PRIUS in sleep mode after no driving at all for 1 month.

From what I've read in previous posts, the Smart Key system can drain the battery after extended inactivity. I've heard people mention everything from trickle charging the car's 12V jumper terminals every two weeks of inactivity, or at least starting and running the car for fifteen minutes every two weeks. Barring that, you could ask a Toyota dealership to see if disconnecting the 12V battery is a good idea to prevent drain.

All else failing, could be an excuse for you to do a little Prius 'baby-sitting'...

 

To answer one of your previous concerns, I believe there is a method to use the HV battery to get the car to a READY state, then the ICE will kick in, and charge the onboard 12V battery. Then just drive it until it gets a chance to charge

 

And that method is???????

 

I went to find the thread...and now I can't *feels dumb*. The manual details the procedure for using jumper cables to get the car into READY status, then the HSD should charge the 12V battery from there, once the ICE is started and running.

 

If you hold the smartkey upto the start button, the rfid in the smart key(fob) should activate the car, and you should be good to go.

 

I saw that in the manual section near the jumper section - I think that's if you are getting a 'No Key Detected' type of No Start condition, after you replace the battery, that is. I could be wrong, it's happened before - and I'm stll alive.

 

No, that procedure is for a dead fob battery. For a dead 12V battery you need to jump the car, just as you would with any other dead car battery.

The Prius has a jump point under the hood. Use the mechanical key to open the driver's door, apply 12V power to the jump point and ground, and then start your Prius in the normal way. Make very, very sure to observe the correct polarity when doing the jump, as reverse power can do thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Tom

 

Also (FWIW), the jumper cables I use have the "wire" on just one side of the jaw clamp, which means only one of the two halves of the clamp is actually "hot." And, as I recall, the positive jump terminal in the engine compartment fuse box has metal on just one half, with the other half being plastic.

My dealer showed this to me, and said it was important that the "hot" half of the jaws on the jumper cable comes into direct contact with the metal portion of the jump point on the car, instead of the other way around.

My salesman admitted he got it wrong once, and that it was an expensive lesson: The "hot" half of the positive jumper cables was not in contact with the metal portion of the jump point in the fuse box, & he said that caused a problem.

I have no personal experience with this, I'm just passing along the experience of another.

 

The range in the winter seems to be from 29.5 mpg (must have been pretty crappy gas, I figure) to just below 40 mpg... the harsh temperatures really suck the life out of the car if I don't warm it up first. I am looking into getting a EBH for the car - every other car in my household has had them pre-installed or installed before we bought them.

 

Hi All,

I read in the manual that the Smart Key system times out after a week (or two?). So, apparently they fixed that issue with it running down the battery.

I bet on the hatch not being completely closed. When the Prius is new, you really got to slam that thing....

 

If your parents are not going to drive this car often. I would recommend that you hook up a trickle charger to the battery. This would solve your dead battery problem, or have them start and run it every few days.

 

You might check pages 49 and 534 in the manual--both explain restart and entry methods after long inactivity. 'Hope they work.

 

I hook up one of these about once a month, to condition/top-up our 12 volt:

MUS 3300 - CTEK SWEDEN AB

I've been leaving the battery fully connected to the car, and using the fuse box connection point, a couple of times now, without incident.

There are a lot of similar choices available, I just settled on this one: seems solid, well engineered, compact and comes with a practical carrying bag. You can download a sales brochure and/or the owners manual as pdf to read up on it.

 

My salesman warned me about the keyless entry's ability to kill the 12v battery if you aren't near the car for an extended period of time. Basically, the car is "looking" for your keyfob all the time.

He also showed me where there is a little switch under the dash to disable the constant key search if you are going to be away from the car for weeks at a time. I didn't look at the actual switch though, it's centered under the dash, under the steering wheel(ish).

It's referenced in the manual but not detailed....