The aux battery of our 2007 (1,500 miles) was dead this afternoon. Car won't go "ready", electric door locks don't work, etc. Multi-tool reads 3 volts at the jumper post in the engine compartment. Not sure how it could have happened, as the car was only parked for 4 hours since my wife had last driven the kids to school. Can't imagine leaving an interior light on could drain the aux battery in that short a time. Called Toyota dealer who said we could recharge the battery. Anyway, my battery charger appears to be defective, it is electronically controlled and will not "charge" - not a Prius issue, I've had problems w/ it before. But I also have one of those "battery boosters" that plug into a 12v cigarette/accessory socket to jump start a car. Will this work on the Prius? Or will it damage the car, so that I shouldn't even try?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John L. @ Jan 5 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]371625[/snapback]</div> I do not think that would work as it takes battery power to energize the circuit that turns on the Aux outlet. The Aux in my 2006 is dead until the start buttin is pressed. They may have changed it in the 2007 models, however this has been the general mode of operation on Toyotas - and other imported cars for years.
Costal Tech has a mod that keeps one of the aux power sockets ("cigarette lighter") live. If you installed that mod you might be able to use a charger there. But if your battery is healthy and there are no current leaks in the car, you should not need to use a charger on a regular basis.
<_< I advise CAUTION in modifying a Prius to make the 12v accessory outlet [AKA "Cigarette Lighter"] on without the Prius being in "Ready" mode. Potentially, you could accidentally leave a 12v accessory [Cellphone, Tomboy, etc.] plugged in and deplete the 12v accessory battery. On the other hand... If your memory is perfect you wouldn't need to be concerned. :lol:
My first post at Prius Chat. I just purchased a 2007 Prius (package 2). In just case, would this be a useful item to have? Black and Decker Simple Start. http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide...ProductID=16346 Joanne
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Joanner @ Jan 7 2007, 10:11 AM) [snapback]372098[/snapback]</div> Welcome to PriusChat, Joanner. The B&D device will not work on a stock Prius because the cigarette-lighter outlets are not connected when the car is off. As I noted in my earlier post, there is a mod sold by Costal Tech that will cause one of them to stay live, so you could use the B&D gadget. However, as Charles warns, this could be risky, because a device left plugged in and turned on could drain your 12-v battery. However, the Prius is so reliable that your chances of needing a jump start are very small.
Thanks, Daniel. Now I can spend the $$$ on other goodies for my car! I'm learning a lot here, although most of it is over my head. I will probably be asking some pretty stupid questons. Joanne
Well, as predicted, the cigarette light battery booster did not work. However, seems to me having an easy way to jump start the car could be a useful thing. So I am planning to get the Coastal mod to keep the front accessory outlet "live" and then carry the booster in the under-floor compartment. Anyway, I bought a conventional battery charger, a couple hours on 2 amps, and problem solved. I am still puzzled at how the aux battery could have been drained so quickly, so will keep an eye on it. Perhaps I have a slightly defective battery. BTW, given how smart the Prius is in other ways, I am surprised it doesn't automatically shut off power to whatever is draining the aux battery (dome light, accessory socket, etc) when the aux battery voltage is getting dangerously low.
wow I didn't know about this either. I was going to buy one awhile back to jump start my car, but I am glad I came back to the forums!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John L. @ Jan 8 2007, 12:53 AM) [snapback]372364[/snapback]</div> You could always wire-up and additional 12V socket that bypasses the switch, and use that for jump-starting. Tom
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John L. @ Jan 5 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]371625[/snapback]</div> That implies a HEAVY drain on the 12 vdc battery. However the battery is rather small, as it only has to boot the computers, run headlights, the brake boost pump, the HVAC blower motor, radio, wipers, and coolant transfer pump. The "starter" motor is the big motor/generator which is run off the 208 vdc NiMH battery pack. If the 12 vdc battery is low enough, you won't have enough power to boot the computers and close the HV relay. <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John L. @ Jan 5 2007, 10:08 PM) [snapback]371625[/snapback]</div> First, the "cigarette" plugs are not in the circuit until the car boots. If the 12 vdc battery is dead, forget about using one of those handy 12 vdc cigarette lighter boosters. I keep a Canadian Tire 700 cranking amp booster box in the hatch for emergencies, which I charge monthly. Most electronically controlled battery chargers are designed *not* to charge if the battery is truly flat. Some of them have a "defeat" button to manually force charging, but I'm asuming yours doesn't. Might not hurt to get a cheap old fashioned charger. Various Toyota TSB's suggest a 10 amp charge rate. If the battery is really dead, you might need to try 15-30 amps.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John L. @ Jan 7 2007, 09:53 PM) [snapback]372364[/snapback]</div> That's the one thing I miss about my CR-V. We used it a couple times (mostly at the drive-in, but once on a trip...) It actually worked a bit differently. It had a bit of a reserve that would charge back the main battery after it went dead. Enough to be able to start the car if you turn everything off and wait for a bit. Kind of like some of those old die hard "switch" batteries...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Jan 6 2007, 06:47 AM) [snapback]371721[/snapback]</div> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hmm-m-m-m - If having a cigar lighter socket 'live' is not advisable, How did millions of car owners cope, back when they were always live?
Hi fphinney How did they cope? Their "ordinary" cars had big 6v or 12v lead-acid batteries which could provide more 'juice' for accessories. The Prius' 12v battery is small and doesn't have much 'juice' to spare in a 'non-charging' mode.
Common causes of 12V battery drain include: - Leaving one of the various interior lights ON. One just has to be more careful about this. - Leaving a door or the hatch ajar. This one is solved by always locking the car: if they are open the car will give a warning beep. - After-market electronics installed improperly (that is, connected to unswitched 12V).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John L. @ Jan 7 2007, 09:53 PM) [snapback]372364[/snapback]</div> I understand that if you're at a Drive-In with the car in ACC mode, the radio will run for about an hour (with the MFD off) for about an hour before shutting down. This may have to do with the fact that it's in the ACC mode. I think of the 12 volt to be like the CMOS battery on a motherboard.
Coastal EV mod is going haywire ......... I was reading some of the posts related to the Coastal Mod and I found this one. Are there any problems related to it? http://priuschat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38848 Thanks Anu
I've jump started, from my portable, battery powered jumper box I got from Costco, my 05 from the connection points under the hood (fuse box) several times. If you do end up charging the battery, just be careful not to exceed the manual's recommended charge rate. If I remember right, mine says 3Amps. I haven't tried the cigarette lighter jump yet, but I did my own mod to make the center console outlet hot ALL THE TIME! Enjoy the ride! Ken
Seems like it would be easier to make an adapter on your power box that has alligator clips on one end and a cigarette lighter socket on the other end. Then you could connect the power box right to the jump start tabs under the hood. It takes so little current to start the car that you could probably start it right up after making that connection.
