Jump starting another car....

AAF?

or

FAA?

Nope.....i't's.......

Automobile and Touring Club of Finland (AL)

International Clubs | AAA Exchange

 

I can't think of a reason not to jump start a car with a 12 volt battery from another car with a 12 volt battery if both are negative ground, which most are. The fact that a Prius has a separate 200 volt electrical system is irrelevant. You're not using that. The Prius 12 volt battery is part of the 12 volt electrical system just like every other car out there. I've jumped my Harley Davidson from a car but I wouldn't do the reverse because of the difference in battery size (and therefore capacity) but the Prius 12 volt battery is similar to most any car battery out there. I don't have a Prius anymore so I can't check the owner's manual to see what Toyota says but someone else might be able to check that and report back.

 

Really BAD idea.
If neither vehicle is "running" then if you make a mistake with the cables there will just be a big spark.

HOWEVER......if the donor vehicle is running and you make that same mistake, some of the electronics in the donor vehicle could be damaged and that might cost you more than the price of a tow.

Nothing wrong with jumping to or from a Prius.......if the disabled vehicle still has any life in it at all......and IF neither vehicle is running.

The biggest real problem is clear access to good connection points.

Having said that, I will never do any jumping with either of my hybrid cars because there are always better options........in my opinion.

 

There is a difference between connecting up jumper cables and trying to start another car and connecting them and just charging the other car without starting. I would only do the ladder if it was me, strictly to charge the other car battery.
There were specific instructions on the Gen 2 and I don't remember the details, something about blowing a 30 Amp fuse if I remember right. I haven't even checked out my Gen 4 yet.

This video shows no restrictions on a Gen 4.

 

When I do it on my gen 3 and 4 I just turn my car on, hook my cables to the dead car, and leave it running for a while. I then disconnect the cables and try to start the dead car. I never attempt to start the dead car while connected to my Prius.

 

If you insist on continuing to do that........connect the cables FIRST then start your car.
IF you get a HUGE spark when the last connection is made, STOP and disconnect.

Connecting to a disabled vehicle with an unknown problem while your vehicle is running can result in TWO disabled vehicles.

 

Tips? Sure…
Tip 1: If you don't know what you're doing, definitely NO!
Tip 2: If you do know what you're doing, YES, but take great care!
Tip 3: If you're not sure, read all you can about jump-starting Prii (Prius Chat is a great resource and has dozens of threads on the subject)
Tip 4: …er that's it, there is no Tip 4!

 

I don’t really jump random cars, just family or my lawnmower. I usually measure with a multimeter first to verify it’s just a little too low.

 

The Prius owner manual says not to jump any cars.

They do not say you cannot use the Prius to jump family. I do not know where you would connect the cables though,

 

When I had my Gen 1, I was content to do this:

1. Make my car READY.
2. Unplug my battery + cable at the battery. (Gen 1 and 2 have an unpluggable plug there. Went away in Gen 3.) In an ordinary car, you would never disconnect the battery while the car's running because it plays an essential role with the alternator and voltage regulator, but there's no such problem in a Prius.
3. Jump from my battery (now not connected to my car) to the other vehicle.
4. Disconnect the jumper cables, reconnect my battery to my car, and drive away.

Since moving to a Gen 3 and losing the convenient unpluggable battery cable, I've switched to just carrying a lithium ion jump pack in the glove box, and of course that turns out to be even more convenient, and takes up less space than cables.

I liked the looks on the faces of the family stranded in their lumbering old van as I walked up to them with a little box-with-clamps sticking out of my pocket. I also liked the looks on their faces when it started the van.

 

The Prius battery is not designed with the capacity to start an engine though.

 

My technique was generally to leave the cables connected for a while, that is, more about transferring charge to the other vehicle's battery first, rather than trying to directly crank the other engine from my battery.

Anyway, never had a problem. The Prius battery doesn't need more than about thirty "cold cranking amps" for its normal job in a Prius, but ends up able to provide a few hundred anyway, and much more if it isn't super cold.

One can probably find an engine too big, or a day too cold, for success to be guaranteed, I just never did.

I'm pretty sure a Prius aux battery will start just about anything my pocket LiIon pack will start....

 

That isn't necessarily true.
It has plenty of capacity to HELP start one if the resident battery is just a bit weak.
It also has plenty of capacity, if healthy, to turn over a small engine that is also healthy.

It was not designed with enough capacity to REPEATEDLY run a starter but that doesn't mean that it won't do it once.

P.S. I do NOT believe that it a good idea to jump to or from a Prius to another vehicle no matter how you do it.
But that doesn't mean that it is not possible.