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Jump start 2010 with dead battery

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Jeff68005, Dec 11, 2019.

  1. Jeff68005

    Jeff68005 Junior Member

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    I have had to call AAA to jump start my 2010 Prius with a totally dead battery from the fuse box under the hood with the positive clip and a negative ground on a bolt on the body of the car. It took a moment, but the AAA jumper unit did the job.

    I was thinking of buying my own jumper unit, but the one I bought did not cut it..

    Any idea of the mAh power needed for the jump start to happen.

    I have no clue what the cause of the battery drain is. IMO, the most common cause has to do with opening the back hatch and closing it . Why that is - I do not understand. I just know the failure to start occurred after fetching stuff out the back and coming out a few hours later.

    I am guilty of not taking my Prius out to drive for days at a time.
     
  2. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    If you have a way to connect it, a cell phone battery is powerful enough to “jump” a Prius. The 12v battery only powers the electronics. The actual engine start is done by the hybrid battery. If the jumper you bought won’t do it, either the jumper is dead, or the 12v battery is very low. If you have a volt meter, measure the voltage of the 12v. Less then 12.6 but more then 10.5, charge and load test it. Less then 10.5, replace it.
     
  3. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    And if you get in the trunk and it has the original 2010 battery in there, just replace it anyway. The factory original battery will likely have a yellow sticker and say “S46B24R” in large black lettering. The newer Toyota batteries have multicolored stickers on them and small lettering.
     
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  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    instead of a jump pack, buy a maintainer
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    A jump starter's good to have. Look into smart chargers (3~4 amp range) and electronic load testers as well. Armed with all three, you'll likely only be using the jump starter on other cars. Still good to have, you don't want to use the dimunitive Prius 12 volt for jump start assistance; I think the Owner's Manual warns against it.
     
  6. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    This is 100 amp pack/battery backup and it has started my 4.6 Explorer when the battery was so low the lights didn’t come on. I think it will handle a Prius if I ever need it for that. LoL
     

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  7. Jeff68005

    Jeff68005 Junior Member

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    The jumper that I bought is able to get the engine to rotate enough to make a short sound, but not get it going. Jumper makes three attempts and quits. Starting is zero volts or not enough to get a reading. Jumper starts at 16 V and drops when hooked up. When I disconnect the jumper battery, the cables still in place read about 3.5 volts off the Prius.


    BEATIT B10 QDSP 800A Peak 12V Portable Car Lithium Jump Starter (up to 7.2L Gas or 5.5L Diesel Engine) Battery Booster Phone Charger Power Pack with Intelligent Jumper Cables - makes no claim about hybrid cars.
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    thats not the jumper. prius does not have a normal starter motor, the hybrid battery powers thetranny which turns the engine over
    what you're looking for, is the 'ready' light on the dash

    if you're getting that, and the engine tries to start but doesn't, you have bigger fish to fry

    how many miles on her?
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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  10. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    The 12v in your car is likely bad. That is a very safe assumption based on your booster behavior.
     
  11. Jeff68005

    Jeff68005 Junior Member

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    About 110,000 miles. Battery was replaced a couple of years ago at the dealership. There tests of the battery rated the original battery at okay, but with winter oncoming at that time, decision was replace as precautionary move.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    no dash lights?
     
  13. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    The 12V battery also gets to run the power brake accumulator, which triggers before the ignition is even turned on. This will probably clobber cell-phone-size batteries.
    I strongly doubt that sound was from attempted engine rotation. More likely from the previously mentioned brake booster.

    During a normal jump, you should be home free the moment the "READY" light turns on, generally several second before the ICE starts to turn over.
     
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  14. Jeff68005

    Jeff68005 Junior Member

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    I can get the overhead lights to turn on when my unit is attached.

    I was able to get some dash lights after turning off the overhead. Start button did not light up.
     
  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sounds like you're going to need a smart charger
     
  16. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    If the battery you are jumping, is super weak, or has a shorted cell, it will possibly draw a lot of
    power trying to charge and very little power will get to the computers. You would need a very
    strong jumper battery that could handle that.
     
  17. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

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    Did you try to power on the car immediately after hooking up your jump kit or after waiting a couple of minutes? The one I have requires a few minutes to transfer enough charge to the battery to power on the car.
     
  18. cnc97

    cnc97 Senior Member

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    I failed to mention the brake pump. But yes, slightly more then a cell phone size booster would be required. But with even more info from the OP the assumption the 12v is toast is building more and more steam.
     
  19. Jeff68005

    Jeff68005 Junior Member

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    I agree . Patience was required even with AAA's jumper, but all came on inside a couple of minutes, all light up and successfully started.

    I am giving up on my unit. I have called AAA assistance.
     
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  20. Jeff68005

    Jeff68005 Junior Member

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    sounds like you're going to need a smart charger

    The unit I bought claims to be a smart charger.