Interior light shut off timer - no more battery drain

Man, no kidding. The '96 Plymouth Voyager in my car list used to be my daily driver to work and back. I kept that van spotless. When my job suddenly moved 70 miles away, I procured and started driving my Prius. Now my poor van is, as you say, a huge moving trash can. For sucks.

 

There I go again, posting to a 4 year old thread like it was yesterday ...

 

I do like you. I always lock my car when I get out of it, even when my car is in the garage. Another plus is, if you forget to turn the engine off you will be alerted. Good habit for me. The salesman that sold me the car said he had a customer that got out of his car in his garage, left his engine running for 2 days. Had he locked his car when he got out of it that would not have happened.

 

Yes...I got out once and tried to walk away with the car in ready. Oh I hit the start button to turn it off but it was too quick and didn't take.
Tried to lock it with FOB and thank god it did the long beep.

Now I have my method which is apply e brake and shut car off and sit there till it goes off. Then exit and FOB. Muscle memory.

 

I agree. I too have a 2007 Prius. I took possession of it Feb 1, 2009. Why wasn't there a relay switch put in that would shut the lights off after 1 minute after you turn the car off. There were a few times I parked in the mall parking lot, the wife goes into shop, and I take a snooze. I forgot to open the drivers door. When she gets back 2 or 3 hours later the battery is dead. There has to be a way to fix that even if it is the lights shut off when you shut the motor off.

Another concern I have is poor mpg. I get about 32-34 around town, and maybe 44 on the highway. Other 2007 Prius owners are getting around town 50mpg and 50-60 mpg on the highway. I still think when my car was built there was a defect in it.

 

how many miles on her?

 

I do have the tires checked out when the "low tire pressure" light comes on. I have had the wheel alignment checked and it is ok. The dealership does the oil changes so that should be ok too. It was a certified car when I bought it. What year did Gen3 come out, and can it be done retroactive to 2007? Shortly after I got the car, I talked to the service manager, and asked him about the headlight shutting off issue. His reply was a relay can't be put in nor can it be set to shut off when the engine is shut off because it is a Hybrid. I thought what difference does that make, what does hybrid have to do with shutting the lights off.

 

88,000 miles. Now today on 3/18/2017 I did make a 100 round trip journey and got 51mpg, and normally that does not happen. Most of my driving IS short runs though. But according to the dealership, they said it should not make that big of a difference. They agree, the mileage I am getting is NOT normal. Even though the car is way out of warranty I am still considering either writing or calling Toyota themselves (the U.S. number) and see what they can do about it. Most car companies want good PR and will help resolve an issue that is abnormal. And poor mileage is abnormal.

 

the dealership is wrong. if you got 51 on a long trip, it is the short trips that are killing your mpg's.

also, don't trust the dealership to put in the correct amount of oil. check it yourself, before paying for service. and check it very gas fill up, in between changes.
we just had a member who had his oil changed at the dealer, drove off, they hadn't tightened the drain plug, it came loose, and all the oil ran out, ruining his engine.

tires: don't wait for the light to come on, check them at least monthly, and keep them a few pounds over spec, so they won't drop below spec between changes.

12 volt battery: as we spoke about in the other thread, learn where it is and how to test it, it is important in a prius as you learned, and there is no easy way to install a device to turn the lights out if you leave them on, or a door open.

i see you have been a member for a few years. stay in touch, and read through some of the threads like this to learn about your car, it will help you to keep it in top shape, and more educated when the dealer tells you something that isn't true.

all the best!

 

Checking the oil can be tough. The car might be returned to you on a sloped lot, that'll throw the level off. Also, something in the design of the Prius dipstick and guide tube makes for a lot of residual oil running along the length of the dipstick, well above the true level. And brand new oil tends to be near-clear.

Suggestions:

1. Repark the car as needed, on level ground.
2. Bring a rag.
3. Remove dipstick, wipe it, and set it down somewhere safe/clean.
4. Check your tire pressures, if you like to set them higher than spec. Chances are the dealership has dropped pressure. If you don't set tire pressures higher, hey: check Priuschat, on your phone, or just check out the new cars on the lot. Wait: don't do that, dangerous.
5. After 5 minutes, reinsert the dipstick and check level. By then the oil in guide tube will have drained down, mostly.

