Charging the 12V Battery??

You might see what you can make happen after a good solid fifteen hours or so on a charger.

 

Hybrids and EVs are programmed to not drain the traction battery to the literal zero percent. Since I don't recall any stories of a Prius not starting do to a dead traction pack, a car likely needs to be parked for over a year for a healthy battery to possibly get that low.

Yes, I asked because being plugged in can put more drain on the 12V, as that is used to power the electronics monitoring the charge process.

All modern cars of phantom, or vampire, drains on them when even the car is turned off from things like the SKS. That's why disconnecting the 12V is recommended when a car is going to sit for some time. I was just thinking a disconnected battery would charge faster, but it is likely of little consequence either way.

 

My battery was revived and everything in the car now lights up. All the dashboard displays are up, but still the car is not starting. The error message on the screen says "ICS not available". After doing some research it is about "Intelligent Clearance Sonar". But to my understanding ICS should not stop the car from starting. Does anyone know what this error means and how to fix this issue.

 

Are you still away from the car, and your friend the one actually trying to start the car? Do they know they have to depress the brake before pushing the start button?

 

Yes, I am still away and my friend is trying. I had told him that he has to depress the brakes to start the car and he has confirmed that he is pressing the Brakes, when he push the start button.

But it seems car is going into the accessories mode. He did say bells are ringing, when he push Start button, which is normal.

If the dashboard lights up then what else could prevent the car from starting the gas engine.

Is there a way to know, if car is going in accessories mode.

 

Maybe the brake switch is bad, telling the car the brake is NOT depressed. Have someone stand behind the car and look for the brake lights to illuminate when he presses the brake pedal

 

To answer that last question, of couse there's a way. Read the screen where it will say "Accessory" if it's in accessory mode.

So, we have people trying to help you with this, but you've got it splattered over multiple threads, some of which have some info and some of which have other info. No wonder it's taking so long to deal with such a simple thing. "I am still away and my friend is trying." This info was not in the other thread I was reading. This is huge. I assumed you were trying to start it. Does your friend know anything about the Prius and that you have to do what it says on the MID when you open the driver's door? Namely, put your foot on the brake and press the start button. It's going to accessory mode because he's putting it in accessory mode. Tell him to follow the instructions. I guess that's why it always shows that screen when I get in -- just in case it's not me. I thought my car thought I was an idiot telling me every time that I need to step on the brake to start the car.

 

How does he know for sure that the battery is fully charged and healthy ?

Sometimes when it gets very low, you need to disconnect it completely for a minute to clear false error codes.

And PLEASE stop posting the same problem in multiple threads.

 

Sorry Jerry, splattering of issue in multiple threads was unintentional, as I read someone in this thread with the same issue and tried to direct message that person, but it appears that feature was disabled on this forum, so I had to ask directly via post reply and this generated multiple threads.
I did put this in other thread. Maybe I just continue in this thread....

I did carefully asked my friend, as he is helping me with the car and his response was very clear. He told me that if he dont press the brake then a message appears saying that you need to depress the brakes to start the car. I remember seeing the message.

A friend has suggested to remove the positive wire of the 12v battery and leave it for 15 to 20 minutes. So as of now positive wire is off the battery and we will put the wire back on the battery shortly.

Will see what happens?

About "you'll need to put the car in HV mode to get the car to start.", I thought the car automatically switches the mode if there is no EV range

 

Brilliant idea, never thought of it. Will check it next time

 

About multiple threads, just posted my response, how it got splattered.

I called the road side battery service and they have verified that the battery is good.

 

Sounds like your friend just bought a used Prius.

an I if you don’t press the brake while you press the power button the car won’t start. That’s what that message is telling you.

As far as measuring the battery in the back that’s meaningless it only matters what it measures at the front jump point under the hood in the fuse box. There’s 8 connections and a long power cable under the car before it reaches the front jump point. Front jump point supply’s power to the fuse block.

Get a voltmeter measure the dc at the front jump point.

 

It is logical to think that would be the end of the story on that.........but sometimes it is NOT.

 

I have an update on my car and I think this is a good lesson for future long term parkers of Prius Prime. I called another towing company to get my car towed to Toyota service center. My friend told the towing that a previous tow guy was unable, so don't waste time and just tow it to Toyota service center. The towing guy insisted that he has to turn on the car to move it for towing. Anyway he connected the battery charger and said that the car has started. When he disconnected his charger the car went dead again. So he towed the car to the service center. I am back from long vacation/remote work also, so I met the tow guy at Toyota service center. He revived the car again and I drove the car around and gave for service.

So here is a lesson learned, I am now 100% sure when the first tow guy came last week to revive the car, the car must have started. But since, Prius Prime always starts in EV mode, so there was no noise of the gas engine starting. My friend and previous tow guy must be listening for gas engine noise. They never tried to put the car in drive mode. The new towing guy was familiar with hybrid EV cars. When he gave the car to me I was also listening for gas engine noise. The tow said, just take it off parking and drive. Then I realized that I had to press the HV/EV button to start the gas engine. Some of the guys on this forum were absolutely correct that the big li-ion battery should not go bad in only 5 months of no use. When I left the car 5 months back the EV battery was around 25 miles. When I checked now, the EV battery was at 21 miles. Almost very little discharge, which was really surprising to learn.

Toyota dealership did the inspection and here is the inspection video. I think this video may help others

htnjmtl.mkvwa37.com/p/IyB8iU.html

Rotors needs lathed and cabin filter damaged due to rodents. Battery replacement, all rotors lathed, cabin filter replacement and oil change and tire rotation, total damage$757.00

Sorry for long reply, but thought this experience may help others in future.

A big thank you to everyone who has responded to my thread and helped me in understanding my car issue associated with long term parking.

 

Pretty much what I'd expected. A totally dead 12V and a ready to go traction battery. Silly stuff happens when people mess with a Prius who expect it to act like it's not a hybrid. Filters & rotors were not necessarily inevitable, but were no surprise given that it was undriven that long. Glad it's finally running.

As already said in followup comments, I meant to say that you have to put it HV to start the engine. I think that exchange was in the other thread.

The only battery in the back of a Prime or Gen 4 is the traction battery.

 

In summary: Just because some "technician" says a battery is "good" doesn't necessarily mean that it really is serviceable.

Then......Toyota recommends against "turning" rotors I'm pretty sure. If they really are badly worn, they should be replaced.

But that is a high profit operation for the dealers that they know most owners know nothing about.
It is highly unlikely that the rotors really are worn out after only 4 years........especially if the PADS were not also shot.
I think you have been scammed.

 

When I used the car, after jump start by towing guy, it was making squishy noise. What they told me when brakes are used the build up clears up. But if the car is sitting there, it builds up and will not go away even after braking. The squishy noise went away after the lathe work on rotors. So I still think it was money worth spending.

 

I didn't see your comment on HV, but that is because of me opening multiple threads for same issue.
Thank you Jerry for your responses.

 

Toyota's training materials describe "turning" rotors as "the recommended operation to correct rotor run-out and thickness variation." Naturally, they recommend replacement if the issue is that the rotors are worn near the minimum thickness.

They are silent on what to do if the issue is excessive rust, but if the overall thickness is ok, resurfacing does a nice job in my experience.

 

If you are happy, that's the most important thing.
But I still think that they scammed you.
One or two hard stops probably would have accomplished about the same thing.