2010 II 12 Volt Battery Dead After 17 Days of Parking

should of put optima yellow tops in.

 

My guess is that they expected considerable battery drain to occur in the long transit from Japan.

 

Interesting.
My brother just called me. He came home after 6 days to his 1 month old 2010 and it too was dead.
Can't get into the trunk to jump the aux battery as there is no key and absolutely no power.
Toyota sending a flat bed to take it to the shop.

This is not a very friendly car under a battery dead situation.

 

Should be able to get into the car with the mechanical key, open the hood and jump start it from the connection there. Owner's manual pages 541 and 543 through 545.

 

We just returned from a long (21 day) trip, and had no problem starting our Prius IV. The car was unlocked, in the garage.

 

Geez, tell your brother to read the manual. As previously stated, you can get in with the key in the remote, then pop the hood and jump from there. It's not rocket science.

 

After reading all these posts I just made sure that my handy jumper cables are in the storage compartment in the back. Heck, growing up I had cars that had to be jump started if they sat more than a day! The Prius is so easy to jump, not even an issue to me. I taught my wife how to jump a car and change a tire as part of our marital contract. Taught her how to jump the Prius and made her practice. She could now care less if it goes dead either. Empowerment!

 

Have them give you the service bulletin and please scan it and put it here in the forums. Otherwise, I'll say that your dealer is lying. There are no instructions to shut things down in the manual, though it specifically mentions that all lights are shut off after 30 minutes and the SKS shuts off after 3 days. (Did you leave your key in the car?)

Many of us have left our 2010's for longer than that with no problem.

 

Amen and how many times must this be stated in 2 threads? Alas, a small number of people report the problem and the fear. What are they doing that the rest of us have avoided so far?

 

I have a 2007 Prius (with GPS and bluetooth). Recently - ~ 3 months ago - it wouldn't start after being in my garage overnight. I got a friend to help me jump it, and took it into the dealer; they kept it overnight and told me that they couldn't find anything wrong with the aux battery. Over the next month it occasionally wouldn't start: all the lights on the instrument panel would come on, including the big red '!' but the car wouldn't be able to shift into drive. Leaving it for a few minutes and trying again would resolve the problem.

One month ago, it wouldn't start at all, even with a helpful neighbour jumping it: lights would come on on the instrument panel, but the car couldn't move into drive. I ended up having to get it towed to the dealer (and got them to pay for it), and after keeping it overnight they told me that the aux battery was fine, was holding charge well within normal parameters. Their conclusion was that I didn't drive the car enough for the aux battery to charge up.

My question is: has anyone else heard of this? I drive ~13 miles to work each way, which is some distance. This week the car wouldn't start at work, and is now completely dead (I thought it may have been the battery in the key fob, and brought in the - unused - spare fob, but no response at all); the car can't even be locked using the switch on the inside of the driver's door. If I go back to the dealer they'll charge me for the tow, and probably tell me that I need to drive it more. This seems ridiculous for a car that's designed to be fuel efficient!

 

There have been problems with short drives and the 12V battery. I would think that yours is long enough, but maybe not. Either way, it appears that your 12V battery may be getting weak. I would test it or replace it.

Tom

 

I have been working on this problem for five year as I have had these many problems in my 2005. And just today had left some meetings at US manufacture and found a few ways to "repair" the toyota prius 12 volt battery mistakes those engineers are not seeing how they messed up the producton of these items. Now since I have expeirenced these 12 volt battery problems now after 4 years of driving an 2005 anad I only have 28 thousand on it now! Any, soon I will let you know how my kit to repair the ongoing battery dain outs the prius people have become mad about and it has continued into. These battery problems will plague prius parties and as each day goes by and each prius with a battery becomes a day older the possiblities that they just have a "massive battery compication wich will keep you anxious everyday you are out there drving that amp heavy prius 1,2 & even the present 3rd generation.

 

In case anyone is interested here is a site 12 Volt (12v) Toyota Prius Auxilary Battery for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 with installation kit and free shipping that will sell you an Optima Yellow Top with an installation kit for a 2010 Prius, $159 free shipping. I have not bought one of these and don't know anyone who has but it sounds OK and I thought I might give it a try if (when) I need a new battery. I think others have used the Optima in the Gen2 and it should work fine.

 

I believe the TSB has already been provided (see Post #6 or, better yet, Post #12) and discussed in this thread.

 

I am a relativley new and ignorant Prius 2010 II owner. I was away for 7 days and came back to my dead Prius and had to enlist friends to jump start it. A colleague who got the car the same time as me was away for 14 days and had no problems with her Prius.
I will be going away for a month soon and need info/help in disconnecting the battery - the instructions in the manual looks pretty complicated to me. And could anyone tell me where I could get one of those portable jump start kit? Thanks.

 

If this a repeat I apologize in advance:

Quote from the 2010 manual:
"However, if the vehicle is left parked for a long time the hybrid battery will slowly discharge. For this reason, be sure to
drive the vehicle at least once every several months for at least 30 minutes or 10 miles"

 

That quote makes perfect sense and that's how it should work. Anyone who drives the car once a month for a half hour or so should not have a dead battery if the system is properly designed. Problems could be due to insufficient charging capacity, sneak circuits that draw down the battery when the car is off, or Toyota is buying a lot of bad batteries, or all three.

Toyota really needs to look at this problem and come up with a solution, but don't hold your breath. Their modus operandi seems to be ignoring problems unless they think they will result in massive law suits.

 

I had a Gen 1 for 5 years and I also measured .04 A off current. This is about 1 AH per day, but it certainly wouldn't be alive more than 20 days. We are retired and go on long trips two or three times a year in our RV. I solved the problen by buying a 12V, 50A quarter-turn switch of the type used to disconnect RV house batteries. I mounted it on the 12V clamp and wired it in series with the ground lead. This was easier than unbolting the ground lead.
There is a possibility that the .16 A might reduce in a few days due to the time-outs mentioned in the manual.
Incidentally, I had to replace this battery twice in 5 years. I used AGPs from WestCo which are a lot cheaper than an OEM Toyota. They are made in the US to replace Mazda Miata OEMs. They needed an adapter on the posts, which are standard US type.