We took our 2013 Prius to florida and use the car every few months. I'd like to know if anyone has installed a battery cut off switch and wired it from the battery inside the car where its driver accessible without having to open up the rear battery compartment when we want to switch it back on ? Ideally Id like to know what parts are needed, where I can buy them so I can have a mechanic install them for me - Or do they make a solar powered trickle charger that would be safe to install and use on the battery instead? When using a cut off - is it connected on the positive or the negative post of the battery ? If I use a cut off switch will I need to cancel out any codes that might be generated from disconnecting the battery ? Sorry if this question has already been asked Thank you A
just add wire: ref=asc_df_B007O0BBFM sometimes, when you disconnect the 12v, you lose radio presets, or auto window function. you can fix that by holding the window switch all the way down, then all the way up. some complain that you lose computer learning, and mpg's go down for awhile, then come back with driving, and others that the car won't start, and you have to hold the power button down until it does, or press it 3 times. it's random though, i'm not sure why.
For a Gen 3, you can just pop the hood and unplug the fat white wire in the underhood fuse box; that's the same as disconnecting the battery. As with disconnecting the battery, there will be things like the clock, radio presets, etc., that have to be reset. The engine may run poorly for a while after you restart (sometimes poorly enough to make a transmission clatter that sounds awful) until it relearns its parameters. If you have the advanced parking guidance, you'll see an "initializing" message until you turn the steering fully left and fully right on flat ground. In earlier generations, the power windows would forget where up is, and you'd have to reset those. Gen 3 windows are supposed to remember, but it seems maybe sometimes they don't. As a compromise, maybe look into pulling the short pin that Georgina described: D/C cut, short pin dome fuse | PriusChat It doesn't cut all power to the car, but some of the things most responsible for battery drain when off. Maybe there are fewer things to relearn after (but I've never tried it, or studied the wiring closely enough to be sure).
In your shoes I'd probably do the solar trickle charge. I already do that x2 for a backup generator and a lawn tractor, they both have Prius-sized 12v batteries and sit a long time between starts and it's been working great.
