battery dead? jumped but wont stay running

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by ricardodavis, Jan 25, 2012.

  1. ricardodavis

    ricardodavis New Member

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    so here's my issue. I've got a 2006 Prius, its done this a few times before but self-resolved, this time it stayed dead- cold morning pressed power- all the gear lights blinked on-off, the fuel guage goes up and down and no ability to engage gears. I jumped it and got it to look "normalish": in park, normal dashboard lights, etc but when I tried to engage the gear into drive it just wanted to go to neutral. i thought maybe it knows that its still attached to the jumper so I unhooked all that and when I got back into the prius it was dead-dead again- no lights, nada. I was doing this by myself- did I not charge long enough? or is there something more going on with the jumping of a prius?
    thanks
     
    #1 ricardodavis, Jan 25, 2012
  2. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Your dead battery is dragging down the 12V bus. Replace the battery. If you must drive it without a new battery, disconnect the 12V battery and then jump to start. Do not reconnect the dead battery or it will drag down the bus again.

    Tom
     
    #2 qbee42, Jan 25, 2012
  3. ricardodavis

    ricardodavis New Member

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    I'm not sure if I want to be mucking around with that fusebox. shouldnt i be able to charge it enough with a jump to be able to drive it to the dealer (like I could do with a conventional system)
     
    #3 ricardodavis, Jan 25, 2012
  4. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    It has nothing to do with the system being conventional or otherwise. It has to do with how dead your battery is. A really dead battery creates a short, keeping the 12V system from running properly. From your description you have a really dead battery.

    You don't have to muck around in the fusebox. The 12V battery is in the back, under the floorboards. If you want to disconnect it, just remove the negative wire. If you are uncomfortable doing this, then it would make sense to have your Prius transported to a dealer, or pay someone to install a new battery at your location.

    Alternately, put your battery on a charger overnight. It may take enough of a charge to get you to the dealer.

    Tom
     
    #4 qbee42, Jan 25, 2012
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