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Winter woes!!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Cooper123, Dec 16, 2016.

  1. Cooper123

    Cooper123 Junior Member

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    Hi

    I had my wife start my 2010 prius (and let it run in idle) to defrost the mirror while leaving to work today. It was 10F outside. I went to the car in 10 mins and it would not start. The electronic display was flickering and looked less bright than usual. Wipers were working but were slow. I had check engine light and a yellow triangle with a exclamation symbol on the left. I thought that my battery was depleted and tried jump starting my car (plugged the jump start cables for 5 mins or so only as I was getting late for work) but with no success. The display still turns on weakly but the ignition is still not turning on. Is there some kind of simple diagnostic that I can do or anything else I can do to fix my problem or do I need to take it to the dealer ? Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks
     
  2. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    First, I would get a reliable jumper source, more likely another running car and a fairly good quality jumper (not need to be heavy cables) cable to transfer the energy form source to destination (black fuse box under the Prius hood. Let it charge for a couple of minutes.
    If your 12VDC Aux battery is almost gone, with this procedure you will figure it out.
    First owner, how many miles on it?
     
  3. Cooper123

    Cooper123 Junior Member

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    Thanks for the reply.

    First owner 155k miles. I have a thick Diehard Gold jumper cables. I used a Honda CRV (with engine running) to charge for 3-5 mins but had to quit as I was getting late for work. Do you think I should charge longer ?
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you don't need to charge with a prius, or have the other car running. just hook up the cables and fire her up.
    if she won't start, try disconnecting the neg from the prius battery and clamp the cable onto the wire to take the prius battery out of the circuit.
    you need a new 12v, don't try driving, even if it starts, unless you're driving to a place you can get a jump or a new battery.
    and be careful jumping! wrong polarity can fry your car!:eek:
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    You had the car running, and it was still displaying symptoms of a weak 12 volt battery. Is it the original battery? What that says to me is the battery is too far gone. Repeated jump starts are not going to fix things, too.

    At this juncture, I'd be inclined to skip diagnosis, go straight to replacement. For sure start researching, and/or just get the OEM battery through dealership.

    Hook up a digital multimeter (at the jump point is fine), with the car off, and post what voltage it shows. You can also try a charging session with a smart charger of 3~4 amp range, but I'm suspecting replacement (if original) is your best bet.
     
  6. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    Fully charge battery with a charger
     
  7. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    I tried to answer earlier but Prius Chat had a server issue + my lunch time
    I will be a little more technical, when you start-up a Prius with a reliable power source, EX= a fully charged booster battery or another operational vehicle with cables to the right attachment point, the only thing you are doing is awaken the "Internal Prius computers" (several ECUs) to turn on, subsequently the Hybrid inverter will turn on and all power is restored back to the internal circuits.
    Seems that your aged Aux Battery is gone, as others had said, replace it for a piece of mind
     
  8. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    If you were using the "boost terminal" in the front fuse box, be aware, many boost cables only energize one side of the clamp. The boost terminal is metal on only one side. If you get it wrong, no "boosting" will occur.

    As already posted, there is no need to install the boost cables and wait. It's safer to use a car that isn't running. The Prius won't draw much at all to get to "ready". With the other car not running there will be no pulses generated as the two argue about the charge voltage. You can even boost a Prius with an "alarm" gel cell battery.

    Also as already posted, DO ensure you get the polarity right!