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Trouble Jumping with NOCO

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by AVS1, Aug 21, 2020.

  1. AVS1

    AVS1 Junior Member

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    Hello - I believe my interior reading light was left on while my car was parked for a week. It’s a 2008 and the 12v battery is maybe a year or 2 old. I put the NOCO to the back and Was able to get the dash to light up and the computer screen as well, but the gas engine wouldn’t turn over.

    Am I doing this wrong? I thought all you do is hook up the NOCO and it will fire right up, or at least that’s what I recall from the last time this happened last year. Help!
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    hard to say. it might be a bad 12v, or something else is wrong. are you getting the ready light?

    do you have a volt meter?

    do you have an obd reader?
     
  3. scona

    scona Active Member

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    I have a NOCO GB 40. To use it you have to hook up the leads to the battery as you did. Then push the white power button.
    The white (boost) led should light up if you are properly connected. You may have to leave it connected for a few minutes before
    it transfers enough juice into your battery to start. Then the Prius should crank ok. If not try leaving connected with the lights on the NOCO for a bit longer before cranking. Good Luck.
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    yes your doing it wrong. never hook up anything directly to the battery in the trunk always use the front jump point toyota gave you under the hood in the black plastic fuse box. RTOM.

    When done charging the battery with car off measure the dc at that front jump point with a meter.

    With car off turn on the headlights in high beam for exactly 5 minutes.

    With car off turn off the headlights after 5 mins then wait one minute then measure the dc at the front jump point.

    A healthy 12 volt battery should not drop 1 volt after this benign test. Your battery will probably fail that test because if you discharge that little battery so deep with a light bulb it damages its cells and will never ever hold a solid charge again.
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    Is the "NOCO" a jump pack, basically a portable/compact power source with cables and clamps?

    That is not a charger, just a device to get you started in an emergency, say on the way to buying a charger and/or replacement battery.
     
  6. AVS1

    AVS1 Junior Member

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    **UPDATE**

    Ok, so part of my issue was that my NOCO was not fully charged which cased some delay. The 12v was so low due to a light being on and the car not started for 7-8 days that everything ran dead. No interior lights or anything when I got back in the car. When I hooked it up, the NOCO was not reading any life, so I had to put it in the override mode. Once in that mode, the car lights came on.... my issue was that it needed to sit like that for a few minutes before going into ready mode. More so than anything, I was just a little impatient.

    HOWEVER.... I wanted to squash something... I was under the impression that jumping it from the back was the way to go, but @edthefox5 seemed pretty adamant that the front ports is where to do it? Is this correct? Is there any harm to going it from the back? I feel like I read conflicting info on this - perhaps it was not regarding a jump, etc.

    Anywho.... Thanks for this information. Moral of the story - don't leave the damn reading light on, but also keep your NOCO charged too!
     
    Mendel Leisk and bisco like this.
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk EGR Fanatic

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    You can jump start either at the fuse box under the hood, or directly at the battery, either will work.

    Again: don't kid yourself that a jump start has revived your battery. Chances are it's toast, somewhat dependent on age, but verify, with an electronic load test.
     
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Nothing conflicting about the place to jump. Read the owners manual that's where they want you to jump that's why its there and thats why its called The Front Jump Point.

    Safer easier quicker. Most people who reverse the polarity leads when doing a jump and damage there car do it because there in the dark trunk. Idiot after idiot on this site with a dead battery will open the door with the key then crawl in the back take the hatch storage basket out then open the hatch latch all of that sucks and a lot of work when all you have to do is pop the hood to get to the FJP.

    Also that's where the battery should be maintenance charged and that's where the battery voltage should be tested. Been tending my 12 volt battery from the FJP for 13 years.

    It only matters what the voltage is at the front jump point because that FJP is bolted to the main B+ lug in the main fuse box under the hood.
    The Cars main 100 amp hardwire fuse is hooked to that lug.

    By testing the battery in that fuse box FJP you are testing 8 connections and a long power lead that goes under the car and a 100 amp fuse from the trunk before it even gets to that fuse box. And also will see its 1/2 volt voltage drop across all those.

    Just because it measures ok in the trunk is meaningless.