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Idled car

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Peter1st, Sep 4, 2004.

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  1. Peter1st

    Peter1st New Member

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    I plan to idle my 2004 Prius in my garage for a period of five months.Would appreciate suggestions as to how to prepare the car for disuse. Trickle charger?, battery disconnect? etc. etc.

    Thanks!
    PETER
     
    #1 Peter1st, Sep 4, 2004
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    By idle I assume you mean it will be parked, and unused for that 5 month period.

    In theory the HV battery should be fine for b/w 6 months to 1 year without use or charging. If it will not be possible for someone to at least put the car in "Ready" mode for 30 minutes every week or so, or even at least once during the vacation period then you should still be ok on that front. If it is possible to have someone start it up and maybe drive it a little bit that would add a little extra assurance of a good charge.

    The 12v battery either needs to be disconnected or placed on a tender/trickle charger. For that duration my preference would be to disconnect. You'll have to reset all your presets on the radio and NAV and such. But I think that's a fairly small price to pay considering the life of the battery.
     
    #2 efusco, Sep 4, 2004
  3. Peter1st

    Peter1st New Member

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    Thanks for your comment! Any suggestions on the tender/charger? ie. brand name charging rate, with or without timer?

    Peter
     
    #3 Peter1st, Sep 4, 2004
  4. Cris Lombardi

    Cris Lombardi New Member

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    I'm interested in this topic too, because my work can sometimes take me out of town for as long as 2 months, and my Prius would sit in the garage for all that time (hasn't happened yet- just got the car 2 weeks ago). Previous posters have said that the 12v battery is the only cause for concern, but my owner's manual says on page 8:
    "If you do not use the vehicle for a long time (2 weeks or more), the hybrid vehicle battery and auxilliary battery will discharge and their condition is liable to decline."
    Has anyone actually mothballed their Prius for a "long time" and if so, how did the hybrid battery hold up?
     
    #4 Cris Lombardi, Sep 4, 2004
  5. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    after 4 months in the body shop they had to charge and "equalize" the HV battery. According to the work order. The 12volt battery was changed. I don't know if they charged the HV when they had it out of the car or not, I didn't ask the BS manager. By the way the car was repaired perfectly.
     
    #5 Frank Hudon, Sep 4, 2004
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    AFAIK there is no way to charge the HV battery outside of the vehicle. To charge it in the vehicle requires a very special charger that connects to one of the ECUs and the battery simultaneously and then charges VERY slowly.

    The "Charge and Equalize" statement is very interesting...was that a Toyota body shop or a 3rd party? I can't imagine any third party body shop has the technical expertise to deal with the HV battery/hybrid system.
     
    #6 efusco, Sep 4, 2004
  7. MarinJohn

    MarinJohn Senior Member

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    I have been told by my toyota prius maechnic to pull the dome light fuse for extended periods of unuse. I am assuming that is to preserve the 12v battery.
     
    #7 MarinJohn, Sep 4, 2004
  8. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    MarinJohn....

    find another mechanic before its too late.

    the 12 v battery will not run down because of the dome light if the dome light is not on. simply switching the light off will fix any normally working car.

    the 12 v battery is used to sense the readiness of the car and your fob amongst other things. these are things that cannot be disabled by you.

    when entering the car before inserting the fob, you will notice the "fob" light flashing on your dashboard. (this occurs all the time even without SS/SE.) that is one of many things that uses the 12 v battery when the car is not running.
     
    #8 DaveinOlyWA, Sep 4, 2004
  9. paprius4030

    paprius4030 My first Prius

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    Dome Light Fuse

    I read in another post that you ARE supposed to pull the dome light fuse. It is pulled when the car is shipped. It must disconnect something else in addition to the dome light. Does anybody knpow for sure what pulling the dome light fuse will do?
     
    #9 paprius4030, Sep 4, 2004
  10. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I think he's ok with his current mechanic...the DOME fuse, apparently, does a lot more than just act as a fuse for the DOME light. All cars are shipped with the DOME fuse out to preserve the battery and it's the first thing the dealers are supposed to put in when the car arrives. It seems to be an easy way to 'disconnect' the entire battery circuit.
     
