Replacement of 12 volt battery by owner

Should be no problem, in particular if you use the stock battery.

One suggestion I'd make would be to hook up something like a low amp trickle charger, at the fuse box jumpstart terminal under the hood, prior to disconnecting the battery under the hatch floor. This will (hopefully) save settings the car would otherwise lose. Some are trivial: radio presets for example.

Other are more of a pain: it might unlearn the auto-up/down settings for the front door windows, for example. There is a re-learn procedure for that, buried somewhere in the manual, I think.

 

The battery is easy enough to change. Harder than a 1970 Chevelle but easier than a C4 Corvette.

 

Should you want a battery delivered to your door

Toyota Prius 12 Volt Auxiliary Battery with install kit for 2004 - 10

They have step by step instructions.

 

I don't think you'll need a tow 'cause your drivers window won't do auto-up, LOL. Don't get me wrong, these are all just trivial settings, that can be reset. And the windows for example, can still be run up or down, it's just you lose the one-touch of the switch to run it up automatically.

A cheap trickle charger is maybe $10, readily available. It's basically to maintain power to the computer's memory while you've got the 12 volt disconnected.

FWIW, the dealership might not bother with this keeping voltage supplied while disconnecting the 12 volt step. I know from experience: that's how I got familiar with getting the car to re-learn the window auto-up procedure.

 

that's funny, i also have been driving for 61 years, and i'm only 56! hope you don't need a battery for many years to come my friend!

 

The window auto-down/up is very simple. Roll window about 1/2 way down. Then roll up and hold the up control for a few extra seconds. I think it will beep at you when it's set.

Removing 12VDC power you will loose radio pre-sets, the auto window setting, and any DTCs stored in the computer. If your "check engine" light is not on there probably are none stored. Even if there are, if the problem persists after you install the new battery the DTCs will be re-entered. In other words it doesn't matter.

As stated above, you -can- connect a 12V power source to the "boost terminal" under the hood to keep all settings if you are concerned about it. I would recommend -NOT- using a "battery charger" for this. A "boost pack" or a 12V gel cell is best. Getting the polarity right -AT ALL TIMES- is very important! Chassis is -ve! It will be expensive if you get it wrong.

 

I have a 2005 prius and not sure if previous owner changed the battery. Car has 105k and runs fine. How do i check my voltage on battery and decide if i need to change it.

All battery options seem really expensive to me. My local dealer wanted 289+tax for battery only. Found oem toyota online for about 130+ shipping. Optima d51 is 180+tax for me. What do you guys think about costco d51 battery. They have D51 battery size for $57.99. It was 500 cold cranking amps and great costco warranty.

Has anyone used optima adapter kit ($20) & costco d51 battery?

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html - I would wait until the car is parked overnight before checking.

I don't know anything about Costco's D51 if it's a flooded acid type, see http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...er-day-3-starting-problems-2.html#post1243565 and http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ry-replacement-economy-method.html#post921228. Also, the terminals might be in the wrong location on the Costco battery.

$289 for the Toyota OEM battery is an extreme ripoff. There's been some discussion recently over the battery's price and a part # change. YMMV. Read http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...92860-new-12v-battery-part-28800-21171-a.html.

For that kind of money, I'd go w/the Optima D51 w/kit from elearnaid.

 

It's best to use a small 12 V battery to keep your presets, than a charger. Simple (cheap) chargers are designed to provide ~ 14 V output UNDER THE BATTERY LOAD and can have >20 V at no load. You will create "no load" situation after you disconnect old battery. Just my 2c.

- Alex

 

That might be right. I do remember I found two procedures on the net, and only one of them worked. Sorry, but I can't remember which. Also, I think I found it in the manual (2010). I'll have another look and post if I find it.

I used a 1/2 amp motorcycle battery charger last time I swapped out a battery, on a previous car, worked ok.

 

This might be the 3rd gen procedure:

(Cut and pasted from another thread: it was either this or the previous posted instruction that worked for me)

 

Not regularly that I've noticed. If a GenIII has a battery issue it is likely to be a fluke or someone who has accidentally drained their battery too many times. There doesn't seem to be an "issue" as of yet.

 

Good advice against using a battery charger.

Questions:-

• If I connect the positive terminal of another 12V battery to the Prius jump post and the negative terminal to a Prius engine ground to save the Prius settings, will the Prius battery cables be electrified so that I would need to cover/insulate the ends of the Prius battery cable ends for safety?
• If the answer is yes to the above, does this mean that you should not connect an outside 12V source to the jump post when installing the Optima D51 battery that requires replacement of the positive battery cable end and the negative battery cable? Or is it OK to change the cable and cable end with an outside 12V source connected as long as you do not allow the cables to touch each other or a grounded part of the car?

Thanks.

 

Mine died.
2010 G3 with 10K miles.

The only time in the last 15 years that a vehicle left me walking.
OK..It's a company car---so I didn't have the option of self repair, and I usually (almost always) carry jumper cables in my POVs, so if this were a personal vehicle, I probably would have made it back to the house.
What I found to be shocking was the price for a freekin Prius battery---especially one that couldn't make it through one year of service!!!

One of my motorcycles (Harley V-Rod) is notorious for having a very weak and very expensive battery that's only supposed to last a couple of years. Mine's still going after six----so I know how to take care of batteries.
I had a running gun battle with Fleet Ops about this problem (not my first!----they put 20W50 oil in my car once...), since I didn't think that there should be any way that a 12-volt battery should go Tango-Uniform (*) after seven months of service.

Well....guess what? All the ugly rumors about batteries for Priuses not lasting very long and being very expensive to replace----they're true!
They're just talking about the wrong battery!!!

(*) Tango-Uniform means 'toes-up'---at least in polite company....

 

I've used a trickle charger.
No sweat---depending on the charger.
You do have to be careful about the float voltage but most of the electronics in your car have DC-DC converters that will protect you against evil things.
If you have 8 flashlight batteries in a holder, or a small 12-v gel-cell-----that's the way to go.

The problem with using another automotive (motorcycle, lawnmower, boat, etc....) battery as a keep-alive source is the possibility of doing some unplanned arc-welding in your car if you touch the (+) battery lead of your car---now energized by the other battery, to the chassis, or other ground point while you're tinkering with the connectors.
Car batteries are designed to deliver a pretty hefty jolt of current, and if you give them any chance at all, they'll deliver! If you have an inline fuse holder (with a small fuse!) you can place that between your car and the other car as protection against the arc-welding thing. That'll work too.

Of course.....you could just replace the battery without retained power (that's what they did with mine! ) but you'll lose your MDF history, radio presets, etc.....

Your call.