Strange little switch not identified

Hey Darell,

Other than the fact that this aftermarket gizmo appears to be the most blatant rip-off I have heard of on a Prius, what exactly does it do?
And if it is not a Toyota approved fitment, wouldn't it tend to void the warranty in some way?

 

It is almost as described above.

The circuit detects Voltage, and at a pre-set floor, it disconnects the battery from the car's electronics to prevent further battery drain. When you press the button to reconnect, the idea is that you have enough juice left in the battery to actually start the car *without* jumper cables. Jeez... if you still have to use jumper cables to get going again, I'd think it would only be worth, say, $600.

 

Read this post to see what kind of problems you are going to encounter with the "Starter Guard" on the Prius.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-m...ter-power-off-time-radio-presets-avg-mpg.html

It's a totally useless gadget for the Prius.

 

Not the same placement as mine.
It is directly below the steering column.
Will try to take pic tomorrow.

 

Hey Ken,
Why so belligerent?
Have I done anything to you?
Have I said anything to you?
I stated in previous post I was able to go on-line and build my car.
I wanted leather,no nav,no fish eye camera,no smart key.
Got the color inside/outside I wanted.
Installed my own mud flaps,chrome stubby,bra and fog lights.
Thanks to this site I knew before I ordered car what I wanted.
Dealer did window tint as ordered,got the mats,did not want bumper protection.
Before they became scarce were you not able to pick and choose options?
I am truly sorry for whatever caused you to make this post,bad day,whatever.
And yes,I am serious-maybe this will help
By the way,I still do not know what the button below steering column is for.
Maybe it was supposed to be for smart key?
I will try to take pic tomorrow.

 

I don't think this makes it "totally useless" for the Prius. Imagine two scenarios:

1. You leave the lights on over night. You come back to the car, and the Aux battery is drained. All your electronics have reset, the car won't start. You are stranded, and you've basically ruined your Aux battery.

2. You leave the lights on over night. You come back to the car and you rest the Battery Brain. All your electronics have reset, but the car starts right up. You aren't stranded, and you don't have to buy a new Aux battery.

I still call that useful, even if it does screw up your radio settings, etc.

 

penbed,

No, I didn't have a bad day & I wasn't trying to be beligerant. I simply stated that the info to the left of your post says you have a pkg #5 (is that true or not?). Pkg's are just that. It's a combination of options grouped together by the factory & sold as a group & all Priuses with the same pkg # are built at the factory with the exact same options as anoher Prius with the same pkg #. This makes for faster production on the assembly line as each car is equiped the same way for the same pkg #. The only thing that changes is the interior & exterior colors within a certain pkg #. There is no picking & chosing of individual options on the build your own website [just choosing which option pkg & colors you want & any available accesories (of which there are few)]. The accesories get put on at the port or the dealership & with prior instructions from you, the dealer in some case can add or delete certain accesories that the port normally puts on.

The reason so many people have to wait for a Prius for so long is that with Toyota's allotment system the dealer has to try to match the option pkg you ask for with the requested colors you want to such a car that comes into the port that serves his region. To my knowledge nobody has ever gotten a custom ordered Prius. If you indeed have a pkg #5, then you paid for a pkg #5 but the dealer removed or disabled the nav, backup camera, & smart key system that you paid for. A pkg #5 already comes with these 3 things you say you don't have plus the fog lights (how did you put your own fog lights on when a #5 already comes with them?). Everything else you mention having are usually just dealer or port add-ons [like leather, floor mats, mud flaps, window tint, bra, & chrome stubby (what is that?)]. The bumper protection that you declined is also a port or dealer add-on. These add-ons are not part of a pkg #5.

My guess is that you simply ordered a pkg #1 (HZ) [not a #5 (NL)] to keep it cheap, [since that is the only pkg # that doesn't have all 4 items (the smart key, backup camera, nav, & fog lights)] & requested your color combinations, then had the dealer or port do the add-ons that you didn't do yourself. So I don't know why you are calling yours a pkg #5. I'm not trying to be critical or condescending, but I just don't understand your identification of a pkg #5 that has so many things (it originally comes with) missing from it. I'm happy for you that you only got what you want, but that's not the way a #5 comes from the factory, & I'd hate to pay for something & then have the dealer remove or disable it (everything you excluded except the fog lights is pretty expensive).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

A $30.00 portabel "jump start pack" from wal-mart is a much better option.
Not only will it help you in a dead battery situation, but it can help someone else too.

 

There are a couple of things that make it less than ideal in my mind:
1. You buy it from Wal-mart
2. It is one more thing sitting around in your car adding weight and taking up space.
3. You have to remember to keep it charged.
4. By the time you need it, you've already damaged your AUX battery.

But yes... there are many advantages. Why all modern cars don't have an Aux battery protection circuit built in is beyond me. There is NO reason why cars should be allowed to run down that battery. That's simply crazy. Not to mention expensive, wasteful and unsafe.

 

Those options are less ideal than getting ripped at new one, to the tune of $700 bucks, by a criminal dealer? For something worth less than $70. Yeah, sure.

Besides, if you can remember to keep your EV car charged everyday, it's shouldn't be much to ask to check a jump-pack charge periodicaly.

 

No, not my point at all. Less ideal than installing it yourself for $70 was my point. I thought you were saying that the DEVICE was no good. I see the confusion now.

Charging the car is way easier than charging the jump pack. Charging the car is easier than charging my cell phone. I just know from experience that those jump packs are so often left to self discharge. Out of sight out of mind. The EV isn't out of sight!

 

I thought this kind of thing was already built into the power management systems of all modern cars? On my Dodge Durango, it's called "Power Shedding". If you leave stuff on like dome lights, or headlights(like if you turned them to the manual on rather than auto setting), or anything else, the ECU starts turning things off as the battery goes down. The lower the power, the sooner stuff gets turned off. It's supposed to guarantee that you always have enough juice to start the engine.

 

Nope! In fact, this is the first I've heard of a car doing this. If you leave anything "manually" on in the Prius, it will stay on until the battery is dead. I have to cringe when I hear people say how high-tech and "smart" this car is. Tell me this about your Durango: Will it let you leave the headlights on indefinitely without the key on? That one drives me nuts. Tell me why anybody needs the ability to leave the headlights on without also having the key in the ignition? Take the key out, and the headlights should not work (maybe after a delay to make it more "high end.")

 

If the lights are left in automatic, they turn off when you turn the car off, unless it's dark out and then they stay on for a few minutes. If you manually turn them on(not automatic), then they will stay on until the battery voltage goes down to a certain level at which they will shut off. This is to keep the battery from discharging enough that you wouldn't be able to start the engine. Every single thing including the DVD entertainment system, stereo, interior lights, power ports, etc all turn off at preset voltages. The interesting thing is that if you turn any of these things back on after they have been shed, they'll come back on, but will turn back off much faster than before. Our FX45 was very similar. I'm shocked that the Prius doesn't do this considering it's supposed advanced tech.

 

Have you installed one of these and if so what has been your experience? I have ordered the Battery Brain Bronze, so curious.