First the back story.. Many many moons ago when i owned a Valiant charger (large heavy inline 6 ) I was told that you should not leave a car in ACC mode for too long, because you run the risk of the coils overheating and even melting.. Now sometimes I can wait for up to an hour in the car park while i wait for my partner to finish work. While I'm waiting I like to listen to the radio.. and to do that I need to put the Prius in ACC mode. Is this old wives tale still relevant? Or can I sit in the car for many an hour or more in ACC mode while i wait? Thanks.
I did a test in another post,about leaving the Prius in the ACC postion(green light on). I had a new one last night I put in this state with the drivers door open and the radio on. All dome lights were off. After approximately 1 hour the system shut down. I believe it says that in your owners manual also.So if your lunch is for 1 hour you should be ok. If longer,maybe hum to the music in your head when it shuts down :lol:
Thanks Rick57 So it will shut it off on it's own..? hmmm.. I wonder if thats to stop it from draining the battery or another reason..
Most conventional ignition (coil/points) cars added a ballast resistor for this reason. Not sure if the Valiant/Dart slant six had it. No modern electronic ignition car has the problem.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(senectus\";p=\"68800)</div> <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(xevious\";p=\"68859)</div> Yes I would agree it probably is to save the 12 volt battery. But I would think it could last longer then 1 hour. Maybe Toyota picked 1 hour just in case you had left it on in the garage :roll:
Well the radio won't suck up much juice unless you've blasted it to Vol 62 (or is 63?) and added a thumping wooder . My scenerio was the rear dome light on, all doors except hatch locked and the radio on in ACC mode. So I guess regardless of what's on, it'll shut off after an hour
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"68918)</div> With your test also, I would believe that maybe it is on some kind of timer,which starts when you put it in ACC mode. This seems to make sense :roll:
mmhmm... so judging from mine and yours, can we conclude that it's approximately one hour (until someone can prove otherwise)?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"68969)</div> Yes I would say so. Unless someone proves us wrong
ACC mode in most cars does not power the engine electronics, so no harm can come to it. I have heard that about being in Ig mode without the engine starting. For the Prius, being a hybrid, the HV won't power anything it shouldn't. Now, I wonder if the same shutdown occurs in Ig-On mode. There's a whole lot more there that can drain the battery than ACC.
The warning wasn't even correct for the original Valiant. It once was the case that a car could suffer if left in the ON position without the motor running, but it was never the case that leaving it in the ACC position could harm the ignition coil. It's not energized in the ACC position, not even on a vintage Valiant.
Here some related info that might be of interest. Late last night, I decided to change all the CDs in the 6 disc changer. While I was doing it, I turned on the passenger's overhead light. Needless to say, I forgot to turn it off. Imagine my horror upon seeing it on this morning when I went into the garage. It does not turn off automatically. Once you turn it on, it stays on (in this case, probably 10 hours). With thoughts of having to ask my neighbor to jumpstart my two week old car, I cautiously powered her up. No problem, the 12V battery can light the cabin all night without any ill effects. DGStan
Are you sure it was on???? I ask as the light comes on automatically as you approach the car, if you have SKS.
I've had a discussion with DanMan32 about dome and maplights before. We've concluded that they don't automatically turn off.
I've done that a few times too, fortunately without any ill effects. And yes, only the dome lights if left in DOOR position will turn off automatically. In ON position, the body ECU's control is bypassed.
