Battery problem

The 2010 Prius in our garage would not start today. I tried jump starting it with the 12 volt in our van, but the light on our smart jumper cables would not light up on the Prius side even when I switched them around. I followed the manual's five minutes revving and such, but the ready light does not come on in the Prius. There is enough power for the inside lights to come on, but they are dimmed. I'm thinking we left the lights on in the back seat dome area based on what my daughter told me. The car has not been driven for about 65 hours.

Any suggestions, other than tow to the dealer?

 

I just followed the directions in the manual. The clip to connect it to was in the fuse box. It had a plus sign, so I think that was right. I tried the negative on the body, and on the bolt shown on the following page. The dealer is closed today, so I'll double-check with them in the morning. I do not want to do any damage to the car obviously.

Were you stating it is a bad idea to try to jump the battery directly?

 

The smart cable basically makes it so that you cannot screw up the polarity. Also, the center section lights up green on each side when everything is a go, so you know the power is coming in and going out.

When trying this from the engine area fuse box, the green light would not light up on the Prius side.

Since then I climbed into the trunk, and manually opened it. Then I disconnected the ground on the battery based on instructions found in the manual on pages 436-437. I tried revving the engine moderately for 5 minutes and we tried again. This time, no power at all in the front. I disconnected the cables, and reconnected the ground, and we returned to the previous status quo. Is it really dangerous to leave the ground wire connected if the area is well ventilated? Maybe I need to do that and leave it for longer?

Thanks for the input!

 

Thanks! I just did. I couldn't get in because the car was locked, and the trunk wouldn't open. See below for update. Still having problems.

 

Yes, you are correct. I overlooked that part of the post. I apologize. I appreciate your help. Both sides of the cable lit up when going directly to the battery, but it was still to no avail. Is it okay to remove the battery and take it to Autozone to get it charged? I would think it should be pretty similar to a regular 12 volt battery in that regard.

 

Well, I took the battery to the dealer. they checked it and said it was bad. We purchased a new one from there; I installed it and that seemed to take care of it. It's a shame the original one went bad in less than three years, but we do have over 70K on it, so the original warranty did not apply.

I still don't quite understand how the jump-start goes with this car, but with a new 7 year warranty, and the new familiarity with where the battery is and how to get it in and out, I feel better.

Thanks for the assistance friendly_jacek and Maroon!