Battery going dead or something else?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Jeffrey9910, Jan 23, 2012.

  1. Jeffrey9910

    Jeffrey9910 Junior Member

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    Newb here, found forum while googling some stuff on the Prius. I have a 2006 Prius with 115,000 miles that I've been having some problems with recently. Over the past 2 months the car wouldn't start 3 times. Once I jump it it runs fine for 2-3 weeks. This morning it happened again. Whole looking back on it everytime seems tj happen when the car doesn't run very long before I shut it off again.

    Took it by dealer today and to ask them and setup a appointment. They think I have a battery going dead and he quoted it as $220 to replace. When I went to leave dealer the flashers blinked 2-3 times before it finally started. Done same thing when I got home. I also noticed when I locked the door that the red key light stayed on, instead of normal blinking. Went back out about 10 minutes later and it was blinking as normal.

    So does that sound like a battery? Is $220 the right price? I'm the first owner of the car. Oil changes every 5000 miles and all servicing the dealership recommended when they told me. So just looking for other opinions.

    Thanks,
    Jeffrey
     
    #1 Jeffrey9910, Jan 23, 2012
  2. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    #2 JimboPalmer, Jan 23, 2012
  3. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/73400-weird-stuff-happening-mpgs-dropping-test-battery.html - run this test after letting the car sit all day or overnight. Tell us the values after each step.

    If you have the original battery on the 06, it's almost certainly toast by now. I changed mine on my 06 to an Optima Yellow Top in February 2011 (http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...id-seattle-area-installers-2.html#post1264180). Many here recommend that over another OEM Toyota batery, even though it won't save you any money on the battery.

    http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...-12v-yellow-top-d51-battery-pencil-posts.html is out now which requires less work to install since it has the proper size terminals for the Prius.

    Side note: There was some discussion at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...860-new-12v-battery-part-28800-21171-a-5.html about a part # and pricing changes of the OEM Toyota 12 volt. That's for the part only.
     
    #3 cwerdna, Jan 23, 2012
  4. Jeffrey9910

    Jeffrey9910 Junior Member

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    Ok thanks guys. Will run test in the morning or tomorrow after work. Couple questions. What makes the Optima better? Why do people prefer it over the Toyota OEM one? If I buy the yellow top, I can just swap it out with no extra tools required, right? Are they easy to replace?

    As of now have a service scheduled for Friday but sure they probably don't offer the Optima as a replacement.
     
    #4 Jeffrey9910, Jan 23, 2012
  5. stevemcelroy

    stevemcelroy Active Member

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    I'll let others chime in on the technical benefits of the Optima. There are 2 different version of the Optima - one that is a direct fit and the other that needs an adapter kit - just be sure of which one you buy.

    It took me about 40 minutes to replace my battery with the Optima direct fit, and if I had to do it again I would imagine it would take half that time. As far as I remember all you need in terms of tools are a wrench and the proper size socket. Before starting in I watched a couple of youtube videos which helped quite a bit and I'd recommend that you do the same if you choose to go with the Optima.
     
    #5 stevemcelroy, Jan 23, 2012
  6. tv4fish

    tv4fish Member

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    Jeffrey: I replaced my original battery in my 2005 with the Optima Yellow Top (the one that has the battery post adaptors). I can send you detailed instructions if you want - just shoot me a PM. :)
     
    #6 tv4fish, Jan 24, 2012
  7. MJFrog

    MJFrog Active Member

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    Q - why is the yellow-top better than OEM?
    A - The yellow-top is a deep-cycle AGM battery. The OEM battery does not handle full discharge well, while the yellow-top will bounce right back (unless it was absolutely COMPLETE discharge...very hard to do).

    Also, while the OEM battery is listed as an AGM battery, it still contains a small amount of liquid sloshing around. The Optima electrolyte is a gel.
     
    #7 MJFrog, Jan 24, 2012
  8. Jeffrey9910

    Jeffrey9910 Junior Member

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    Ok now I'm baffled. Went to local dealer today to get them to check out the battery. They said its fine. Here's the results they gave me:

    Rated CCA: 356
    Measured CCA: 373
    Measured Volts: 12.16
    Degrees: 61

    State of charge: 60%
    State of Heath: He says it says high and kinda looks like it does but then again it has a line closer to 35% Heath. Just can't tell if line is printer mess up or if it's actually pointing to full Heath. Seems hard to believe after six years to still be full.

    Edit: here's a pic of the printout. (can't post URL's so put http in front of following)
    i188.photobucket.com/albums/z288/Jeffrey9910/5a69c9ca.jpg
    He said if it wasn't full it wouldn't be shaded all the way to the high end. But see the vertical line about three marks from low? The way I see it that's showing the Heath. He said it was just a messup on the printout. I don't know. Any thoughts?
     
    #8 Jeffrey9910, Jan 27, 2012
  9. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Dealer battery tests are often worthless.

    Tom
     
    #9 qbee42, Jan 27, 2012
  10. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yep.
     
    #10 cwerdna, Jan 27, 2012
  11. Jeffrey9910

    Jeffrey9910 Junior Member

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    Really? That sucks. Lol. Ok. Thanks guys for all the help. Will probably try and make it last next two weeks till next paycheck then just have them put one in it so I don't have to deal with it not starting anymore.
     
    #11 Jeffrey9910, Jan 27, 2012
  12. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    As an example, take it from one of resident repair experts (not me): http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...turned-off-then-wont-start-3.html#post1310197.
     
    #12 cwerdna, Jan 27, 2012
  13. Jeffrey9910

    Jeffrey9910 Junior Member

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    Finally got around to running the test. It was 11.8 in acc mode. When I press start button it dropped to 11.3 and after it was running it was 13.9.
     
    #13 Jeffrey9910, Jan 30, 2012
  14. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Your battery is on its way out. The 13.9 volt reading only means that the DC to DC converter is able to properly supply power to the 12V bus. The other readings are too low.

    Tom
     
    #14 qbee42, Jan 30, 2012
  15. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Replace it yourself, it's much cheaper and easy to do.
     
    #15 andyprius, Feb 1, 2012
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