We'll be parking the '06 Prius at the airport for ten days and, naturally, we want to come back to a car that will be ready to go. In addition to turning off the smart key feature, the dealer also advised pulling the dome light fuse to further reduce battery drain. I have pulled that fuse and lost my mpg average, trip odometers, and a few other settings. My other fear is that it will be late at night and I will drop the fuse in a mud puddle or somewhere in the engine compartment and not be able to find it. So I guess my question is, would you pull the dome light fuse for 10 days in the parking lot? Thanks!
NO...you don't have to do that. Why would they make a car that feeble? I left my car outside for 30 days and it was fine. Go on your trip...your car will be waiting for you when you get back...ready to go.
I have left my Prius unattended and undriven for just over a month with no problems whatsoever. Shut off the SKS with that little switch under the dash, though even that might not really be necessary. Dealers know less about the Prius than the Pope knows about MS Vista.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Cheap! @ Nov 19 2006, 05:59 PM) [snapback]351900[/snapback]</div> I wish... we're about 110 miles from the airport we're flying out of.... and it's only for ten days.
Why the dome light in particular, I wonder?? Why would it ever come on in your absence? I'm curious what the dealer's rationale for telling you to remove this fuse could be. Unless the dealer has a weird sense of humor...they didn't tell you to wear tinfoil hats while driving it, did they?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Warwind @ Nov 19 2006, 08:11 PM) [snapback]351968[/snapback]</div> The dome light will not come on. Like I said, dealers don't know beans about this car.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Warwind @ Nov 19 2006, 11:11 PM) [snapback]351968[/snapback]</div> There's other stuff on that fuse. Look at the original post for a partial list. That being said, I wouldn't pull it for a 10 day absence. I've gone well past that without even turning off SKS. - Tom
Part of the dealer prep is to install the dome light fuse. This only implies that it is removed for transoceanic shipping. It always seemed to me that what they are guarding aginst is accidentally leaving a door ajar for the voyage. Not that there is current flow through that fuse when the car is correctly buttoned up. It would be very easy to test it with a digital meter though.
After pulling the dome light fuse, I lost the time on the clock, both trip odometers and the mpg average. I also noted that smart key is on that same fuse.
The clock must be running, so would pull a miniscule amount of current. I've left my Prius for 2-3 weeks (garaged, but in MN winter) with just SKS off, no problem. Beyond that time frame, I hook a Battery Tender up to it. rpm
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedPriusJim @ Nov 19 2006, 03:33 PM) [snapback]351837[/snapback]</div> Just do the following: Turn off SKS Move headlight switch to OFF position Move both dome lights to OFF position Move vanity light switch to OFF position and yes, leave the hatch light switch in the OFF position That should minimise drain.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RedPriusJim @ Nov 19 2006, 06:33 PM) [snapback]351837[/snapback]</div> Thats pointless, just shut off the smart key. In fact you don't have to even do that. Turning all those things to "OFF" also makes no difference since they do not operate when the vehicle is turned off. Just park and go.
I left our '05 Prius with the SKS off for 16 days when we went to Alaska and came home to a dead 12V battery. I can't think of anything else that needed to be shut off. Our battery died once before a few months earlier, when we left the HIDs on for about 4 hours. (got out of the car on the passenger side, due to parking). Maybe we have a weak 12V, but you can never be too careful. Turning off SKS should be enough.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(engunneer @ Nov 21 2006, 01:15 PM) [snapback]352724[/snapback]</div> There must have been something else wrong. Maybe a door ajar. Maybe a fault somewhere. I've left mine unattended for a month, only SKS off. Once I was gone for 2 weeks and forgot to shut off SKS. No problems either time.
If your concern is that you will lose the fuse, etc., just keep a bunch of the different fuses in your car. Lose one, just grab another one. They don't take up any room or weigh much. You should probably keep extras just in case, anyway. I have no experience of leaving the car for more than 10 hours, much the less 10 days. So on that end, I'll believe what everybody here has said. Dumb Mike
Old thread but there are spare fuses and holder places. On my 07 the top two fuses are spare 30a and 15a (dome is 15a). Of course then you have to take your mechanical key with you to unlock the drivers door to open the hood again. Or yes as Mike said put the fuse in the glove box.
We parked our Prius for 4 weeks at the airport, and the 12 V battery was dead after that. After the jumpstart, I did measure the current flow through the dome fuse when "everything" is shut down, sks off, doors closed etc. The current was 700mA intially, going back to 300 mA after some 20 seconds (it may go down further after a longer time, but as of now, I dont have a permanent wiring for the ammeter). There might be another reduction after a longer time. 300mA at a capacity of 45 Ah would allow for 150 h, corresponding to about 6 days on parking. So there is either something wrong with my Prius (I noticed that the radio illumination is faintly on when everything is shut down, so I see the 1s blink of the anti theft system as well as a faint green light on the radio knobs). In our case, pulling the dome fuse would have saved us from calling roadside assistance... If I were to park it again for a long time, I would definetly pull that dome fuse. Thanks!
The quiescent current draw should be ~30 mA or less once the car settles down. I suggest that you connect your digital multimeter in series with the 12V battery negative terminal, and position the meter so you can see it when the hatch is closed and doors are locked. If you find that your car is drawing substantially more current then perhaps it has a problem like a stuck relay. It is possible that other circuits besides the one protected by the DOME fuse are also consuming power. Toyota Europe has a technical information site, http://www.toyota-tech.eu/ which is similar to techinfo.toyota.com in the US. You can obtain the electrical wiring diagram there.
