299,999+ Mile Club

What is the proper way to check the small battery, only reason since car ice is not on all the time and the battery goes down, i dont know what to look for. I want to check my battery to see how it is doing. voltage with car off and voltage with ice running. thanks

 

Prius battery test procedure for 2004 to 2010 Prius Cars

Here is a battery test you can perform on a Prius battery that is easy to do. It will not always detect a weak battery that does not allow you to park you car for long before it is drained down by the security system.

However, this test requires no tools, is easy to do and will give you some idea of the state of your battery. You can also perform this test after the car has been parked for a while to see how well the battery holds up under the drain from the security system.

• Do this test after you have driven the car for at least 30 minutes. This will give the battery a chance to be fully charged.
• Put the transmission in Park.
• Engage the parking brake
• Push in the power button. (if not already on)
• Press and hold the "Info" button on the MFD while turning the headlights on and off 4 times.
• Push on Menu in upper right of display screen.
• Push on Display Check
• Push on Vehicle Signal Check
• You will see the 12 volt voltage displayed. In accessory mode the voltage should be 12.6
• With no electrical accessories on including lights the voltage should be fluctuate between 12.6 and 11.9. The lower the voltage, the less of a charge your battery currently has. If the voltage is low do not proceed as the load test might totally discharge your battery. (If you see a voltage around 13.8 you are seeing voltage from the high voltage battery being converted to around 13.8 in an attempt to recharge your battery. This normally does not occur till after you start the engine but might occur earlier if the battery is very drained.)

• You can also test the battery by turning on the headlights, rear window heater and the heater fan. For a new battery the voltage would be around 11.3. If the voltage drops below 10.2 it should definitely be replaced. For voltages in between the lower the voltage, the lower current charge of your battery.
• Push on the break pedal and push start. You should see Ready in the Speed display. The voltage should now read between 13.8 to 14.2 and higher in winter. This is the charging voltage!
• Note: If in doubt disconnect the 12 volt battery completely (start with the negative post to avoid shorting the battery) and hook it up to a battery tester.

Thanks to an anonymous author.

 

Update 343000 Thanks for the help however the directions are off just a little, Car off push power button once, hold display button, turn headlights on and off 3 to 4 times, press menu then display check then vehicle signal check my car showed 12.6 while battery was green 12.4 blue then if u want a load just press power button again and turn on the headlights, mine went to 12.2 to 11.9 at the moment i am happy and will see how far this prius can go. With the above check is there also a way to check the hybrid battery. Again thanks.

 

Your 12V looks in good shape.

With the hybrid battery, there is no way to check without at least a ScanGauge or other scan tool that can access the HV Battery ECU. You would need to monitor the highest and lowest battery block voltage, and look for divergence between these two values at a level over 1V, when the hv battery is under load, such as when starting out with a cold engine. Qualitative observations of a weakening HV battery would be rapid changes in the state of charge meter, poor fuel economy, and hearing the fan in the back seat running on high a lot more often.

 

If I did my math right, you should hit 350K the first or second week of May, and reach your target in about 40 weeks. You drive as much in a month as I do in a year!

Then what? Maybe sell your car to another high-mileage buff, maybe Jess? I believe he got to 349K in a used car, so he probably wouldn't be averse to pushing your car up to 500K

 

Don't give the man any ideas Nerfer. His mission is 1,000,000 miles and eventual retirement of his car in the Smithsonian.

 

sick!

 

Update: 345400

 

Keep on trucking!!

 

Update: 346100 Just sharing a situation that happened. Low tire pressure light came on, I checked front tire had 25 psi. After changing tire putting on donut start driving on highway I believe it is a square light saying car is sliding dont know the exact name anyway it starts blinking, I feel the car hesitating, also the battery guage started to go down to purple. Im driving around 55 60 because I dont trust donuts we call them. Anyway the moral of the story is if u catch a flat and have a donut when u reach 60 mph the car goes into shut down mode and the sway light will come on and ur battery will drain. The remedy is when u reach 58 put on the CRUISE CONTROL and u will be fine. Anyway thanks for listening.

 

Best to put the doughnut on the back, although this means moving wheels around... the doh nut isn't the same radius and makes hard work for the differential and probably confuses the vsc something aweful.

 

Be careful with the donut. I used it for the first (and last) time on Easter Sunday when a large pothole had destroyed one of my Nokian WRg2s. Within a quarter mile in NJ it went through a small pothole and the wheel rim was bent. I had to buy a off brand tire to get home .

JeffD

 

this is just friggin' insane!
1523mi in 23hr while doing deliveries!
avg 600mi a day!

on a round-trip to CA from East Coast last year we avg ~500mi a day.. needless to say by the time we hit PCH I could barely hold on to handlebars, from vibration, and this is after being on road for 10 days. He does more then that daily.

A couple longer days were ~900mi+, but then again I made a point not to ride more then 14hr, and not to get speeding tickets.

 

Pretty sure the manual says not to go over 45 mph or something. The light you saw was probably for the traction control. BAllanJ has a good idea with moving the tires around.

Sorry, but what I saw was to get 430K miles, which would be the highest miles on the original battery pack in North America, I believe.

 

I admit the mission was my idea, but you have to admit it is a lot better than a crummy 430k miles

 

UPDATE: 347301 U my friend are absolutely correct on the traction control, im my car it kicks in at 60 mph which like I said causes the car to hesitate, however living an driving in florida where I got the flat I was about 200 miles from home try driving 45 on interstate 95 where the speed limit is 70 let alone it was on easter, nobody working.

 

Don't know if a full sized spare fits in the boot, but it may be worth investigating for the hours/miles you do! Don't want anything to jeopardise your high mileage run!

 

In my 2004 a full size spare can squeeze in if it is under-inflated (almost out of air). You will need to remove the tool tray since the doughnut is much thinner than a real tire. I am looking at doing some minor metal working to make a spare fit more easily.

JeffD

 

In North America? .....Maybe on Priuschat. Not everyone who owns a Prius goes on online forums.