I was doing interior work on my Prime yesterday for maybe an hour with the car "on." In that time, I depleted the 12v battery to the point where it wouldn't start the car. Just flickering lights and nothing else. So I jump started it with my Durango (all about balance with the MPGs!) and the car started right up... with the CEL lit up. Does anyone know if this is normal and just something that needs to be reset? The car is running perfectly, no issues at all. It charged overnight with no problems and drove today also. I know the manual says once you jump it to take it to the dealership and am just wondering if this is an automatic CEL that happens on a jump as a way for Toyota to make a few bucks "inspecting" it after a jump start... Thanks!
try disconnecting the 12v negative for a few minutes. also, what voltage is the 12v now measuring? you may have seriously compromised it.
Personally, I would ignore the CEL (as long as everything seems OK) for a couple of days and see if it resets itself. Just what I would do, but what do I know?
I've seen cascading failures as a car's battery dies. It usually results in network failures as various modules (the ones sufficiently downstream so that the added resistance on the power lines drop them out first) begin to fail from power loss. These usually result in the CEL lighting off. I've seen some cars clear them automatically but sometimes you need to do it manually.
Assess the 12 volt battery, or get it assessed. The most rudimentary approach, just see what voltage it's reading, when the car's off, after sitting overnight. Better: do an electronic load-test, with something like the Solar BA5 (or BA7), or get an automotive battery retailer to do it, they typically would have a pro-level tester of that sort. Or the dealership could do similar, but they'll likely charge you (no pun intended), somewhere between $50 and $100. Or they might do it for free. You've likely partially run down the battery, due to prolonged use. It's not a big battery; you pretty much have to avoid this kind of use, completely. A jump start does not restore it completely. A full session with an appropriate smart charger probably will revive it, but it will be somewhat compromised, I would start shopping replacements sooner than later, say 4 years vs 5.
Sorry it took me forever to get back on here. CraigM, I took your advice and ignored it. There weren’t any weird things happening and the car was running completely normal. After about two days it just shut itself off. No problems since. Thanks for the replies!
