Design Flaw Found in 2004-2005 Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by rwithop, Apr 18, 2005.

  1. rwithop

    rwithop New Member

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    Had my battery die this weekend and got a jump from the roadside assistance. My dealer indicated that if you need a jump, the battery is located in the back. Really convenient right?

    Except, if your car is dead, the back door doesn't open! To open it, you have to climb over the back seats, pull out the carpet, the foldable cover, and lunge for a tiny handle hidden behind the spare wheel compartment. I don't know how big you are, but it aint exactly easy to do all this while hanging over the back seats.

    Why can't they put a trunk handle next to the gas cover lever like other Toyotas have? Why doesn't the Prius turn itself off if the key has been missing for an extended period of time?

    In addition, I lost my "Day Mode" button. Normally, the "Day Mode" under "Display" brightens the display so it can be seen in sunny conditions. Where did it go and what else needs to be reset?
     
    #1 rwithop, Apr 18, 2005
  2. olends

    olends New Member

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    there is a "jump" point under the hood.

    also remember to reset the autostop on your window.
     
    #2 olends, Apr 18, 2005
  3. finman

    finman Senior Member

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    The day mode in my '04 only appears when the lights are on. Also the dimmer wheel to the left of the steering wheel has to be turned down from the max brite setting. It clicks indicating max. Turn it down and turn the lights on. Day mode should show up on the screen.

    To the best of my knowledge, the Prius will shut off dome lights if they've been left on. This would be when you power down and forget to turn any of the interior lights off. Maybe 10 minutes, then it turns them off automatically.

    What's the missing key thing? This is a pretty smart car, but if you have the car in ready mode, and leave the vehicle,thinking you've shut off, the only way any batteries will go dead is if it runs out of gas as it idles every once in a while to top off the hybrid battery as well as the little 12V accessory battery.

    Also, the car beeps at ya when the key leaves the cabin area and you haven't shut off...but the car remains on, in ready mode.
    Hope this helps. Enjoy your Prius!
     
    #3 finman, Apr 18, 2005
  4. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I've had the battery die on me before (still unexplainable) and yes I had to do what you did except that in my situation, the tow truck guy was being as nice person and wanted "direct access" to battery despite the fact I told him you could jump it from the front. So,

    1) There is a positive point under the hood
    2) All hatchbacks have external releases and none that I know of have internal releases. Toyota went with a power release for the Prius as opposed to a regular handle.
    3) You could've folded the rear seats so you could lie flat rather than hang over the seatback
    4) It doesn't turn off cause it's the equivalent of leaving your key in the ignition and you wouldn't do that for an extended period of time. Like finman said, the car will just cycle on and off til you run out of petrol
    5) Sorry, I can't answer your Day Mode question. When I had my battery boosted, everything worked fine but I had to adjust the Sound setting again.
     
    #4 Tideland Prius, Apr 18, 2005
  5. rwithop

    rwithop New Member

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    Thanks for the tips. Could you explain "reset the autostop on your window"?
     
    #5 rwithop, Apr 18, 2005
  6. rwithop

    rwithop New Member

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    More info:

    I had the car in Accessories mode with the key outside the car. I was pumping tires on my son's bike. Must have forgot to get back in the car with the key and turn it off. I still think the car should make up for my stupidity.

    That being said, if I am not in Ready Mode, the car does not think it is driving, it should recognize significantly long periods of time where the battery is being drained, send me a warning, and then eventually shut off.

    Jumping the battery:
    Didn't know you could jump from the front. That would have been helpful to know.

    Roadside assistance:
    Works pretty well. Very little hassle. Takes a long time for them to come out, but it was much easier to request than through my insurance company, 21st Century.

    Day Mode:
    I tried it out. Put the lights on and dimmed the screen. The Day Mode button comes up. Thanks. I don't remember it disabling the button before, when the dimmer scroller was all the way up.
     
    #6 rwithop, Apr 18, 2005
  7. bobc

    bobc New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rwithop\";p=\"82356)</div>
    When you lose power, the auto up/down feature on the driver's window no longer works.

    Lower the window to around 1/2 way open, then hold the button in the 'up' position until the window goes all the way up and closes. This resets the auto function.

    Cheers,
     
    #7 bobc, Apr 18, 2005
  8. DanMan32

    DanMan32 Senior Member

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    FRom what I heard, if you have the car in ACC mode, it will turn off after 1 hour. It won't do that in any other mode (Ig or READY).

    Dome lights will turn off after a time if you left a door open. However, if you set a dome light to manual on (not DOOR setting), then you have essentially bypassed the body ECU's control over that dome light by giving the light a direct ground.
     
    #8 DanMan32, Apr 19, 2005
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    I'll second Dan and agree that the car will shut itself off after an hour on ACC mode. There is a thread I started when that occurred to me (freaked me out when the radio just shut off on its own) and I think Rick tested it out.
     
    #9 Tideland Prius, Apr 19, 2005
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