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JUMP START KIT

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by oldseagull, Jun 3, 2012.

  1. oldseagull

    oldseagull April Member

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    Location:
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    2008 Prius
    Yesterday, I broke the rules - I ran the radio on Accessory and somehow left "switch" on overnight.
    This morning, I needed a jump start - my first with Prius - followed the owners manual, but when I opened the fuse box, I found the hot wire connection recessed deep in the fuse box, was unable to connect my old jumper wires to the bolt. Finally figured out a fix - see photo attached of a 1/4" bolt connector and a 1/4" x 1" bolt - screwed the bolt connector down finger tight onto the hot bolt , then inserted the 1" bolt until it seated tight. That gave me something to get a jumper cable grip onto. This goes into my road kit! jumpstartkit.jpg
     
    #1 oldseagull, Jun 3, 2012
    jdenenberg and Rokeby like this.
  2. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    That or a short alligator clip lead.

    JeffD
     
    #2 jdenenberg, Jun 3, 2012
  3. oldseagull

    oldseagull April Member

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    Thanks Jeff. I probably over-engineered this, used what was available in shop, and did not want to chance the heavy cable slipping off into fuse box.
     
    #3 oldseagull, Jun 3, 2012
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    But it already has a very large attachment point in the fuse box. Not the bolt head itself under the red plastic cover but the L shaped aluminum plate the bolt head is holding on. It sticks up vertically to attach your jumper cables to.
    Take another look.
     
    #4 edthefox5, Jun 4, 2012
  5. oldseagull

    oldseagull April Member

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    Oh, thank you very much, edthefox5!

    I would have not have noticed this . . . one of my under-the-gun myopic moments.

    Here is your solution . . . and here is my fix! Photos attached. Yours wins for simplicity, but I'll probably keep my "fix" stored in the trunk :)

    Thanks, again!

    JohnC

    DSC02035.jpg DSC02038.jpg
     
    #5 oldseagull, Jun 4, 2012
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I dig your fix for sheer ingenuity but the flat plate is better. No wobbling of the clamp. But you never know you may have invented an industry!
     
    #6 edthefox5, Jun 4, 2012
  7. oldseagull

    oldseagull April Member

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    Thanks again, Ed! You have solved one problem that I hope I'll never face, again! But, you never know . . . in the year 2010, my wife and I traversed 9695 miles in 50 days - 50th wedding anniversary gift - a road trip out of Virginia, over t0 California and up Pacific Coast Highway through California, Oregon, Washington, turned right and returned home via Grand Coulee, Yellowstone, Rushmore, Wall Drug, Badlands and more with nary a flinch out of our "little blue" Prius. BTW, we averaged 44.8 mpg - aggressive driving on my part. Life was perfect until last week, we suffered a left rear tire blowout as I began to slow for an exit from Chesapeake Freeway onto I-64 in Virginia Beach, Virginia - in RUSH HOUR - talk about bad luck, but AAA road service was there and got us out of a dangerous situation in less than 25 minutes. This dead battery problem though, was my fault, I know. HOWEVER, my wife will probably never trust the battery again, though I believe it is good for another year! :) Best wishes to all you Prius people out there! Don't we love our cars‽
     
    #7 oldseagull, Jun 4, 2012
  8. ambaker

    ambaker New Member

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    N/A
    My 12V battery died yesterday after 7 years, and 167,000+ miles.

    It was a quick demise. Fired up the Prius, drove it around to the front of the hotel to check out, and when we went to leave, (about two minutes later), dead...

    So now it's rigged for life support, with a small battery in the trunk, until I can get a real one. The Autozone, offered to order one. But spending a day or two in their parking lot, did not seem to be the choice that appealed to my wife.
     
    #8 ambaker, Jun 11, 2012
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