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2008 prius wont start up

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Kindke, Jul 14, 2018.

  1. Kindke

    Kindke Member

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    returned to my car 48 hours after a short commute home from work and now the key fob wont unlock the car ( have to use emergency key ) and the prius wont start up.

    bought this car from a dealer 3 weeks ago AND also took it for a full toyota service only 2 weeks ago ( had to pay £395 for that service ). The service flagged everything as green/OK except rear tyres needed replacing.

    Bought a jumpstart kit yesterday and tried it this morning , but car wouldnt even jumpstart. I tried 2 jumpstarts leaving the jump charger connected for 5 mins before trying. While connecting the jumpstarter pack a periodic "click" sound can be heard from the fuse box area thats under the hood although I dont know what that sound is or where its coming from.

    When using the key fob to unlock the car a faint unlocking sound can be heard like its trying to unlock but fails. Theres no lights on the dashboard , the immobilizer light flashes and if I leave the door open the red "open door LED" on the dashboard comes on and a beeping sound is heard so the 12V battery isnt completely dead.

    I have no idea what to do now, owners manual suggests that if a jump-start fails to call the toyota dealer. I can also try calling down the AA.

    Up until this point the car seemed completely fine and like I said it had a full toyota service only 2 weeks ago. I havent left anything on to cause the 12v battery to go flat either.
     
    #1 Kindke, Jul 14, 2018
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Replace the 12 volt battery and stop jumping it. The 12 volt battery was bad when you bought it.

    Dead battery after new purchase is easy to understand. Used car sits on lot for days battery goes dead.
    Prospective buyer/victim comes along and dealer jumps it and then days later repeat. By the time you buy it it’s been jumped multiple times.

    You want to do everything possible to never jump start this car. So easy to damage the car.
     
    #2 edthefox5, Jul 14, 2018
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! agree with ed, sometimes a bad battery won't allow a jump. try taking it out of the circuit, and connect the boost pack. don't cross the positive and negative accidentally!
     
    #3 bisco, Jul 14, 2018
  4. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    ETF5, told you true, I am afraid.

    But, there are many things worse than a dead battery. I suppose if you really want to assure yourself it is the 12v, you could have someone check it with a multi-meter.
     
    #4 cyberpriusII, Jul 14, 2018
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Yes - unfortunately that service apparently did not extend towards considering the health of the 12V battery.

    1. Measure the voltage across the 12V battery as previously suggested. A new fully-charged AGM battery will measure 13.0V. A discharged battery will measure 12.0V. See where your battery is within that range.
    2. If you don't have a digital multimeter, just turn on the headlights. How bright are they? If they are not bright, replace the 12V battery.
     
    #5 Patrick Wong, Jul 14, 2018
  6. Lucifer

    Lucifer Senior Member

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    Remember to trickle charge the new battery before installation.
     
    #6 Lucifer, Jul 14, 2018
  7. Kindke

    Kindke Member

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    Thanks for help everyone.

    Im not sure if the trunk will open but if the 12v battery needs replacing I guess I have to do it myself? Since the car cant be moved otherwise my only option is to have it towed to the dealer.

    And how would the voltage be measured.. can I do it from under the hood using the jump start points.

    also the headlights dont turn on, the side-lights turn on for like 3 seconds then go off.

    Im not sure how confident I am at replacing the 12v battery myself. So annoying that I paid all that money to the dealer for a FULL service and they obviously lied about checking the 12v battery,
     
    #7 Kindke, Jul 14, 2018
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The dealer full service is see if the car starts if it does full service completed. From the hundreds and hundreds of posts I have seen here on this site the dealer is incapable of testing the 12 volt battery.

    No the trunk wont open you have to crawl back there and unlock the hatch from the inside its a handle at the bottom of the hatch. Its a pain.

    You can open the hood and measure the battery voltage at the front jump points. I'm sure it will be really low like dead.

