!! Prius is restarting on its own.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by devinb72, Jun 23, 2012.

  1. devinb72

    devinb72 Junior Member

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    I am having some electrical?? problems with my Prius. Here is whats going on:
    • I turn the car off and 1 of 3 things happen.
    1. Nothing and everything is fine.
    2. It restarts itself instantly and everything is reset ( radio stations, gas gauge, MPG info )
    3. I shut the door and start to walk away and it restarts ( and everything in 2 )
    • Just like number 2, everything just resets ( it looses it's memory) but it doesn't restart.
    • Or I get in the car and nothing happens at all. I sit there push the power button NOTHING, no lights, no panel lights, no response whatsoever. At this point I usually just wait and keep pushing it until it finally starts. Sometimes if I shut the door hard it will come back to life, but not always.
    My first thought was the 12v battery, but I ran the checker on the car and it seems fine, I also had it checked at Midas and they said that it was fine.

    I feel like the car is possessed or something. It doesn't always happen but today it happened 8 times, and that's just effin annoying.

    I know I will probably have to have it looked at, but they want to charge me $100 an hour for diagnostic work. REALLY?? $100 an hr, and I know that they're just going to stand around the car with there thumb up there butt. OR my car won't restart it's self and I will have wasted $200 on nothing.

    So can someone please tell me what is wrong or might be wrong. I kind of looked around and couldn't find anything that was similar to my situation.
     
    #1 devinb72, Jun 23, 2012
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    1st guess: loose battery cable(s). Check the clamps on the battery terminals and the connection of the negative cable to the stud on the car body, which is in the same battery compartment. Careful with the wrenches, you really don't want to short the positive terminal or cable to anything else.
     
    #2 richard schumacher, Jun 23, 2012
  3. vertex

    vertex Active Member

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    It could also be the battery. Is yours the original? A shorting cell could cause it to behave like you described.
     
    #3 vertex, Jun 24, 2012
  4. HaroldW

    HaroldW Active Member

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    I would check the 12v after sitting all night. Should have 12V plus. H
     
    #4 HaroldW, Jun 25, 2012
  5. Oldwolf

    Oldwolf Prius Enthusiast

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    Here is a SOC chart.

    [​IMG]
     
    #5 Oldwolf, Jun 25, 2012
  6. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    Do you have a practical joker around, someone that installed a remote starter and is playing with you?
    Or did the car come with a remote start option and someone has an extra set of keys?
     
    #6 ursle, Jun 25, 2012
  7. maestro8

    maestro8 Nouveau Member

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    Oh really? Are you certain about this? Where did you learn this nugget of information?

    If this were the case, all I'd have to do is fiddle with a random Prius's battery cable and I could drive away in it.

    Something tells me this isn't how the car was designed...
     
    #7 maestro8, Jun 25, 2012
  8. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Midas would not be my first choice for Prius maintenance, of any kind! You say Midas checked the battery, how? Do you have a Voltmeter? If so all you need to do is measure the battery yourself. the above chart gives the voltages. If it is in fact the original battery I would proactively dump it, get an Optima made for the Prius. Check Specializing in: dictionaries including the Collins Cobuild, Oxford English Dictionary (OED), Webster's & Random House The suggestion to check the battery cables is a very valid point. Check for corrosion, loose cables, green copper patina, water is getting on the cables causing them to oxidize. make sure the ground is securely tightened to the body of the cay. If you have a meter, measure the ohmic value. anything more than 0 for such a short ground wire is wrong!

    At some point if the above ideas don't take care of the problem, a trip to Toyota may be in order!

    Let us know what you find out!
     
    #8 KK6PD, Jun 25, 2012
  9. devinb72

    devinb72 Junior Member

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    But I was thinking, if the battery was dead and would not start the car, how does it start eventually. ( Get in, car won't start or show signs it's trying, then all of a sudden it's good to go and were off ) it's not like the battery can charge itself. It has happened multiple times before. BUT today I had to call roadside assistance and get a jump.

    But I think I just need to get a new battery. Does anyone know if easycare will cover the cost of a new battery? Is the Optima battery really better than an OEM and are there people on here that have it?
     
    #9 devinb72, Jun 27, 2012
  10. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yes, plenty of folks have the Optima Yellow Top battery, including me.
     
    #10 cwerdna, Jun 27, 2012
  11. HaroldW

    HaroldW Active Member

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    It does not use the 12V to start the car, but if the 12V is week the cars PC will not work! The PC is the cars brain. H
     
    #11 HaroldW, Jun 27, 2012
  12. ahmeow

    ahmeow Prius Lover

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    Me too. Have changed to that two years. Working fine.
     
    #12 ahmeow, Jun 28, 2012
  13. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    You're quite right, a dead battery will never start any car. That would be the effect of a loose cable or clamp: it makes intermittent contact. Would you rather start by spending 10 minutes checking for loose connections, or $200 on a new battery that you might not need?
     
    #13 richard schumacher, Jun 30, 2012
  14. devinb72

    devinb72 Junior Member

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    I already checked the cables and the connections. The battery voltage on the Prius screen is in the low 12v and when using the windows it drops to around 11.6v. I already bought the Optima battery, got it today actually.

    Is there anything special that needs done or is it ready to go. This is the direct fit model.
     
    #14 devinb72, Jun 30, 2012
  15. devinb72

    devinb72 Junior Member

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    Nevermind I got it installed. Just need to wait and see if any of this freaky stuff happens again.
     
    #15 devinb72, Jun 30, 2012
  16. ahmeow

    ahmeow Prius Lover

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    Wish you good luck.
     
    #16 ahmeow, Jun 30, 2012
  17. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Well it's been almost a week, the Optima must have done the job!
     
    #17 KK6PD, Jul 6, 2012
  18. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    At least we know all the connections are now tight :_>

    "Is it ready to go" depends somewhat on where you bought it. eLearnaid has been very good about fully charging them immediately before shipment; other suppliers, maybe not so much. It is prudent to check the voltage before installation to make sure it's fully charged, and if not either return it or charge it yourself outside the car. The Prius charging system is pretty low current and may not deal well with a battery with a low initial charge, which doesn't do anything good for that battery's life.
     
    #18 richard schumacher, Jul 7, 2012
  19. devinb72

    devinb72 Junior Member

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    Yep, everything is working fine now, no issues whatsoever.
     
    #19 devinb72, Jul 8, 2012
  20. devinb72

    devinb72 Junior Member

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    Thanks for all the help.
     
    #20 devinb72, Jul 8, 2012
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