jumpstart a dead Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by highmilesgarage, Feb 2, 2025.

  1. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Active Member

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    2007 Prius
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    car wasn't driven for more than 2 weeks, tried starting it and all the dash lights are on like a Christmas tree with the RTOD. Very dim and I said, "crap battery is finally gone".. several attempts and turned the dash into nothing.. no lights are on.. time to jumpstart. If you use another car to jumpstart you don't need to crank/start the car. The 12v will boot up the computer on the Prius and the HV battery will take over..

    https://youtube.com/shorts/xrtWWgxt4q4
     
    #1 highmilesgarage, Feb 2, 2025
  2. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I'm guessing this works better than incantations, prayers and burning incense. I'll have to give it a try.
     
    #2 Mendel Leisk, Feb 2, 2025
  3. pasadena_commut

    pasadena_commut Senior Member

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    If you can, read the voltage on the 12V before you jump start it. If it is 10.0 V or something dreadful like that (below 0% charge on the AGM SOC table), it tells you that buying a replacement battery ASAP would be a good idea. They are not hard to install yourself. The only tricky part is the bolt head for the ground lead at the negative terminal, which is awkwardly located (faces the rear of the car) and requires a very small ratchet or similar device.
     
    #3 pasadena_commut, Feb 2, 2025
  4. highmilesgarage

    highmilesgarage Active Member

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    Battery is fine after driving for 30 mins, just shows that starting it up for 5 mins doesn't really maintain the charge on the 12v battery especially on cold weather days.
     
    #4 highmilesgarage, Feb 3, 2025
  5. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    In reality, just starting it for five minutes probably does more harm than good.
     
    #5 dolj, Feb 4, 2025
    pasadena_commut likes this.
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