My wife has a prius c and the 12 volt battery is weak. What is the best battery to put back in the car. The battery that's in her car now read 11.5 in the morning after setting all night. When the car is in the ready it goes up to 14.2. so it just a matter of time before it fails
If the car sits for a week or longer without being used it's fairly normal for the battery to lose a bit of its charge... Before you spend money on a battery for a new car, I suggest getting a trickle charge and periodically charge the battery up when car is not being used. You also might want to keep a close eye on anything that could be draining the battery, like door not closing all the way sometimes, or perhaps an electronic accessory has been draining the battery via the cigarette lighter?
Took battery out of car charged it for 24 hours battery showed 12.9 volts after charge, 24 hours later 11.9 volts battery has a bad cell I am guessing. Never in my life have I own a car that is this hard to find a battery for . I do not want to go back to the dealer and buy a over priced battery. This battery has never been discharge I bought the car new had 6 miles on it when we pick it up. The winter here was coldest in 50 years maybe that's what done it in. Forgot to put in last post car is drove 6 days a week 85 miles a day
done it in? is this the new vernacular? how many miles on her? i think the dealer option with the new warranty is probably as good as any these days.
I concur that the battery is fading. Normal sitting battery should be at about 12.4 - 12.7 v. The driving profile of 6days/wk and 85mi/day would keep the battery charged. Though the battery is young the winter MAY have done it in. Perhaps the dealer could give you a prorated deal on a new one. I've seen the battery in mine, and it's pretty tiny, with tiny posts. Not sure if I could find one in normal battery loitering locations. May be a dealer-only thing, but my time to look has not yet occurred. I HAVE had to change the battery in the wifes 2009 Prius. I was unable to find one in the Omaha area on short notice and had to get one from the dealer. $200! It's a very robust and well made battery, fit 100% correctly, and has a vent tube fitting correct to the vehicle. But, DANG paying for that hurt. I'm just guessing, but the C's battery may also be hard to find and there might be a dealer visit in your future anyway.
The car has 45,000 miles. dealer want 209.00 for factory battery so I am going to try the DS46B24R optima battery only about a inch or so longer I will let ever body know when I get it if it fits in with out to much of a mod
I installed the optima DS46B24R with no problems at all. I had to resize the battery hold which took 2 min I took the bend out of the hold down in a vice that's it . The optima was one inch long than the Toyota battery $147.50 delivered to the front door. Sorry it took so long to get this posted I had been out of town till today. The optima battery is for the regular size prius Read more: http://priuschat.com/threads/prius-c-12v-battery.107770/page-2#ixzz326FiyWCq Follow us: @PriusChat on Twitter | PriusChat on Facebook
$209 from the dealership's not too bad. Considering how new the car is though, and you're saying that hasn't been any accidental drainings (lights left on), maybe the battery was weak even when you bought? They can sit around on dealers lot, or in transit, for long periods.
Now that 2012 Prius C are almost 4 years old, how many Prius C owners have needed a new 12 volt battery? Should one be proactive and replace the 12 volt battery sometime in 2016?
IMHO the sensible thing to do is to have the battery tested when your car is in for it's regular service. If there's an issue, replace it, otherwise just be glad that it's still hanging in there. Demands on the Prius C battery are pretty modest because it's never called upon to deliver hundreds of amps to drive the starter motor all by itself. So I wouldn't be surprised to see a longer lifespan than we're accustomed to in non-hybrid cars.
