Prius Dead After Sitting 1 week

Sounds like the car was not shut OFF. If so then a tow to a dealer is in your near future. Bummer.

After this is resolved, get in the habit of always locking the car no matter where you park it. If it is not OFF or if something is ajar it will warn you with a long beep.

 

Where are you attaching the trickle charger? If you are going through the cigarette lighter/power ports, it won't work.

And a trickle charger may actually have enough juice to start the Prius if you follow the friendly owner's manual.

 

A very low or dead 12 vdc battery will cause very odd system behavior.

You can hook the charger to either the underhood jump point, or directly to the 12 vdc battery. The underhood jump point is easiest.

I have posted in previous threads the TSB regarding how to properly charge the Prius 12 vdc battery. Toyota does recommend an automatic battery charger - one with their own brand of course! - at the 10 amp setting.

A 12 vdc battery that has been in a dead state for a few days or longer, will need a lot more than 2-3 amps before accepting charge. For some truly dead batteries (Lights left on all day) I have had to use a 60 amp setting

 

I was out of town for three weeks and forgot to turn off the sks. When I got back, the sks was turned off but my car was able to start fine, you might want to get the battery checked. just my 2 cents.

 

Remove the negative battery lead from the battery terminal, leave the charger connected directly to the battery for a few hours, reconnect the battery and try again.
Good luck.

 

Hey all (just joined the forum today to ask a similar question):

Our 2006 Prius was completely dead in the airport lot when we returned from an 8 day holiday. I didn't disable the smart key (didn't realize I could do such a thing) -- was this probably the cause of the problem?

Probably unimportant sidenote: Initially, I thought that we had somehow in the rush to catch our plane left the car running in park and run out of gas in addition to killing the battery. Because when I tried to jump, the gas was flashing on E and as soon as we disconnected the booster the car would go dead again. We ended up going and getting a gallon of gas (the SFO parking staff was super friendly and gave us a lift in addition to the jump) and putting it in the car; afterwards, it jumped right up; but the gas was at more than 3/4 a tank. I say this is probably unimportant because the only rational explanation I can come up with is that I just somehow did something wrong during the first few jump attempts and the gallon of gas was just a placebo. But if anyone knows more about it...

 

More time on the jumping car allowed more charge into the 12 volt battery which kept it alive. Extra petrol probably had no affect but it was fun going for it.

 

Same problem here. On the Friday afternoon before Xmas, I gassed up and washed the Prius and parked it while we took the other vehicle on vacation. We returned 10 days later. During that time, it was in our garage. It's not heated but there are no noticeable drafts or leaks. The day I parked it, it was about 40 F. Most days the temperature hovered around 25/10 F with a couple nights dropping below 0. The day after we returned, I went out to start it and nada. Before we left, I checked the manual and this site about what to do before leaving the car parked for a while, especially in the cold. Even though I think I turned off the SKS (messed with it so many times this trying to see if I did leave it on), I can't be 100% sure that I did looking back. Both sets of keys came with us, so there was no problem with keys left in the house (though it's at least 20 ft from the garage to the nearest wall of the house anyway.). Nothing else was left on or open.

So when my wife brought the other car back home that evening, I hooked her up and jumped it. I left it running a while to try to give it a recharge because I didn't have a charger and it was too late to try to take it for a long trip. The next morning, it was still dead, so I jumped it again, but with no luck. I was busy yesterday with other household emergencies, so I called for a tow this morning. The driver came out and put a battery pack on the front terminals and started it right up. I drove it for about a half-hour on back roads to a nearby dealer (not Burnsville) to try to warm it up and charge. When I got there I parked for a short time in the lot, then restarted. I figured it was fine, but I thought I should have them check it out since I was already there.

They did and told me my battery was frozen and it wouldn't be covered under the warranty (only has 30k on it). I was diligent and did my research, I take good care of the car but there was nothing in the manual about this. I said this to the assistant (to the?) service manager, and he mumbled something about the ECU and how I should have put a trickle charger on it if I leave it more than a couple days, and sorry we can't help you, but we can order you a trickle charger over at the parts desk in addition to charging you $300 for the battery+labor. Even if I did leave the SKS on, I noticed that the manual says it shuts down after 14 days with no activity. Why isn't it 7 days if this is such a big drain? Why aren't there more warnings about the Prius 12V battery being more susceptible to freezing in colder climates. In the section on winter driving, it gives you tips about other things, but doesn't tell you to do anything special if you leave it for more than a couple days.

Yes, this is my first winter in Minnesota. But I grew up in Michigan, and had visited this part of the country several times for work and family, so I know what cold does to cars and batteries. And had I planned to be gone longer than two weeks, or had Toyota told me that I needed to do it no matter what, I absolutely would have crawled in back and unhooked the 12V. Maybe I should have been more proactive, but I also get the feeling that the dealer was not willing to take the hit on the warranty. I know that TMS pays for the dealer for the repair but not at the full retail rate. I think someone saw the out of state (warm state) plate and thought they could get full price out of me. They did, but we're taking it up with TMS Customer Service to try to get a more complete, if not our preferred response.

If anyone has words of comfort, advice, support, or shame, please feel free to share. Thanks.

 

An undamaged battery should not freeze sitting in the cold for 10 days, so either it was defective, or it had been previously damaged (drained), or something was left on or open. Kinda hard to tell now from this distance...

Did you lock the car before leaving? Had the battery ever been drained before?

 

How old is the car? If it is 3 or 4 years old that is about the life of a lead acid starting battery anyway.

 

When a lead acid battery is chronically undercharged, and then discharged and kept in that condition, there will be enough sulfation that your best bet is to just replace

I was having trouble with my Prius the first winter. The cold temps, Max Heat, and constant electric defrost all took their toll on the 12 v battery. It got to the point that when I powered up in the underground parking, the auto headlights would badly dim once the coolant pump turned on

I had picked up a few VDC battery minder's at auction, and was going away for over a month on business. I took the battery out of the Prius, carted it up to my suite, and left it plugged into the VDC the entire time I was gone

I had to return early due to a family tragedy, but was gone almost 3 weeks. When I put the battery back in and powered up, the auto headlights barely flickered.

I rigged up a harness that I run out the rear hatch when parked. I'm now in the habit of plugging in the VDC whenever the car is parked at the house, especially overnight.

Original battery, still strong

I also use a battery minder on my FJ, and noticed it cranks much faster.

 

Let's face it, some dealers just don't give a s***.

A badly discharged lead acid battery will freeze, which is almost always fatal to the battery. I also had to take steps to keep my Prius battery properly conditioned.

Some folks appear to have no issues, others have a lot of 12 v issues. The PDI has been covered in a TSB that warns how essential it is to ensure the 12 vdc is properly charged before delivery or after major servicing. That tells me the constant voltage charge source will only keep up a battery in good charge and condition

The TSB states an automatic battery charger set at 10 amps is to be used. The charger is branded Toyota but made by Associated Manufacturing.

If the forum bugs are now fixed, I would like my attachment restored so I could attach the PDI pdf

 

Jayman, which VDC Battery Minder model do you have? There are few to choose from and I'm not sure which one to get.
Thanks.