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Single Beep When Car Is Parked

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by James Nakamura, Nov 12, 2015.

  1. James Nakamura

    James Nakamura Junior Member

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    This started today: I park Prius (2007) in my garage. Turned it off. All of the indicators are clear (not illuminated). About every 20-30 seconds after that, the car beeps. It sounds like it's coming from under the hood as it's quite easily heard outside the car but muffled on the inside. I have replaced the batteries in both of my FOBs. The car can be locked/unlocked via the FOB, the car starts up just fine so what's going on. I haven't seen anything on the boards to fix this and there's nothing in the manual from what I can tell. Any ideas here?


    Here's video of the issue.
     
    #1 James Nakamura, Nov 12, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 12, 2015
  2. DanMan

    DanMan Junior Member

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    That does not sound like a beep any Prius makes. Open the hood, see if you can find the source. Have you owned this car since new?
     
  3. RRxing

    RRxing Senior Member

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    Intermittent lock contact on fob button?
     
  4. DanMan

    DanMan Junior Member

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    The lights are not flashing though, and the beep is longer than the lock beep. Also, I'm pretty sure that beeping comes from the rear of the car not the front.
     
  5. That_Prius_Car

    That_Prius_Car Austin Kinser

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    Check your 12v battery. The Prius does crazy things when the 12v is going bad. Mine would set off the alarm randomly, light up random warning lights, etc.
     
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  6. TC400

    TC400 Active Member

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    Ahh good place to start! That's where a lot of electrical gremlins start.
     
  7. James Nakamura

    James Nakamura Junior Member

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    Thanks for all of the info! I ran the battery level test (from PriusDIY) getting the car into System Check mode. The initial reading is 12.3 volts in Vehicle Signal Check. Adding current load displayed a level of 12.0V. Turning the lights on and the Rear Window Defroster dropped the level to 11.5V. Turning the car on and the level went to 14.0V. According to PriusDIY, all of the reading are on the low side of "good" with the exception of the first 12.3 reading which is a tenth of a volt low. So, is that indicative of a bad battery? 2015-11-13 09.49.30.jpg 2015-11-13 09.50.01.jpg 2015-11-13 09.52.08.jpg 2015-11-13 09.52.45.jpg
     
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    marginal. best to check it cold with a volt meter under the hood. wouldn't hurt to charge it up and see what it holds over a few days.
     
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  9. TC400

    TC400 Active Member

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    At this point I'd say toss a new battery in and see what happens.
     
  10. James Nakamura

    James Nakamura Junior Member

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    Right now, the sound has stopped. I'm guessing you're right about the battery and will monitor and replace when the battery level drops to a more "bad" level.
     
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  11. TC400

    TC400 Active Member

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    Keep us posted!
     
  12. James Nakamura

    James Nakamura Junior Member

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    After about a month, the battery levels are still about the same and no chirps! I am wondering about an issue I have with the fan where once in a while, the fan takes a couple of minutes before it kicks on. This has happened maybe twice in the past year, but this past month, it has happened about three times. Is this related to the battery issue?
     
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  13. Lucifer

    Lucifer Senior Member

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    Hybrid fan or ice fan, both are ambient entwined, did you trickle charge your 12v yet?

    If it's worn and you don't trickle charge--keep it topped off, the ice is continually charging it.
     
  14. James Nakamura

    James Nakamura Junior Member

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    OK, it's been a few weeks. I did start to have an issue where the heater fan would take a few minutes before it kicked on. I replaced the accessory battery and I haven't heard the beep anymore nor have I had any fan issues. So I believe my initial issue can be chalked up to another weird effect of a marginal battery. Thanks to all who helped me out!
     
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  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats, thanks for reposting!
     
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  16. TC400

    TC400 Active Member

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    Thanks for the update!