    #10 efusco, Sep 4, 2004
  11. swepri

    swepri New Member

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    You might take a look at this:

    /Paj
     
    #11 swepri, Sep 4, 2004
  12. swepri

    swepri New Member

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    OOPS! Suddenly realized that it maybe is not OK to post that file here.

    Sorry :cry: .

    /Paj
     
    #12 swepri, Sep 4, 2004
  13. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    its ok with me... got any more documents to post?

    also, any english ones? i hesistate to think that this schematic would be the same for american cars as it seems that there are several differences in european Priuses
     
    #13 DaveinOlyWA, Sep 4, 2004
  14. swepri

    swepri New Member

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    I fetched the file at www.prius-forum.org and attached it because I couldn't get the URL to work in the post.

    There is a lot of stuff but the technical manual is in German. It covers the European and Australian versions of Prius.


    /Paj
     
    #14 swepri, Sep 4, 2004
  15. Peter1st

    Peter1st New Member

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    As a solution, I am considering selling my 2004 at a premium and ordering a 2005 for delivery when I return. Or else-perhaps I could place the car in a jar of formaldehyde for preservation.
    PETER
     
    #15 Peter1st, Sep 5, 2004
  16. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I'm not sure that, with the '05s starting to hit the ground in a week or so that you'll be able to sell "at a Premium", but if you can I think that's a good idea. Why let it sit and depreciate in value for that long? Sell at your cost or even a slight loss and buy the '05 when you return and you'll likely be money ahead.
     
    #16 efusco, Sep 5, 2004
  17. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    Evan this was Toyota bodyshop in the dealership near our house. The BS manager was really aggressive with dealing with the issues involved with this car. It was down for 3 day's short of 4 months( which worked all right with other circumstances at the time ) and the battery had been hit in the accident. If you remember back to my post in early Feb about "don't buy or if you own a 2k4 Prius don't drive it with the trunk plate installed" The car sustained $18,300 in damage and was repaired properly. Forget what you paid for yours, it has no bearing on the Canadian price of the Prius. The hatch and rear bumper and hood and front bumper and the rear lower panel and tail lights were all that was damaged. Pretty expensive to repair but all is fine. If I gave you the car to use for a week you wouldn't be able to tell it was ever in an accident.
     
    #17 Frank Hudon, Sep 5, 2004
  18. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    Evan this was Toyota bodyshop in the dealership near our house. The BS manager was really aggressive with dealing with the issues involved with this car. It was down for 3 day's short of 4 months( which worked all right with other circumstances at the time ) and the battery had been hit in the accident. If you remember back to my post in early Feb about "don't buy or if you own a 2k4 Prius don't drive it with the trunk plate installed" The car sustained $18,300 in damage and was repaired properly. Forget what you paid for yours, it has no bearing on the Canadian price of the Prius. The hatch and rear bumper and hood and front bumper and the rear lower panel and tail lights were all that was damaged. Pretty expensive to repair but all is fine. If I gave you the car to use for a week you wouldn't be able to tell it was ever in an accident.
     
    #18 Frank Hudon, Sep 5, 2004
  19. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    Geez, I can't believe NO ONE has yet volunteered to watch your car Peter. What kind of PriusChat brethren are you! Bring it to my house, I'll make sure it gets run almost every day but no more than 6,000 miles while you are gone ;-)

    I would not put a trickle charger on it for 6 months. Probably nothing bad would happen but what if it failed, shorted out or something? Disconnect the 12V instead. My offer still holds however :)
     
    #19 bruceha_2000, Sep 5, 2004
  20. prius04

    prius04 New Member

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    DaveinOlyWA
    You noted above that the SE/SS system keeps sending out signals and that this can dischage the battery too.

    But that signal can be shut off, at least in my American car.

    Page 32 in the manual describes how. There is a little on-off button under the dashboard near the steering wheel.

    I guess this is for valet.
     
    #20 prius04, Sep 5, 2004
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