Dead 2014 Prius battery?

12v battery is dead. The battery is JDM sized, a land where people do not hang out in vehicles when off for no reason like they do here. Also means that even 1 night of leaving a door open/light-on will kill it.

The battery is located in the rear passenger side of the hatch. However when completely dead, you can charge it from under the hood with the jump posts. That is the big exposed metal thing by the fuse and then any chassis ground. Absolutely make sure to get the polarity right, Prii don't like it otherwise. You just need a battery for a jump, any car will work, doesn't need to be on. Just connect, press the button until you hear the familiar beeps and you're done. Let it READY sit for a few hours to get it back up to normal if you don't have a battery charger. And remember lead acid is never the same after the first discharge.

 

Iif the salesmen had the hatch up in the showroom for 8 hours a day, your battery was doomed.

There is a jump point under the hood to jump a Prius, I recommend a jump pack, not jumper cables. If you reverse the cables, it is about $4000 damage.

http://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om/OM47857U/pdf/sec_05-02.pdf
(page 52 of the PDF, page 550 of the manual)

 

Optima DS46B24R Optima battery direct fit replacement for Prius 2004 + , Prius V & Plug-in Prius with Instructions

Exide AGM Car Battery (Group S46B24R)

Super Start® Platinum PRIUS - Battery | O'Reilly Auto Parts

 

Is the 12V battery not covered under warranty?

 

Owners Manuel will show the under the hood charge point, a slow trickle charge will turn on the 12v system, allowing the hatch to be opened to access the 12battery, it would be a good idea to replace the 12v, they don't do well after they die, yes it's an AGM, but the Optima, etc, are deep cell batteries, able to take a full charge after a full discharge, after getting the new battery slowly trickle charge it to full capacity, then top it off once a month, the Prius doesn't have a alternator like all the other cars on the road, it just trickles a flow of juice to the 12v, so periodic topping off the 12v battery is good for mileage.

 

The 12 volt is not covered, at least not as far as I know. Put yourself in their shoes: the 12 volt is way too vulnerable, can be close to depleted by a door or hatch being inadvertently left ajar over night.

You should familiarize yourself with where the battery is, and what lights are in the car, capable of draining the 12 volt.

My 2 cents: turn off every light capable of causing trouble, that has an off switch. To wit: the cabin dome light and the hatch light. Both have switches that can be set to permanently off. It makes the cabin kinda dark when you get in, but there's still door convenience lights and footwell lights. Both of those do not have switches, and of course: could drain your battery

You should also try getting at the battery when it's dead. Which basically means crawling through the car into the hatch area, and then using the manual hatch release, just below the hatch sill on the inside, behind a plastic pop-out panel. As you're facing the hatch from the outside, the battery's under the floor panels on the right side.

Come to think of it, I've never done that myself, lol.

Addendum: tried it out:

1. Get into the back seat area.
2. Pop-out and pull out the bar with the hatch area cover. Maybe stow in the rear seat foot well area.
3. Fold down one side of the (split) rear seat back.
4. Unlock the two hatch floor latches, fold it back, then lift it up and out of the hatch area. Maybe stow in the front passenger seat are.
5. Jerk up and pull back slightly the under-hatch-floor storage tray. (isn't this fun?)
6. At center-rear of the bottom of the hatch frame is a small opening (might have a pop out cover, ours is missing): reach in there, fish around, there is a small metal latch which when moved will release the hatch latch.
7. Have something at the ready to tuck between the hatch lid and the frame, to prevent it promptly locking itself again.

Addendum 2:

You don't have to pull the storage tray back: it has the little pop-up panel I was thinking about. Pop that out and you can reach through, to the hatch release. Alzheimers moment.

 

Be aware the 12 volt is RARELY covered under any warranty. However the traction battery is covered for a minimum of 8 years and 100,000 miles whichever comes first. Refer to your owners manual for more information.

Best of luck to you.

Ron (dorunron)

 

Just to clarify the situation:
Your initial post makes it sound like the car sat unused for 2 weeks straight; is that right ??

You need to become familiar with the connection points under the hood, just incase you need it again later AND if it will be common for the car to sit unused for weeks at a time, you should seriously consider getting a 2 amp battery tender and using it during periods of non-use.

If you completely discharge the battery more than once it can GREATLY diminish it's useful life.
If it sits in a discharged state very long it can be even worse.

 

keep an eye on how they attempt to hook up the wires. reverse polarity can be expensive.

 

The battery has a pro-rated warranty of its own. I would attempt to get the dealer to replace the battery. Scream and yell about the Thousand dollars plus you spent on a worthless extended warranty.

My opinion is you should cancel the extended warranty anyway. It very seldom returns you anything.

 

Why am I seeing the word "strangle" in my mind?

 

oh, how many times have i done that.

 

I actually caught myself leaving one on too. It is real easy to do, especially if you are in a hurry.

 

I have only done that 3-4 times!!!! Good thing I went in the garage and noticed the light on. Darn map lights!