    Whatever you do, do not under any circumstances let a tow truck driver jump start it at this point. That's certain death to a Prius they will connect huge power to your basically shorted battery and will blow fuses if your lucky. if unlucky they will blow the inverter. There's an expensive hardwired in fuse in the front jump box that's very $$$ to replace. Be careful here.
     
    #8 edthefox5, Jul 14, 2018
  9. Kindke

    Kindke Member

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    Can anyone recommend some links for the 12v battery in the UK

    after doing the research it seems I need specific ones , although ive been told the optima yellow top only fits in the smart key type prius, I have a normal gen 2 prius
     
    #9 Kindke, Jul 15, 2018
  10. Kindke

    Kindke Member

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    Just had the AA down and he says the battery in the back is low voltage and also its the wrong type for the prius anyway , im paying them to replace the battery ( parts only ).

    he says there might be damage to the rest of the hybrid system because the wrong battery type was used. I had the Red triangle when he started the car up with his booster pack.

    Waiting now to see if theres anymore problems after the 12v battery is replaced.

    Im so angry that I paid Toyota huge sum of money for a service and they clearly did not check such a basic thing as this.

    I do not know alot about cars hence why im paying the dealer for a full service.
     
    #10 Kindke, Jul 15, 2018
  11. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    The following video is very slow and very pedantic, but it does a great job of showing how to replace the 12v.

    Even shows how to open the hatch from inside at the 4:45 minute mark...

    I personally agree with only using a Toyota battery, but lots of people disagree with me on that point.

    Britprius posts here all the time and is the guru on across the pond batts. You can do a search. He has a list of replacements. Again, I would go with the Toyota part, but....

     
    #11 cyberpriusII, Jul 15, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
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  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there is no such thing as a 12v battery that will damage your prius. but there is a strong possibility of damaging the inverter if you cross the positive and negative, which aa drivers are known to do quite frequently due to carelessness. if you are fortunate, it will just blow a fuse.
     
    #12 bisco, Jul 15, 2018
  13. Kindke

    Kindke Member

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    well ive had the 12v battery replaced , I used HJ-S46B24R GS Yuasa Auxiliary AGM Battery which the website showed as for the prius gen 2.

    when we measured the voltage across the old battery with system booted and hazard lights on it was 8.4 volts

    With the new battery the car seems to be a bit happier. the LED's on the dashboard are all brighter and the lights flashing when locking the car are brighter.
     
    #13 Kindke, Jul 15, 2018
  14. Petrodollar

    Petrodollar Member

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    The type of battery you need is an S46B24R.
    If you have the smaller battery (S34B20R) in the non-SKS (non-Smart Key) Prius, you can easily convert to the larger capacity S46B24R by buying the battery tray from Toyota for about $20. You should need just the Tray, not the Hold Down.

    12V Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) battery, JIS Type 46B24R (NS60) (BCI Group No. 51*), Terminal - JIS Post / Pencil Post
    JIS Post - +/- about 15/13mm Dia. (SAE Post - +/- about 18/16mm Dia.)
    JIS Group B24 - 237L x 128W x 200/222H mm (Body/Term.) (Japanese Industrial Standard)
    BCI Group 51* - 9.4L x 5.1W x 8.8H in (238L x 129W x 223H mm), *except smaller JIS post
    (Battery Council International (BCI) Group Numbers define the physical dimensions of the battery case).
    Capacity at C/20 rate (20 hr)

    Here's the Toyota part number information (prices and locations are USA):

    1. Toyota / GS Yuasa S46B24R
    Battery
    28800 28800-21171 45Ah 29lbs (13Kg) 1-Yr Warranty $228 (Amazon),
    NA (McGeorge - VA), $219 (203 + 16 Shp) (ToyotaPartsDeal), $239 (Toyota List)
    (
    BATTERY & BATTERY CABLE. For 2009 Toyota Prius Hatchback Touring HYBRID | Toyota
    picture 2 of 4)
    (http://www.gs-yuasa.com/en/products/pdf/Automotive-MadeinJapan.pdf)