 

"Around town" can mean very different things to different people. 34mpg is pretty normal for our car on tanks where the car is only getting used between 1/2 and 5 miles at a time for the tank. Outside weather, using the a/c or heater and the terrain all lower the number beyond that.

Open highway? Round trip last summer from here to Colorado and back, 4 adults plus luggage, a/c on, a lot of 75 and 80 mph speed limits through the mountains yielded 44 mpg. Our round trips on the highway usually average 46-48. Over 50 on a round trip tank has only happened once. Point to point is different because of elevation changes. Hence our overall 42+ average that will go up this summer as we take a long (6,000 miles) cross country trip..

If you check fuelly.com or fueleconomy.gov you'll find those numbers are pretty normal for Prii from our years. People who get 50 or 60 out of theirs are really the exception, not the norm. It's great to want to improve the numbers and do what you can to achieve them but those lofty numbers are not to be expected, only celebrated IF you get them.

I honestly don't think you have a "problem" or "lemon".

 

Excellent advice, I'll start doing that.

 

Thank you, I'll check that out.

 

Case in point to consider.
Deep in the desert of anza borrego.
8 year old son stayed in the prius as he fell asleep. We set up the tent. He woke tired and confused as to where he was. (He wasn’t alone in that as I didn’t check his door or press lock making a noise to wake everyone already sleeping nearby under that dark and quiet sky).

He came to sleep as we just finished setting up. I had locked the doors and the boy knows to manually lock the door he exits from if after I’ve locked via the door panel. He did that but did not close the door by 1%.

Luckily I have replaced all but the hard to find trunk light to led via a custom kit which actually still allows the dimming feature. And I also modified (cut the led on) a $19 harbor freight solar panel and it slowly got the battery back. It is a great thing to have. And last night I discovered something about desulfating and refurbishing lead acid batteries via ctek 0.8 to 5 to 7002 chargers. Surprised I never got into that before.

Now imagine if there was an emergency so far from everything + Dead car. It happens. This is why automatic systems help. When not making us lazier as you may have correctly implied. Smart people forget more than well trained monkeys some day. But both is a blessing for sure when found. You seem to be one of the few. Congrats there. (ahem).

All good. No snowflakes here.

That’s said, when noise isn’t an issue, I may consider always locking from the keyfob despite it wearing that small keyfob battery down more rapidly. That’s good advice. Or doesn’t my door panel “lock all doors” method do the same?

I won’t tell anyone what to do. But if I can ask nicely the ex con cholos on my old block to lower the music, I can suggest that there are two ways to alter or improve behavior (speak). There’s always a better way to say what you want to say. Especially if it’s excellent advice. And if you do, tell me how, cause I still fail half the time myself.

 

Here are two solutions to this issue:
Drain on the battery due to door ajar or radio or parasitic drain of normal systems:

1. PriorityStart! battery switch $100. This shuts off the battery at around 11.7V and then Uses larger drain of the user pressing the brake pedal etc. to reconnect the 12V starter battery.
   
   This item below may also work if someone can confirm the door open signal is on the negative lead?:
   
   
2. DOME LIGHT TIMER. BATTERY SAVER. $5 from Europe.

CAR DOME INTERIOR LIGHT TIMER PREVENT BATTERY DRAIN DELAY OFF 0 TO 480 SEC KIT
The switch protect car battery, when any door is left open more than 480 sec
In new cars when the door is open, interior (dome) light switched off after 7-8 min,to prevent battery drain, but this is feature is not in old cars. This module is designed to do this function.
When Door is open - the light will switch on. When the door is forget open from more than 8 min - the light will be turn off automatically. If door is closed before 8 min - the interior light will turn off.
Can be used with combination of:

• Dimming delay turn off kit (eBay item number:271241733133)
• Not dimming 0-25 sec kit (eBay item number:280645125423)

Can be used with Led and incandescent lights up to 1A (12watts)
Only for cars, with negative door switching signal !! See the wiring diagram.
Dimensions( with box):
- length - 40 mm
- width 28 mm
- height 21 mm