My Pris 2010 would not start this morning. My wife tried to start the car this morning and it would not start. All the symbols on the display light up and would not go. She then tries to turn off the car, but the Triangle symbol with the exclamation mark within it lights up. The Start button light is red and the Park button flashes green. Added to that is the constant beep that you hear when you try to close the door with the keys in the car. I cannot even turn the steering wheel. I had to get it towed to the Toyota dealer and am was told that i would hear back tomorrow. Any insight into what what be wrong would be appreciated. And what to do to make sure that it would not happen again. Or what i should expect from the dealer. Thanks in advance.
That won't prevent the car going into READY, but it could be the cause of a drained (weak) 12v battery.
Ok.I received a call from the Toyota dealer this morning. They say the the battery was drained probably as a result of the back hatch not being closed properly as snow might have gone in between the locking mechanism. We had a snow blizzard on wednesday here in Nashua. But i havent opened the back hatch since last week. Also, my wife drove the car the day before with out any issues. If the hatch might have been partially closed, she would have noticed it. More over the battery was in the fully charged state when she parked the car the day before and she is sure about it. All the doors were locked and the head lights were also turned off. I am pretty sure that nothing was left open. I am at a loss of words here as to what the exact issue might be. The dealership says that they charged the battery fully and that it is holding the charge. They also looked for any leaks and found none. I am not sure what is happening and this is the second time that i have the problem with the battery discharge. I will ask the dealership for the actual codes that they might have recorded. What i also want to know is if i have to look for any particular codes that might say about a weak 12v battery. For the record, i purchased this car in June 2010. Any help or suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.
I guess if it happens again, insist that they replace the 12V battery. If it were me, I would hook up an ammeter to see if there was excessive draw. You would think the tech would have done this but who knows what goes on there. Hope things work out.
What is the mileage on your Prius? Also, I'm confused as why the dealer would say the back hatch was not closed. Seems that may be your dealer's standard comback for a drained battery! Happy Motoring, Tom
The battery level that appears on the dash board screens in the Prius is that for the Hybrid battery pack. The state of charge for the 12V battery is not part of the standard displays.
It is around 5000 miles. I got my car back yesterday. They did not provide me the DTC codes as i am pretty sure that they were lost as they had to jump start the car. I had a big argument as to why this would happen to a car twice in the last 3 months and that it is not even 1 year old. They could not give me a logical reason why it would happen. The Service manager kept on saying that something must have been open to drain the battery. I reminded him that i had this car for 7 months and that i make sure every night that nothing is open on the car. They gave me a phone no for Toyota and that i call them on monday. Seems that Toyota would send a technician down if they really feel there is a issue and that they would do a very detailed check on my car. Have to see how it goes.
IMO, somethings wrong in the electrical associated with the 12v battery. Definitely contact Toyota on Monday. If the Toyota technician doesn't help, contact your dealer's "Area Service Manager" from Toyota. These guys/gals are there for this kind of stuff. There's certainly a cause (and solution) for this battery's problem, just be persistent with your dealer and Toyota. I firmly believe your dealer and Toyota want to resolve this issue as much as you do! Happy Motoring, Tom
Ok. Here i go again. The battery died again last tuesday, the 25th of Jan, exactly 10 days after the battery died for the second time. I had it towed to the dealer the next day as i was busy at work. This happened twiced on consecutive days. Any way, i get a call from the dealer. I was informed that the battery was completely dead and that it would be replaced with a new one. I was not surprised as i was expecing this. They replaced the battery and had to test it due to the cold weather here in New England. They had to keep my vehicle for nearly a week as they also had to replace the MFD Panel. According to the dealer, Toyota had some complanints about this issue, but this was the first instance in around the New England area. Toyot had to do some research why this was happening and that delayed the repari. The weekend before, the MFD on the Prius started acting strange. The right side of the MFD which shows the mileage and other details would not show up when the car is started. I was out with my family going around shopping. I parked the car, did some shopping, started the car and surprise, the MFD display on the right side woul come up. I will attach some photos which shows what i mean. I finally got my vehicle last night as i could not pick it up early due to the snow storms battering the New England area. I was also told that i would get a refund for what i was charged the last time i had my car at the dealer. I am relieved that the problem is resolved. While i know that the dealer would not be reimbursed unless the battery is faulty, i would have been more happy if this issue was resoloved pro-actively. It would have saved me a lot of frustration and time. The case is still open with Toyota and i will be talking to the case manager next week or she might call me. I would appreciate any suggestions on what to do and keep in mind so that this issue would not occur again.
Known things that drain the battery: Interior light left on Vanity mirror light left on Car unlocked Key fob left very close to car Do you park in a garage or on the street? do you ever leave the car idle in "accessory" mode?
I have measured the parasitic current drain on the 12 volt battery. The background drain on the battery with all interior lamps off and the doors shut is about 0.020 amps (not much). There is no extra drain on the battery if the car is not locked. Leaving a door ajar, even with all interior lights off, will drain the battery (you can see my measurements in another thread). I have found that a ScanGauge II left plugged into the OBD2 port can infrequently keep the port "ON" and this is an average current drain of 0.6 amps. As to the comment by Spenumatsa that the 12 volt battery must have been bad because the dealer replaced it under warranty is likely not correct. Most batteries that get replaced under warranty are not defective. They are replaced because the dealer cannot come up with anything else to do. I worked for a company that made lead-acid batteries and our surveys of vehicle warranty returns justifies this statement.
I live in an apartment and if any lights are on, i can see it from my window. I make sure that nothing is left on when i lock the car.
The battery was replaced. If what you said is true, is there any way that i can findout if that is a replaced one? What does Dead Test Code 807P mean? And as i mentioned it before many times, I make sure that nothing is left on when i lock the car. And the key fob is far away from the car.
Did you know the little light in the boot (trunk) will come on if the boot lid is ajar? if the tonneau cover is pulled over, you can't see the light from outside.
I did not know about the light. But i make sure that the boot lid is secure. I am pretty sure it would not let me lock it if it is ajar. Which never happened.
I recently had the same problem with the right side of the MFD going blank. The two things associated with my problem were cold temperatures (mid-teens) and a bad battery that was replaced under warranty. The battery may have been bad when I bought the car new in December 2010, as the car had been sitting around since November of 2009 according to the plate in the driver side door frame.
