"P" button does not light on the morning and car won't start

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by waddahsunnaa, Mar 14, 2011.

  1. waddahsunnaa

    waddahsunnaa New Member

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    I have 2007 Prius with smart system. Recently, at the morning the car would not start and give "Ready" on the dash board and the engine does not start. When this happened, a message on the screen is appear as follow: There is a problem with park mechanisim, park the vechile on a flat surface and apply fully brake etc... . I replaced the 12 V battery as I told but the problem still exsist. To say the full story, you enter the car, push the start button while your foot on the brake paddle, the dashboard light but the engine would not start and give "Ready" I noticed that the light on the "P" button does not light, after I connect additional battery from another car to the 12 V battery (even the battery is new) the car engine works again and the "P" light again and it works after that smoothly all the day even I turn off and on for several time through the whole day and even if I park at work at 9AM and come back on PM to go home it work again as nothing happened. Only in the morning it does this. Can anyone help or did any one face a simliar problem.
     
    #1 waddahsunnaa, Mar 14, 2011
  2. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    I'm sure others will give their comments but I personally would check that the trunk light is actually going off and not staying on all night running the 12v down. I'd also check both interior lights too to make sure they haven't been left on by mistake.

    You say you replaced the 12v recently but has it been allowed to run completely flat since? Do you do mainly short journeys?
     
    #2 GrumpyCabbie, Mar 14, 2011
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If the car will work after connecting another battery via jump cables, then clearly there is something wrong with the new battery that was installed, or else the car has an unusual quiescent current drain.

    I suggest that you try charging the battery, and if it doesn't hold a charge then you'll need to replace it.

    If the battery is found to be good, then connect a digital multimeter in series with the negative battery cable, set to read current. When the car is IG-OFF and all doors and hatch are closed, the current draw should be around 0.02A. If much more, you'll need to figure out where the excess current drain is coming from.
     
    #3 Patrick Wong, Mar 14, 2011
  4. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    Also double check that you've got good clean tight connections at the battery.
     
    #4 uart, Mar 14, 2011
  5. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Most likely some small internal lamp is staying on all night and draining the battery. If so it will soon kill the battery completely. If there are any after-market electronics installed they also are very suspect.
     
    #5 richard schumacher, Mar 14, 2011
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