12V battery is dead!

Any chance that you may have left one of the interior lights on? Or maybe the little light in the trunk? You have any devices left in the car, and plugged in?

I have a portable jump starter pack, but have never used it yet on any vehicle. And yes, the cable clamps are too short. I hope I will never need it on my Prius. Do the Auto Club guys know how to properly jump a Prius?

 

My car was delivered in July 2016. I had a flat battery - nothing was left on or plugged in. Took the car into Toyota the next day and they replaced the battery without any questions.

 

My Prius was made in January '16. I bought it in February '16. I guess my battery didn't have much time to run down.

If a vehicle has been sitting on the lot for many months, do the dealers recharge the battery before the customer picks it up? When I was a kid and rode my bicycle past car lots, I always saw battery chargers hooked up to many of the cars. But that was 45 years ago. They also had a "lot man" who went out there and started every car, every week.

 

Toyota wants that last connection to an unpainted bare metal ground to avoid possibly igniting of explosive gasses near the battery. I can say that over the years I have jumped to the negative terminal no less than 500 times and no explosions so far . It couldn't hurt to use some cardboard or paper to fan the air near the battery before connecting.

I also find the jump packs are not as prone to sparking as conventional jumper cables are.

 

I've done the same many times and never had a problem. But have never jumped a Prius.

 

The reason for connectin the negative cable to a bare metal part of the body is there is a remote possibility there could be hydrogen gas above the battery. There will be spark when hooking up the negative cable, hence the precaution.

The reality: it's a very remote possibity. Also, ANY substantial bare metal of the body, OR the engine, will do.

And if push comes to shove, I've connected directly to the negative post many times. Just to not tempt the gods: blow across the top of the battery before connecting, dispel the remotely possible hydrogen.

Also, just for giggles: where safety goggles.

The bigger issue: you should read up on 12 volt batteries, do's and don'ts, how to measure their health, how to charge, and so on.

And with jumpstarting, be VERY careful to not reverse the leads, it can cause expensive damage. Treat jumpstarting as a very stopgap measure, just to get you to service. You need to get your battery assessed, or learn how to do it yourself. There's a possibility it can be recharged, but testing is step one.

Also, your battery is very likely not "defective". Do you sit in the car listening to the radio, in accessory mode? Leave doors open for extended periods? Plug things in, say a 12 volt vacuum cleaner, phone charger, whatever? Do you have all the "courtesy" lights on? Have you left the car with headlights on occasionally?

 

i think we've seen dash cams drain batteries before. you may want to talk to the shoppe.

 

It wouldn't be the hybrid battery for the DashCam - can only be the 12v. Go back to them and ask if they connected it to a non-Always-Live circuit or it might be running 24hrs a day. I've noticed modern cars, with such a huge number of draws on 12v power can overload the battery easily, though the couple of Amps for a DashCam shouldn't cause concern unless it's marginal already.

All doors open operates 3 or 4 bulbs from memory, but could be the straw which broke the battery's back.

If not, go check with your dealer or have the battery tested independently.

Do you have heated seats or other high-drain items (though I think you've got summer at the moment)?

 

Unless it didn't turn off after you finished vacuuming - could be a faulty DashCam - can you unplug it temporarily. It seems they don't drain a lot of current, though, but anything can become faulty - like SmartPhones which suddenly decide to go flat in short time - then work fine after re-starting.

Has your driving pattern changed - ie a week with only a few short trips, or lots of nighttime driving with demisters running?