New prius Prime with dead 12v battery this morning

I had to jump start my Prime this morning. It was totally dead. Everything seems fine now. Guess I'll call the dealer and see what they think.

 

does prime shut off any lights left on accidentally?

 

Follow-up: The service dept. says the 12v battery is in great shape. They did suggest that the scangauge might have drained it. I told them that I've had one plugged in my gen 2 prius for years without issue. Don't know what happened, but for now I'm going to assume I messed up somehow. Everything has been normal since jump starting.

Sorry, mcecere. I didn't mean to highjack your thread.

 

I believe that the diagnostic connector is live all the time......and if your scangauge is left ON it will draw down the battery.

Also, the battery needs to be FULLY charged after your episode and you can't trust the dealer to do that properly.
If you don't have a small charger, maybe you can borrow one.

 

My prime lost the hvac screen after a month, went to the dealer and they found that a the port a module was added (alarm..) and the wiring had come loose, they fixed it, so...I first suspect the same, but it also grounded itself in the op’s case, so, if the door was left open,ok, but I suspect a grounded wire someplace, btw, any evidence of rodents in the vehicle?
Mice will definitly cause funny err, not funny problems.

I park over an electronic gizmo that emits a high frequency noise, for three years now, before, there was always evidence of mice, after none, that’s in my breezeway, in my garage, my Ram ecodiesel used to have a rats nest on top of the battery, it hardly gets any use and the nest was hugh, after the electronic gizmo, three years ago, zero evidence of rodents.

I suggest the op treat the dealer with honey rather than vinegar, and if they prove to be inadequate, try another.

 

No rodents yet, but I expect them any day!

 

Can you tell me what it is? My Dad is in a rural area and has had trouble with Pack Rats in the vehicle engine bay off and on for years. Mothballs are not always effective so any second/third methods are welcome.

 

Victor petchaser 115989- vn

Mothballs are scary, a three pack was a buck or two.

 

Anybody who lives in a "rural area" NEEDS to have some tamper resistant bait traps around the outside of the house and other buildings.
If they are getting into the vehicles, odds are very good that they are getting into the buildings too......at least the attic or crawl space.

 

Thanks for the "spanking." For those that have had the problem with "pack rats" know that bait is not effective. Been there tried that. Pack Rats are very different from Norway or other rats in the way the feed and act.

 

They have to EAT something, right ??

Maybe the "standard" bait doesn't work but in areas where they are a problem, I'll bet that some effective bait IS available.

I think that the "original" poison wheat is still available and I'd be very surprised if ANY species of rodent wouldn't go for wheat.

But that is speculation on my part.......as I really don't know.

 

Thanks for the input, Sam, and calling out the dependency between Hybrid and 12V batteries. It was wishful thinking to assume with car OFF, the Hybrid side could provide some trickle charge to the 12V to maintain functionality. I'm going to use the trickle charger in weekly intervals when Prime is inactive, to attempt to measure charge time/battery discharge. Can't imagine that level of drawdown from an "unarmed" alarm system, but I'll see.

 

get a volt meter and track your 12 volt to see if it is discharging at an unusual rate. after re reading your original post, you may just be confused, and once the 12v is fully charged, you may be fine.

 

Usually most people who have odd 12 volt failure are not arming the alarm every single time they get out of the car. That will alert you 5o doors ajar. This is a must if you have kids too who love being in th3 car
And then not shutting the door all the way. A light bulb will thoroughly discharge the 12 and sometimes damage it by causing sulphation. It’s a very small battery and cannot take a beating like a big battery.

Always arm the car especially when it’s in the garage.

If it was me I would replace that battery. Anything is better than exposing it to a jump start.

 

I have experienced a dead 12v battery on my Prime from not driving it for a month earlier this year. It died completely. I had to pull out the key from the fob to unlock the door. My guess on why it died was from the constant below freezing temperature and having the Allstate Drivewise device plugged into the OBD port. Maybe Prime's ODB port doesn't put the device to sleep when car is powered off.

 

The obd2 port is live if it's hooked to a device that allowes it to be, scangauge goes to sleep when prime turns off if you have the newest version of scangauge software, it's easy to check, either the scangauge turns off or it doesn't when you turn off the prime, the allstate device should be checked, get a new optima and pull the allstate device if it's suspect.

 

Most vehicles do not.
Cold weather does NOT accelerate battery discharge; quite the opposite.

If you continue to leave that device connected, it is likely that you will kill another battery.

 

FYI, with the light switch in the full on (not 'auto') in my 2017 Prime they stay on for about 20 seconds if the car is all buttoned up, but stay on for a few minutes (I have not timed it specifically) if a door is ajar. Then the headlights and the dome lights are extinguished. I would be very suspicious of the aftermarket alarm. Keep in mind that the 12v battery in these cars is tiny compared to what we are used to in non-hybrid vehicles. And I did not see it answered, but yes, "Battery Tender" is a specific brand - lots of charge rates available. Google it for tons of re-sellers.

 

Had an early November snow this winter. Turned on my 6 month old Prius Prime to warm it up and defrost the windows.
The car was plugged in.

The car ran for awhile, but I was surprised to find the car completely dead when I returned to drive away. Guess the pug in does not trickle charge the 12 v battery. Quite a rude surprise on a new car.

 

You need the Great Dane option for that

I thought those with the Gen 1 PiP said it charges the 12 volt battery. The heat pump does not run off the 12 Volt battery, AFAIK. I thought it used the traction battery.