    11. Larger Battery Tray to convert smaller S34B20R to larger S46B24R and Hold Down Clamp
    Tray, Battery
    74431 74440-47020 $20 (eLearnAid), $36 (eBay 322995958745), $26 (Amazon),
    $14 (McGeorge - VA), $15 (ToyotaPartsDeal), $21 (Toyota List)
    Clamp, Battery Hold Down
    74481 74480-47010 $8.17 (McGeorge - VA), $8.69 (ToyotaPartsDeal), $12 (Toyota List)
    (
    BATTERY CARRIER. For 2009 Toyota Prius Hatchback Touring HYBRID | Toyota
    )

    Go to this list, post # 1, and scroll down to the section titled:
    "12V Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) battery, JIS Type 46B24R (NS60) (BCI Group No. 51*), Terminal - JIS Post / Pencil Post"

    (https://priuschat.com/threads/batteries-list-prius-2nd-gen-2004-2009-april-2018.194709)

    No. 1 to No. 10 are a list of drop-in 12V batteries for the Toyota OEM S46B24R battery in the USA. You can get the Toyota or you should be able to find batteries similar to the others such as Bosch part numbers 51-440BAGM or S6535B or the Optima DS46B24R.

    2. Bosch
    Platinum Series Advanced AGM
    51-440BAGM 45Ah 29lbs (13Kg) 4-Yr Replacement Warranty $163 (190 - 38 + 11) installed, $167 (190 - 38 + 15 Core) in store (Pep Boys)
    (https://www.pepboys.com/product/details/647478)
    S6 High Performance AGM
    S6535B 46Ah 29lbs (13Kg) 4-Yr Replacement Warranty $190 (Summit Racing)
    (S6 AGM Car Battery | Bosch Auto Parts)

    4. Optima
    YellowTop Deep Cycle
    DS46B24R 38Ah 4.6mohm 26lbs (12Kg) 3-Yr Replacement Warranty $220 (eLearnAid), $216 (eBay), $238 (Amazon),
    $238 installed $238 +15 Core in store (Pep Boys), $238 +18 Core (o'Reilly), $238 +18 Core (Napa), $240 +18 Core (AutoZone), $238 +22 Core (Advance/CarQuest), $238 +12 Core (Batteries Plus), $238 (List)
    (DS46B24R | OPTIMA Batteries)

    Britprius is an advocate for using higher capacity (in Ah) batteries that are not exactly drop-in replacements.

    If you want a non drop-in replacement with a higher Ah capacity, scroll further down to a section titled:
    "Non-standard replacement for 12V AGM VR sealed lead acid (SLA) battery."

    If you want to try one of these, pay attention to the note:
    Not drop-in. All need terminal adapters to convert from 6mm F11/F14/IT/C, 8mm F10/F12/F15, or NB/Flag posts to JIS Posts. Requires larger battery tray for S46B24R, Toyota P/N 74440-47020. All will fit, but may be tight, and battery compartment cover may sit up slightly.

    See this thread for his installation:
    "Fitting mobility 12volt AGM battery."
    (https://priuschat.com/threads/fitting-mobility-12volt-agm-battery.122920)
     
    #14 Petrodollar, Jul 15, 2018
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Well, does the Prius become READY now; and if so, are all warning lights now off? Can the car be driven without further problems?
     
    #15 Patrick Wong, Jul 15, 2018
  16. Kindke

    Kindke Member

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    Yes car becomes READY now without issue,

    no warning lights are displayed on the dashboard and everything seems fine. Car feels a bit more perky and it makes me think alot more stuff is running off ( or atleast depends on ) the 12v battery than we realise.

    Hopefully no damage has been done and no more issues will crop up , but so far so good.

    Going to try and complain to Toyota and see if they offer any goodwill gesture given they had serviced the car 2 weeks prior and told me everything was fine. A simple voltage check of the 12v would of flagged it as near-death.
     
    #16 Kindke, Jul 16, 2018
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  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    unfortunately, most dealers don't understand electricity.:unsure:
     
    #17 bisco, Jul 17, 2018
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