We recently took our 2005 Prius (which we absolutely love) on a trip with a very large ice chest in the back full of ice and beverages. When we arrived at our destination I noticed that the cooler's drain plug was unplugged and melted ice water was coming out of it. Luckily I caught it early enough so that it wasn't that wet in the back of the Prius. I was just nervously wondering . . . If the car had remained in the sun long enough for the cooler to drain it's entire contents of melted ice water inside the car, - would this be any more of a problem in a Prius than it would be in a regular car? Is it possible that reaching for a "Jolt Cola" would ever become even more of a jolting experience?? - or that the Prius battery or anything else electrical could be damaged by that amount of water?
Path would be through the carpet, into the spare tire well (or the tray above it). Is there a drain path to the ground? Most have a drain. I think the battery is above that lip.
You may have had more of a problem with the modules back there than the battery. You have a couple SKS transmitters, and the backup power supply for the brakes. Then there's the aux battery....
I've heard of someone screwing up their backup power supply for the brakes by spilling about a gallon of some cleaning fluid back there. Cost a few hundred to replace, plus cost of labor. And it wasn't covered under warranty. You may want to be careful with stuff like that!
it would have to fill the spare tire well first before it got to anything important. But still not a good thing to do in any case.
Thanks to everyone for their input. There have been quite a range of responses - but I'm sure it doesn't do the Prius any good to have a lot of water in the back, even if it's not fatal. I'll try to remember to make sure the cooler's drain plug is securely closed in the future - even when I'm in a big rush to get out on the road. - Lefty
if you look at the box that the capacitators are in it's off the floor of the trunk and to the right of the spare tire well. Even with the spare in there it'd still hold about 2-3 gallons of water maybe more then up to the battery which is lower that the ultra-cap box for the brakes. Even before it got to a level to get into the cap box it's going to go over the sill into the rear of the wheel arch and drain out there.
