Repeated 2009 Battery/Starter Failure

Hello all,

I'm having troubles again with my battery/starter after having the same problem exactly two months ago.

I drove to work this morning and parked, no issues. When I tried to lock the doors they didn't respond, and the power locks wouldn't work either. The headlights and interior lights work, but the car won't power lock or start. When I push the ignition the inner LED goes green, but no other engine lights come on. When I push it again the LED turns orange and the check engine light comes on. Nothing else happens.

This is exactly the same problem I had on September 21st. I was told then that it was a bad starter battery but now I'm wondering how I could have possibly fried the replacement in two months. Is there some big thing I'm doing when I get out of the car that could toast a battery?

Any help is much appreciated. I never thought I'd have to deal with this again. Very frustrating.

2009 not starting or unlocking, but lights/beeps work | PriusChat

 

Do you mean pulling codes like from a check engine light? I haven't done that: last time I had to have it towed and the shop didn't supply the codes, if they did check them before replacing battery. Is there a way I can do this myself without having to tow it to a mechanic again?

What's weird is that both times it's happened after a 20-minute drive. I don't understand (with my limited car knowledge) how it could be a dead battery if I've been driving that length beforehand.

A jump didn't work last time, do you think it could work this go around?

Thanks so much for your help.

 

Update: I stopped by the car over lunch to double-check a few things. This time, I managed to get some lights and sounds going, and it even displayed the gears (P, D, R, N, B, etc) for a few seconds - everything was booting up like it usually does - before shutting off. I was hearing abnormal sounds under the hood from the electric motor, so I decided not to push it by trying again too soon.

I'd replaced the key fob battery right before, because it was old anyway, and I was willing to spend $2 to cross that off the list of possibilities.

I also tried to check connections and battery brand but I didn't really know what I was looking at. Everything I saw seemed fine to me.

Thanks Paul,

That's exactly right! The fob can make it beep and flash lights, but the locks won't do anything. Locks also don't work if I push the button on the door handles/hatch, OR if I click the power locks switch on inside. There is no way for me to make power locks work: I had to manually lock all the doors before walking away from it this morning.

Thanks Jim,

I can't get the MFD to come up: it doesn't appear whichever way I push the ignition. As far as connections, I'm not sure what to look for but everything that I see looks okay. The positive battery terminal cap was loose, and I reconnected it, but that didn't seem to change anything.

I'm going to buy a multimeter and a portable charger tonight and try reading/jumping it in the morning. Will follow up with the voltage after that.

I called the shop that replaced it before, and they said that the old battery might have damaged the alternator, which then could have damaged the new battery. Does that even sound like a possibility?

 

Update: Over lunch today I brought a multimeter and a jump pack. The car has been sitting in a parking garage overnight. In this order:

1. I checked voltage, it was at 12.39. I put all the covers back and tried to start the car, no dice. Same response as yesterday: it beeped, it showed the gears, the motor started turning, then everything died in about 1 second.

2. I opened it up again and got ready to jump it. Double-checked the voltage before jumping and it was at 12.28.

3. Hooked up the portable starter to the 12v, got a confirmation from the portable piece that the connection was solid. Waited about a minute, tried starting it and nothing, all the same stuff as last time.

4. I gave it about 5 minutes to charge and tried again, exact same thing happened.

5. Disconnected the charger and decided to check voltage one last time, it was at 12.26.

At this point, I think I have to phone it in. Everything has been consistent with last time, from the symptoms and weird things that did/didn't work to a jumpstart not working. Unless someone knows what might be happening, I think I'm already in way over my head and have to take it to a shop.

Probably a different place this time -- maybe they'll know what's actually wrong, or if it really was the battery, they won't give me a worthless replacement.

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice! I'm learning a lot, if nothing else.

 

Sorry, I thought the terminology was interchangeable. I'm using a Schumacher "Jump Starter and DC Power Source", (link) which claims to be able to jump a car battery in a 5-minute range.

Should I be trying a different recharging/jumping method?

 

Do you mean about disconnecting the ground? I don't know how to do that, but Google says I need a few special tools for it...

Jumpstarter was fully charged before I hooked it up to the Prius.

 

Sorry, complete idiot here: the 12v battery itself is in the trunk, right? I was reading meter and jumping from the fuse box in the hood.

I guess I'll have to crawl into the back since the hatch won't open.