Mt 2012 PiP didn't start this morning nor would it charge. I was running late for work this morning so I didn't get a chance to troubleshoot yet, but I'm hoping I just left the lights on (even though I thought I have the lights set on auto) and the 12V battery died. Has anyone had a similar situation? If the 12V battery dies, does that mean I cannot charger the larger battery for EV? Nothing turned on when I tried to start the car.
Is jump starting a Prius PiP the same as any normal car (Don't have the manual with me since I'm at work, but will check it out once I get home).
yes, you can jump the battery of from under the hood. DON'T CROSS THE CONNECTIONS! sorry for yelling.
Just for clarification, what do you mean by hatch? Do you mean the trunk? Is that where one would normally jump the 12 volt battery? I just downloaded a PDF version of the PiP manual and I only see mention of jump starting under the hood using the "exclusive jump starting terminal." Also what battery charger would you recommend? I'll sift thru the reviews, but was wondering if you had a preference since I haven't even thought about this before. Amazon.com: 10amp battery charger
yes, the trunk is the hatch as in hatchback. if the battery is dead, the hatch won't pop electrically. but you can crawl in the back and there is a manual release. if you can get charging cables of charger to the hood, there is a jump starting terminal. it's plastic on one side of the positive terminal, so make sure you're connected to the metal. if you go with a charger, get the right size (search here unless the owners manual has it) you don't want to charge the 12v too fast, you can damage it.
If after you jump start your car and everything is operational, let the vehicle be in "ON" mode to recharge the AUX battery for a while. If you decide to recharge the AUX batt, you must disconnected the positive lead from the vehicle and then start charging for several hours. You can NOT recharge the AUX batt while connected to the vehicle, you may fry the on board computers, navigation or radio systems. I seeing it happened.
I accidentally must have left my dome light on when I went away for 10 days. (I know I went to get something from the car while it was dark before I left). Anyway, when I returned the car was dead...wouldn't start, lights wouldn't work, nothing when I pushed the start button. When plugging in the charger, nothing happened. I connected a 12v external charger to the car (via the underhood connection on the fuse box) and it started right up. I re-plugged in the EVSE and it started charging right away. NOTE TO TOYOTA. This is a bit of a silly "the way its always been" design. It is a plugin car. It has a big traction battery. We shouldn't have to go through this...make the car more fail safe in two ways. First, it would be best if you couldn't drain the 12v battery by leaving something on for hours and hours. Second, but even if you do there should be some easy way to manually cause the traction battery to give the 12v battery some charge (in PIP and all hybrids). Third, we have a PIP, we have a power source, we have a cable. Why make us go to all the trouble of connecting a 12vdc source to the 12v battery? Be creative...fix this shortcoming. In conventional gas cars the 12v battery is the only way do get juice to start them (short of a push start). With a big traction battery and possibly a electrical connection via the EVSE we shouldn't need to "jump start" with 12v cables anymore (except as a final last resort). And it isn't a safety issue...anything can be made safer than 12v jumper cables where people don't know plus to plus, minus to minus, connecting order, connect one minus to the car body, etc. Mike
YES! It's just bizarre that all of the traction battery cars have these small 12v batteries that completely disable the car when they die due to some parasitic drain after a few hours or even days. The cars are periodically waking up to check one thing or another. I would think they could add an ocassional 12v battery check and be able to tap the big battery to recharge it if needed. They should also set a warning code so the driver gets notified the next time they get in and possibly a telematics push notification could be sent to drivers via an SMS message to their phones as well.
I inadvertently left my hatch ajar and didn't notice the warning light or the inside roof lights on lucky in was only for a few hours, but when I started it up in EV the ice came on right away, I guess it had to charge the 12 volt battery.
I don't understand why Toyota did not implement some type of power kill timer when the door/hatch is accidentally left open for an extended amount of time. Especially since we have such a small 12v battery. Most cars will turn off lights after a certain amount of time to prevent battery drain.
whew... jumped my car from the under the hood and everything is working again. It looks like i may have left my light on. My headlight switch was set to the "on" position, which I had previously thought was "auto" this whole time since my headlights usually turn off when I lock my car via the remote. I'm guessing I forgot to hit the lock button after locking so my lights stay on until the battery dies (can anyone confirm this?). In the manual, it states that there should be an "auto" position for the headlights but there doesn't appear to be one in my PiP base model. Am I overlooking something here?
A warning: If you have drained the 12v to the point that itwillnot go into Ready, you have injured the 12v. You should leave the car in ready for at least 8 hours so it can charge from the traction battery. OR: Go thru the proper technique with a off board 12V charger. If you don't go thru this, you could have problems down the line.
Take it as a sign that the moderators are playing whack-a-mole with a certain banished member, who repeatedly reappears under new names. (I missed the squabbles causing the original banishment, so don't know any of the backstory, but have seen others in similar situations.)
My "two cents " to this discussion: I have discovered by using a current tester that the 12 volt battery charges when the traction battery charges. If you are in the habit of charging just before you drive (as the owner's manual suggests), you should always have at least some charge in the 12 volt battery. There is another rule which works. Keep the car locked. The car will not lock with a door or hatch which is ajar. Your smart key will let you into a locked car without any fuss. I don't have any trouble with my 12 volt battery. As for Toyota assuring that the 12 volt battery can not be run down, this requires that all sources of power be cut off when the car is stopped. Actually, the 12 volt battery exists so that drains on the traction battery CAN be shut off. There are all sorts of things like the clock, the smart key system which eliminates the need for a key and all manner of electronics which require some juice which we would miss if they were shut off. The traction battery could be left on but that would affect the available range. There is no simple solution or it would be in effect. It is amazing how nearly "bullet proof"our car is even though it is one of the most complex.
