My wife was having a problem with the 2001 Prius losing power then shutting down when in heavy stop & go traffic. The error lights would light up on the display and after a few stalls it would not restart. After checking it out I found the 12V battery was bad. Of course I could not find a battery locally except thru the dealer so here is what I did. I went to AutoZone & got a DuraLast Gold 51R battery, a new Negative battery Cable and a Lynx universal Lead-Free Terminal kit to replace the Positive cable end. This battery is longer than the stock battery so I had to remove the battery bracket, install a 10" 2x4 under the battery, install battery with new negitive cable and Positive cable end. After that I made a new battery holder out of 1" wide steel bar stock. Now I have an 8 year battery that is more powerful, will last longer and is easy to find. I still love my 51mpg 2001 Prius with only 94,000 miles.
Thanks, new PC poster! If your new positive terminal is uninsulated, there might be a small risk of it somehow making contact with the new steel hold-down. But I worry perhaps too much about things like that...
