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

Siren going off at night randomly (after service)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by MegaPrius101, Aug 5, 2019.

  1. MegaPrius101

    MegaPrius101 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2018
    57
    31
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    so I dropped my car off at the dealer a few days ago for a brake fluid flush (that’s it).. I get the car back and do my rideshare driving for hours.. get back home around 11:30pm and 2 hours later the siren is going off by itself in garage..

    I go into garage and check things out and hit the siren button on my remote to shut it off.. I was standing around for about 5 minutes until I left and as I left garage , it went off again by itself.. so I unplugged negative terminal on battery so I could sleep..

    Long story short, even after alarm is reset after unplugging the battery several times over night , it’s still reoccuring..

    I just left the car at the dealer for 4 hours so they could see if problem happened again but it didn’t..

    I do want to note that I just drove the car 10 minutes to the dealer and not several hours ( problem did not reoccur )..

    So my question is, what could this be?

    My plan is to keep battery untouched tonight when I get home and if siren goes off tonight again, I will drive car early tomorrow morning for a few hours and bring it to dealer around 1pm and let it sit for a few hours to see if it reoccurs.
     
  2. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 22, 2017
    6,114
    4,040
    1
    Location:
    Wilkes Land
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Thats it? Only flush, & no refill?! :eek:
     
  3. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    My first guess is

    A-- You have the original 12 volt battery

    B--When they 'serviced" your car they leave all the doors open and it killed your 9 year old 12 volt battery now its borderline. Get a dc voltmeter find the front jump point under the hood measure the 12 volt battery voltage with the car off. Write that down.

    Then with car still off turn on the headlights and measure the 12 volt dc voltage again.

    Post those numbers back here. My guess is the 12 volt battery is tanking with the headlight load.
     
  4. MegaPrius101

    MegaPrius101 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2018
    57
    31
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    I know it seems ridiculous for the electronics to act up after a brake fluid flush..kind of like blaming the tire shop for engine issues.. but it was weird how it started same night as repair..

    Well at least problem didn’t reoccur last night after leaving battery hooked up..

    Hopefully doesnt return..wonder what it was..service advisor at my dealership was saying he’s never seen that..
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,762
    48,974
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    as ed mentioned above, how old is the 12v?
     
  6. MegaPrius101

    MegaPrius101 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 11, 2018
    57
    31
    0
    Location:
    USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    I
    I just put in a brand new Optima yellowtop a few weeks ago... no issues with electronics since then, except this (in fact I think my car runs better with Optima) ..but not sure if it’s battery..
     
    bisco likes this.
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Do my test in post #3
     
    bisco likes this.