1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Prius Startup problem - not getting to 'Ready' after 12v replacement

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by bsericks, Dec 6, 2016.

  1. bsericks

    bsericks New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Hi all -
    A few weeks ago my Prius would not start at all, the dash lights would flicker in very weird ways, due to the 12v battery beginning to fail (I measured it at less than 10v), so I bought a Optima Yellowtop battery and installed it, which at first appeared to fix the issue.

    Ever since then, I've had try multiple times to get the car started. I will get in the car, press the brake down, and hit the power button, and everything seems to come up properly except for the 'ready' light. I'll then turn off the car and try again, sometimes this goes on for 5-10 attempts, but at least so far I have always been able to get the car started. The worst times are in the morning and when I'm leaving work when the car has been sitting several hours, I pretty much always have to try multiple times. If the car has only been off a short time it starts up with less attempts, usually on the first try.

    These feel like weak battery symptoms, but that would be surprising given I just installed a brand new one. I've used my multimeter to measure the battery voltage as it was sitting in the car and it was over 12v). I've looked at the terminal connections and the ground connection to the car and they all seem to be tight. I've been driving the car at least 60 minutes a day for the past two weeks after the battery was installed, that seems like even if the battery initially had a low charge that should be enough to recharge it.

    Has anyone else experienced this?
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,700
    48,946
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    welcome!

    sounds like your battery needs a trickle charge. a new battery should be close to 13 volts after sitting for a few hours with the car off.
     
  3. bsericks

    bsericks New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Thanks - I should have mentioned I tried that as well, I own one of these -



    One morning I tried charging the battery, the charger initially indicated it was charging the battery but only took about 2-3 hours to get to the 'full battery' indication, which seemed like a pretty short time if the problem really was a discharged battery. The car did start up after this on the first attempt but then the next day it was back to needing multiple startup attempts.
     
  4. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2006
    5,963
    1,981
    0
    Location:
    Edmonton Alberta
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    DO make sure the new battery connections are properly tightened. Also, did you/they clean the lead oxide off the posts before installing the new battery? Also inspect the negative cable where it bolts to the body.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,700
    48,946
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    there have been reports of bad optima's, but they were older, so it's just a possibility. but your charger may be the issue. after you charge it, re measure the voltage after it has sat for 5-6 hours.
     
  6. bsericks

    bsericks New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I installed the battery myself - I forgot to clean the terminals before installing, I will try that today - however the terminals looked very clean before installing. The connections to the terminals are very tight and the connection from the negative to the body also seemed very tight but I will check that again as well.
     
  7. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2016
    2,036
    1,023
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    And again after it sits overnight.
    As was mentioned earlier, a fully charged battery should read between 12.6 and 12.9 volts; a new one toward the higher end.

    Then you should measure the voltage again while the car is running. That should be at least 13.6 and probably higher.

    If all else fails, disconnect one post of the battery and leave it off for an hour or so.
    Don't flinch when you re-attach it. This should reset all the computers.....well most of them.
     
  8. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,673
    38,214
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I wonder if there's an erroneous assumption (in the part I underlined). Your car and battery are relatively new. It could be the original battery was just beginning to fail. Another scenario might be that something else was awry, it ran down the charge on the first battery, and it's now doing the same on the second. What's called a phantom load. There are ways to test the amperage being used by the battery when the car's at rest.

    And as mentioned above, it could be the other scenario: that the second battery you got was "stale". Yeah, test and post the at rest voltage, to at least one decimal. Also, maybe a battery retailer can do an electronic load test, test actual Cranking Amps. You can do it yourself with something like Solar BA5.
     
  9. StarCaller

    StarCaller Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 15, 2014
    1,240
    692
    0
    Location:
    Cedar Crest, NM, USA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    good thought!
     
  10. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,470
    8,383
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I would suspect you might have a bad brake lamp switch. This switch is located at the brake pedal and tells the computer your brake is pressed.
     
    Montgomery and Mendel Leisk like this.
  11. bsericks

    bsericks New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 6, 2016
    4
    0
    0
    Location:
    Texas
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Would I see any other symptoms of the brake switch being bad? I've seen this mentioned before as a possible starting problem but it appears that my brake lights are still functioning properly when I hit the pedal.
     
  12. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,470
    8,383
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    If you scan the codes on the car, it would have a code if the switch is bad.

    Also your cruise control might not engage.

    Have you checked the battery negative connection by the car body? That sometimes gets loose.

    Check your key fob battery too
     
    #12 JC91006, Dec 6, 2016
    Last edited: Dec 6, 2016
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,700
    48,946
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    if the brake lights work, the switch is operating correctly.