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12V Battery Location & Access

Discussion in 'Prius c Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Wildfire, Apr 21, 2012.

  1. Wildfire

    Wildfire New Member

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    Having managed to stump the guys in the service department at the local dealership, I thought it worth mentioning where the 12V battery is located in the C. Though its location is no great secret (it's depicted pretty well in the owner's manual), I thought it worth mentioning that it is such a pain in the rear to get to that you might want to experiment with it a couple of times before the battery goes dead in the (hopefully!) distant future on some cold winter morning..

    Unlike a normal car, the battery is not under the hood. It's not even in the trunk like on most Prii. Nope, it's located under the right rear passenger seat. Access is accomplished by pushing in the middle of two round tabs located just under the seat (the key works great for this) and pulling out the tabs entirely before pulling the cover outwards from the door-side edge.

    Not sure how you'd ever get under there to hook up jumper cables; need to double-check the manual to make sure there is no place more convenient such as under the hood...
     
    #1 Wildfire, Apr 21, 2012
  2. SquallLHeart

    SquallLHeart The Techie Guy

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    nope... as mentioned in the owner's manual.. you jump it from that spot.

    yea.. no big secret if people actually read their owner's manual like they should :)
     
    #2 SquallLHeart, Apr 22, 2012
  3. priusCpilot

    priusCpilot Active Member

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    The location is optimal for weight distribution. Consider your C a high performance hybrid with race inspired battery location hehe.
     
    #3 priusCpilot, Apr 23, 2012
  4. Iconn127

    Iconn127 Master Diagnostic Technician

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    its also jumpable from the engine room fuse/relay box and and ground on an acceptable grounds
     
    #4 Iconn127, Jun 7, 2012
  5. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    One of the first things I had to do. I wanted to further explore removing the backseat for access, a la VW.
    Never got around to it and sold it. My wife could not drive anymore. but, a fun car.
     
    #5 Andyprius1, Jun 2, 2018
  6. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    Holy thread resurrection Andy.
     
    #6 ztanos, Jun 4, 2018
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Toyota omitted engine bay jumpstart connection on early c's only, which has some responders confused.

    I'd agree (very belatedly) with @Wildfire: you'd want to check it out sooner than later, familiarize yourself with access.

    Maybe wiring in an aftermarket jumpstart connector would help?

    (I feel like one of the "walking dead" btw.)
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Jun 4, 2018
  8. ztanos

    ztanos All-around Geek!

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    6 years old guys... this has been discussed and corrected. At the time the OP posted this, there was no jump terminal...

    Feb/March 2013 introduced the jump terminal on most of the C's. There were still a small few that skirted through the factory on the old fuse box, but not many.
     
    #8 ztanos, Jun 5, 2018
    Leadfoot J. McCoalroller likes this.
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