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2012 Prius wont start. need help / warranty advice.

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Ross kimball, Jan 6, 2014.

  1. Ross kimball

    Ross kimball New Member

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    Hello everyone. I purchased a 2012 prius with only 6,000 miles on it. The car was first sold in march of 2013.

    As of now the car has 7,000 miles and wont start ><.

    I live in colorado and we had -10 weather. The car was parked inside but it was still way below freezing. I went to get in my car and all i have is the check engine light. The dome light seems very dim like a dead battery.

    Couple questions: The car only sat for 3 days, is this normal to die this fast?

    Should I jump the car and see if it works normal?

    Should I have the car towed/jump and drive the car to a dealer to check it out?

    I have never experienced this from a newish car.

    Let me know what you guys think.

    Thank you all.
     
  2. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    More likely that the dome light remained on with out you noticed it and the AUX battery drained to a low level.
    You will have to jump the car with an external source under the hood, it being another car of an spare 12VDC battery.
    The main 12v for jumping purposes is located in the fuse box and it's cover with a red plastic cover and any exposed chassis point. The vehicle only needs a couple of AMPS in order to boot up the ECUs and make the vehicle operational.
    Yours is a very common problem.................
     
  3. Ross kimball

    Ross kimball New Member

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    Phew. I checked all the dome lights and they were all off. Anything else that is commonly left on?

    I will give it a jump and see what happens.

    Just for future reference, how long has people left their car without any driving and been able to drive without problems?
     
  4. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    So far it had been publish here in PC, 2 to 3 months with out the SKS feature enabled.
     
  5. xpcman

    xpcman Senior Member

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    Be very careful with a jump start. You can do extensive damage if you reverse polarity. They make jumper cables with polarity protection built-in. You also do not need to rev the engine on the second car since you only need enough amperage to boot the computers. The Prius high voltage "Traction Battery" supplies current to turn over the engine.
    The 12v battery is a weak point of the Prius. It's so small that it can be damaged by two or three total discharges. This is probably what happened to yours. A new battery would be your best bet.
     
  6. Ross kimball

    Ross kimball New Member

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    Do you think taking this to a dealer would be a good bet? Would this be covered in the warranty if a new battery was needed?
     
  7. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

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    Depending on the total mileage you have, bumper to bumper is still 36000 miles.
    You can take it as is to the dealer but, you will have to flat bed it to them in order to assess the problem the car is presenting. If not covered by the warranty, you will be facing a $400 invoice.
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    do the jump start from under the hood if possible. make sure the hatch closes tightly, that can sometimes keep the domelite on.
     
  9. Ross kimball

    Ross kimball New Member

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    Thank you for your help everyone. I will give the jump start a shot. If something else comes up I will let everyone know.

    Have a great day everyone.
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    you to ross, all the best!(y)
     
  11. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    Do be exceedingly careful with the jump start. Jump starting errors have caused far too many owners some very expensive grief, in the $5k range.
     
  12. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    Sorry, but it's not a warranty issue.
    The OEM 12-v (Aux) battery in the Prius is notoriously weak, and you should consider replacing it with an upgraded (i.e. Optima) battery.
    It's also possible that your SKS is tugging on the battery a little if you keep the fob near the car in your garage...and it's below freezing.

    Add to this....somebody bought the car before you did, and loved it so much that they traded it in after 6,000 miles.
    Sooooo...it's possible that the battery suffered from a rough first few thousand miles.

    Replace the battery and you should be just fine.
    DON'T have the battery replaced at the dealership, or they will put another OEM battery into the car and you'll be doing it all over again a couple of winters from now. ;)

    GOOD LUCK!
     
  13. Ross kimball

    Ross kimball New Member

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    Thanks for the advice. I will attempt to jump the car (and be very careful to not reverse the polarity). If the same issue comes up sooner or latter then I will jump to an Optima.
     
  14. Steve42

    Steve42 New Member

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    Having the same problem and have been unable to jump the car despite carefully following the instructions. Is there any special technique to doing this jump other than hooking the clamps to the proper locations? Do I need to wait a few minutes to let the system boot up before trying to turn it on?
     
  15. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    Before attempting to jump start a Prius, READ the MANUAL, or jump start the battery directly.
     
  16. Ross kimball

    Ross kimball New Member

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    Mine was dead. I followed the directions in the manual and it started right away.

    How many times has it died before? How long has it been since you drove the car? anything else going on before the battery died?
     
  17. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    a defective battery can prevent a jump start from working.