Service is coming. I have road service reimbursement. Do i have to disconnect ground cable if jumping it to start and not recharging it? The service guy said they would hook up a charge box to it but didn't need to take off the ground cable. I should make sure he switched the power of the box off when connecting and disconnecting the cables, right? Does it work to leave it idling or do i have to drive it and for how long, city, hwy. Manual shows a way to jump from another vehicle, but it needs another car with a 12V battery. Most cars have a 12V battery though don't they, or are they the wrong type and have to have another hybrid car to jump from. Do you use "regular"cables to do this? What is reverse polarity and what did they do to the car that damaged the control system? Thanks for your help. Guy should be here in 45 minutes. Anyone out there now? 12:30 Eastern Paula
Your Prius has a high voltage hybrid battery and that is separate from your 12 V "starting" battery. You don't have to take off any cables. The instructions for jumping someone else's car would be the same for jumping your car. You don't need to pull the service plug as that is for your hybrid battery. Reverse polarity is putting the positive to the negative and yes that can cause damage. Oh and yes you can use regualar cables Oh yeah as for your 12 V battery, if it dropped to 3.3V and your car will not start, it will likely need a new battery and idling probably will not work.
Judging for the age of your Prius, more likely that your AUX 12VDC battery will need a replacement, it is typical after 4 years of use and better yet getting cold in Winter time
welcome! just make sure the service guy connects red to positive and black to negative. cross polarization can be bad for prius. all the best!
All good advice (I just replaced the 12V battery in my 2009 Gen II), it is NOT ADVISED to "jump" another vehicle from a Prius! BTW Welcome to PriusChat, and Happy New Year! - Good luck!
