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Prius resets itself every time it's turned off

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Aaron Vitolins, Feb 9, 2017.

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  1. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Recently bought a 2004 Toyota Prius and I noticed that every time you get in, the trip, the fuel gauge, average mpg, and everything else has been reset, like when you disconnect the 12v battery. Mind you it has a new 12v battery from Toyota. Also the smart key system hasn't worked at all since I've had it. What's going on? I've been here on PC for years and I've never heard of this happening. Very odd
     
    #1 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 9, 2017
  2. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    New batteries sometimes go bad.
    Test the battery and main connections.
    Test the charging voltage.
     
    #2 Sam Spade, Feb 9, 2017
  3. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Does the clock keep time?
     
    #3 JimN, Feb 9, 2017
  4. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    The voltage was around 12.00 volts. I'm going to charge it. The clock is actually broken:(

    I really hope that it's just a low 12 volt battery. It stopped displaying arrows on the energy monitor and went blank on the mpg average! Oh no!
     
    #4 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 9, 2017
  5. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    It sounds like you may have a couple or more (small) issues going concurrently.

    If your 12 V is constantly low (i. e. you find you are charging it more than you think is necessary), you will need to start investigating why the 12 V can't keep up, assuming you are diving the the car daily for a total of ~10-15 hours (min) over the week.
     
    #5 dolj, Feb 9, 2017
  6. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I just bought the car. Apparently it's been sitting for a long time but it is also a new or newish OEM Toyota battery. And it is Toyota oem, I checked it out. I will update when I find out if the lower voltage caused this odd behavior. I'm praying it's nothing big, or a need to buy a different battery
     
    #6 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 9, 2017
  7. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    These are two quite DIFFERENT things.
    Details are important.
    It is also important to not state assumptions as though they are facts.
    My bet is that you need a new battery.
     
    #7 Sam Spade, Feb 10, 2017
  8. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    First rule of electronics:
    Always look where you've been.

    Your car's been to a Toyota dealer for a new battery from what I'm reading.
    The first thing I'd do is verify that they overcharged YOU and undercharged the battery.
    You can get a battery tender from Wally for under $20 and verify that you leave the house with a fully charged battery.

    If your battery will not stay fully charged then the dealer might have overcharged you for a defective battery, or they might have missed the opportunity to overcharge you to diagnose your electrical system for an as-yet undetected problem (which may be why the clock does not work!)
    Or?
    It may be cockpit error (dome light, aftermarket electronics)
    Or?
    Rodent infestation past or present (it's cold outside!)

    Verify your battery is healthy, and look for abnormalities from there.....like why the clock is broken.
    Oh.....and check the cabin air filter.

    Good Luck!
     
    #8 ETC(SS), Feb 10, 2017
  9. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Thank you for the advice! Well I just bought the car a week ago. And the touch screen was actually completely busted. The guy I bought it from let his son borrow the car one night and he punched the MFD in.. no joke! I replaced the whole MFD for $75 dollars. I don't know why the clock doesn't work.

    One more thing, none of the dome lights work, guessing they are burnt out?

    Side note, you got me thinking about the battery, assuming if it is bad, wouldn't it have some sort of warranty? A year or two?
     
    #9 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 10, 2017
  10. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Here's the picture
     

    Attached Files:

    #10 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 10, 2017
  11. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    Likely only for the original purchaser......with receipt.
    But battery warranties are "pro-rated" and if you are 90% into the warranty period, they will charge you 90% of the list price anyway.
     
    #11 Sam Spade, Feb 10, 2017
  12. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Well darn! I am out of town this weekend so I won't be able to test till Monday or Tuesday. I put a battery tender on it, so it will be all topped up. Thanks so much everyone, I really appreciate the help.

    I will give an update for sure :)
     
    #12 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 10, 2017
  13. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Update. So I charged the 12v and I think it might be bad. It only holds around 11.8/11.9 volts. When I first started and drove it everything was normal, the energy monitor worked, but after driving it for about 45 mins, I left it in "Ready" in my drive way for another 45 mins.

    I got in it again and decided to shut it down and restart it, now the arrows were gone and the no battery bars displayed. And the air conditioner wasn't working. You'd press the climate button and it said something like "check connection"

    I'm starting to think there might be a bad connection somewhere. I know a low 12v can do weird things, but I had a Prius with a old 12v in poor condition before and it never did anything like this. What do you guys think?
     
    #13 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 13, 2017
  14. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    While that doesn't sound like much, it really means that the battery is down to HALF OR LESS of it's original capacity........and it's pretty well known that the new computer modules don't like it when the voltage goes below 12.0.
    YOU NEED A NEW BATTERY. SOON.
     
    #14 Sam Spade, Feb 15, 2017
  15. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I would venture to guess, you done have a consternative problem with your auto mobile lectricity storage box.
     
    #15 The Electric Me, Feb 16, 2017
  16. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I think you're right. Does anyone know if Walmart has a battery works or cloud be rigged to work for the Prius?
     
    #16 Aaron Vitolins, Feb 16, 2017
  17. Samprocat

    Samprocat Active Member

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    Measure of voltage is not the proper way to see health of battery....
    Do a load test .....many parts stores have device to check this free
    Any time battery get deplete to single digits are more likely that will become bad in very short time..it doesn't matter is it 1 day old or couple years old....


    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #17 Samprocat, Feb 16, 2017
  18. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    Probably not. Forget "rigging" something to work.
    These cars NEED a good working 12 V battery.
    Any major battery store or Auto Parts store in your area likely will have one; call ahead and see.
     
    #18 Sam Spade, Feb 16, 2017
  19. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    That is only partly true.
    If the resting voltage looks good, it can still be BAD.
    But if the resting voltage after a charge is below 12.0 volts, then you can be sure that it is NOT GOOD and no further tests are needed.
     
    #19 Sam Spade, Feb 16, 2017
    Aaron Vitolins and valde3 like this.
  20. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Aaron, could the dome lights be switched off or the fuse blown? Check all the stupid (and free) stuff first.
     
    #20 JimN, Feb 17, 2017
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