Trouble Fitting 12v Battery

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by deft-holm-trendy, May 15, 2018.

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  1. deft-holm-trendy

    deft-holm-trendy Junior Member

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    I have a 2008 Prius that I purchased new. Recently, my battery died and I am trying to replace it. I went to the Canadian Tire page and inputted my car information. The only result was a Motomaster Eliminator Ultra AGM battery. I went and purchased it. I followed youtube tutorials and have pulled out my existing battery.

    However, when I went to put in the new battery, I found it to be too big to fit. The new Motomaster battery is about 4cm bigger than my stock battery that I removed. I found that the bracket that holds the battery has a piece that limits the width of the battery that is placed in the battery slot. I cannot simply remove the width part of the bracket, as it is attached to the long screw piece necessary for the bolt holding down the other part of the battery bracket.

    When I compare with online videos, I do not see other Prius vehicles with this same bracket. Is this a Canadian thing? Is there anything I can do to remove the width part of the bracket without damaging the rest of the bracket? Should I just go with a Toyota stock battery?

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    #1 deft-holm-trendy, May 15, 2018
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I assume that your Prius does not have the Smart Entry/Smart Start feature, hence that is why it was equipped with the shorter 12V battery. You can replace the battery bracket with a bracket that will fit the longer battery used with SE/SS Prius, or else buy the shorter battery from your Toyota dealer.

    Note that the replacement battery has an A-15 sticker on it. Usually that means the battery was built in January 2015. If that is a correct interpretation of that sticker, I would refuse that battery.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, May 15, 2018
  3. deft-holm-trendy

    deft-holm-trendy Junior Member

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    Thank you for your reply. I have a key fob that I can use to lock/unlock my doors but it does not have a proximity sensor. And I have to plug my fob into the car to start it. Where can I find this longer battery bracket? Can it be purchased at a Toyota dealer? What phrase do I search for if I want to search on eBay?
     
    #3 deft-holm-trendy, May 15, 2018
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    You can buy the longer battery bracket at your local Toyota dealer.
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, May 15, 2018
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Looks like the Eliminator has different style posts too. I would just buy the correct battery those factory battery’s are very high quality and will out perform anything you can buy. My original battery lasted almost 7 years.
    The less interaction Over the years with the 12 volt the better.
     
    #5 edthefox5, May 16, 2018
  6. jessiejosco

    jessiejosco Member

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    I have that battery in both of my Priuses. Its cheaper than the dealer battery and it has a 5 year warranty. Battery posts are correct and it has the vent hole in the right place.
    In Canada I have only gotten about 3 to 4 years out of the dealer batteries so I don't see how I can do any worse with these.

    I had the same fitment issue in the non keyless Prius we have. I would stick with the bigger battery because it has more reserve. I just cut the end off the battery bracket to fit the bigger battery in. The battery is still well secured and stable.
     
    #6 jessiejosco, May 16, 2018
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