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Prius plugin won’t start - after new 12v battery

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Ruben van Leer, Dec 2, 2018.

  1. Ruben van Leer

    Ruben van Leer New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2018
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    Location:
    Amsterdam
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Business Edition
    Hi Prius lovers,

    Last year I bought a Prius plugin from 2013 driven 80k km. Became a fan of the car immediately, but;

    4 weeks ago the 12v battery drained over night 5 times within 2 weeks. I went to the Toyota dealer garage, twice. Second time they replaces the battery with an official Toyota battery.

    After paying more then $400 total (the battery cost around $200), I thought our problems where over. We drove 2 weeks without problem. Charged it once or twice, also parked it with putting it in the charger four times at least. And couple of days of not driving.

    Suddenly the car won’t start again... argh... Clueless... And I can’t seem to find similar cases online.

    Earlier in the garage they did read 2 errors from the main-computer in the Prius: error coming from the hybrid-computer and an error from the plugin-computer. So now I’m afraid the problem causing the 12V to drain over night is way bigger then the small battery itself... ;-0

    Who can give advice where to start looking for solutions for this problem? Or better, ever experienced something like this?

    And, did the official Toyota dealer garage did a wrong job in replacing the old battery with a new one, dsould I still pay for the new one? The old one they measured before and seemed all good - gave all green light... So if the problem is coming from another source, I shouldn’t have to pay for the previous fix / new battery / hours of work, I assume...?!

    Any help, would help!

    Thanks in advanced.
     
    #1 Ruben van Leer, Dec 2, 2018
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2018
  2. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Two
    Welcome. Sorry you're having problems with what is normally a fantastic car.

    They should have told you what errors they read. That might be vital information.

    I would guess you have already made sure that there are no lights or anything else staying on after you shut off the car.

    Perhaps the previous owner installed something that is draining the 12V battery? I would look under the dash, under the hood, and in the cargo area for something that doesn't look like factory wiring.
     
    Pluggo, EyePrime and bisco like this.
  3. EyePrime

    EyePrime Active Member

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    Location:
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    I say you do what jerrymildred said and if you get no error codes or cant scan the codes you should go to your toyota dealership, tell them about your problem and show your record of buying the battery from them and if they charge you to fix it, tell them that they should pay for it.
     
    jerrymildred likes this.
  4. kenmce

    kenmce High Voltage Member

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    Not sure what the plug in computer is. Don't panic yet. Can you find out what the error codes were?


    Delicate question. A weak 12 volt battery can generate odd error codes. Replacing a battery that keeps dying is pretty routine. It may not have fixed everything but was a reasonable way to try.


    Did the dealer check that the charging system is charging the starter battery correctly?
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    congrats, and welcome to priuschat!(y)

    hopefully, we'll get you sorted
     
  6. Ruben van Leer

    Ruben van Leer New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2018
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    Location:
    Amsterdam
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Business Edition
    Thanks all,

    The codes are:
    P2511 - 149HV Hybrid Control / power relay
    sensor circuit interrupted
    P2511 Plug in control - reset detected

    Update:
    AAA came and started the V12 and did a test if the battery leaked. No leaking, seemed all good. BUT when we plugged in the power cord again, from the power pole (default ones in Amsterdam city) the AAA-device showed indeed a power leakage...! So when parked charging, the car seems to get into some sort of feedback loop internally, which costs the V12 battery to give power and drain... (and there seemingly is NO WAY the power poles in Amsterdam can take energy from a car, so it MUST be an internal error within the car) argh...

    Coming Tuesday I'm bringing the car to the official Toyota dealer. And will come back here with an update.

    Thanks again and till soon![/QUOTE]
     
    bisco likes this.
  7. bractar

    bractar Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    I'm having a very similar issue, I haven't got my car tested yet but I was wondering if you could share more information. How were you able to solve the issue? Thanks!
     
  8. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    The poster was last on the forum 2-1/2 years ago. An update would have been nice. :rolleyes: