I have a dead (completely 100 percent dead, no power from anywhere period) 2002 Prius in my driveway. Please advise if you think the following order of operations is correct: 1. 12V battery (I found a 28800-21050 on Toyota Parts Deal for $175) - - does the battery come fully charged?? 2. Need to run the fail codes so I can contact Dorman about the warranty & hopefully get another traction battery. Before the car completely died I got the Triangle of Death but then I went on vacation for 2 weeks and when I came back I discovered it was completely Dead Fred. Even though we live in Houston, the 4th largest city in America, I have been unable to find a mechanic versed in Prius and I absolutely do not trust the Toyota dealers around here (another long story). I have marginal mechanical abilities but plenty of smarts, gumption, time, and resources to work on the car myself and with the help of my boyfriend. He and I replaced the traction battery (long story but that has been done 3x) so we are reasonably aware in what we are getting ourselves into. Last issue...I do not have a Windows laptop, I am a Mac person. I believe I need to buy a ScanGauge II and that I will need a Windows 32-bit o/c laptop to run the software? I have a 2004 4Runner so getting the Prius up and running is not a big priority. This is going to be an adventure! I love a good challenge!
Yes, new 12v battery does come fully charged. There are several members that use Mac as well. They just used a program to mimic a Windows OS. I am sure they will chime in, Patrick??? No need to get the scanner unless it is Prius aware. Just be patient and we will guide you. The MiniVCI you want is either on Amazon "FOTGA" brand or eBay.
The above is what most people here use to pull codes. I only used it once, on my Windows XP laptop. Battery should come fully charged, but lots of people say they end up getting them and finding them at 12.2 volts or so...which is a little low. That is not only Toyota, but pretty much any of the brands. Personally, I would get the battery from a local Toyota dealer. I know you said you don't like your local dealers but you probably won't pay much more and it will be much less of a hassle if there is a problem with the battery, now or three months from now. Lots of dealers have parts coupons on their web sites.
Have you tried jumping the 12V aux. battery from another 12V source? (car battery or jump-pack) That should at least get your system up and running, and from there you might be able to start looking at codes. Good luck, and hope this helps - Wil
I don't think I did. It's been dead since July so I don't remember and by now it's probably a lost cause too. Right before the Triangle of Death happened I had to jump start the 12V a few times. There's definitely something going on that is sucking the life out of the batteries. Maybe because I didn't drive the car every regularly is my guess but I really don't know. Great information guys! I will call the dealer tomorrow and see what they want to charge me for a battery and look into the Windows mimic on my Mac and order that FOTGA thing. According to Amazon it might be mid-March before it's delivered. Where's it coming from? Mars???
From US shipper, my bad, I may have caused a problem with them because it would not work on my 1996 Lexus and I complained. Sowwy. Well, here is a link to known good MiniVCI, supposedly the original knockoffer . The VCI is pretty good quality considering it is a knockoff and it also works with all versions of Windows, again this will not work for pre-2000 Toyota, Lexus or Scion. Mini VCI OBD2 Diagnostic Tool Scanner for Toyota Prius C V PHV RAV4 EV Rush T100 | eBay +1 try jump starting and let the ICE idle to recharge the HV battery, if the engine shut down, GOOD, keep it on READY to help charge your 12v battery but if you did not crank it since July, your 12v Battery is DEAD beyond recovery. Again So Sowwy. Once you get the miniVCI, you can determine better what the real issue is/are and confirm if HV Battery is in fact dead.
Be very careful replacing the 12V battery. The Positive terminal goes towards the seat and the negative towards the bumper. If you reverse the polarity the $1000 vehicle controllers and inverter will try to protect the $10 fuses by burning up first. There have been folks who successfully replaced all the burnt-out parts but it is not fun. Also, there are two styles of battery posts. The original are relatively small Japanese terminals. You may get an SAE (aka., USA style) battery with larger posts. Any auto parts store can sell terminal conversion kits and ground cables. This is just a 'heads up'. Finally, at one time Toyota had a battery hold-down conversion kit to handle a different sized battery. This is an area not frequently discussed but I don't want you to be surprised. Bob Wilson
[Also, there are two styles of battery posts. The original are relatively small Japanese terminals. You may get an SAE (aka., USA style) battery with larger posts. Any auto parts store can sell terminal conversion kits and ground cables. This is just a 'heads up'. Finally, at one time Toyota had a battery hold-down conversion kit to handle a different sized battery. This is an area not frequently discussed but I don't want you to be surprised. Bob Wilson[/QUOTE] I recently removed the battery tray and put a size 51R in there. Fit fine. Of course it already had the terminal conversion to the normal, larger size posts. Cost me less than $100 from my local battery store.
