Sitting Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Stevensonmiles, Apr 13, 2023.

  1. Stevensonmiles

    Stevensonmiles New Member

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    2011 Prius
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    I have 2011 Prius that was sitting for 2 years.
    Trying to get the car working again.
    I replaced the 12 volt to get the car to turn on.
    The gas motor won’t turn on. I was wondering if there’s a way to get the car on without replacing the main drive battery. From my understanding the gas engine charged the battery. Since it was sitting for so long I’m assuming the main battery is totally dead. Any suggestions would be great thank you See photo of dash
     
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    You could get a charger from somebody You need to be charging that thing at about I think my Venice hybrid charger is putting out in the mode I'm supposed to be using it for the Prius at like 313 volts the Prius is a 211 volt DC system so you need a pretty stout charger Right now what happens with the charged up 12 volt when you try to ready the car or push the button and touch the brake what are you getting do you see the ready light You did drive this car before and all that right You know how one of these starts there's no starter etc? I'd be interested to know with your charged proven to be good and load tested 12 volt what happens when you try to ready the car not start it?
     
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
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    There's 3 states of "awakeness" in the Prius, more-or-less similar to any car:

    Accessory (one push of start button without foot on brake): pretty much just the radio is functional
    On (two pushes of start button without foot on brake): all electrics on, heat/vent working
    Ready (one push of start button with foot on brake): completely on, engine cycling on/off

    If you can get the car "On", you can assess the condition of the hybrid battery with Dr Prius phone app (about $10~15 IIRC). You'll need an OBD bluetooth dongle; Carista (about $30 IIRC) works well. Just do the basic, static test, and you could post a screen-grab here.

    It looks like this:

    3F7A3714-FDA5-413C-B6C9-6D4F1A957F35.png

    Dr Prius will also display stored trouble codes, maybe not all, but worth checking that function.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    There’s no way to start the car without charging the battery or replacing it.
    And it might not even take a charge at this point
     
  5. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Toyota "may" be able to charge it for you. Worth an ask....
    Or, you could get the Prolong charger only, and charge it up.
    Or get a few of those RC car chargers and charge one battery at a time.
    Having to disconnecting the wire connectors on the batteries.
    You could try using a 12v battery charger and charge 2 batteries in series.
    It won't get them fully charged, but maybe enough to get you going.
    Though the pack won't be balanced. But you might get away with it.

    I would suggest the Prolong charge/discharge system. They you can balance the pack.


     
  6. ColoradoCrow

    ColoradoCrow Senior Member

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    Hi. Welcome. sitting for 2 years is the kiss of death. For sure the hybrid battery is dead. You could buy a MAXX Volts.charger for $375 on ebay and install the harness and try and renew it. If you have bad gas in it I would drain it and fill about 5 gallons with 91 octane. Once it start make sure it is in a well ventilated area ad let it run for awhile to recharge the battery with the onboard invertor. (like 30 minutes or more) THen drive it slowly. Hope there are no rodent chew damage to wiring. Or consider having it towed to a Hybrid shop for $100 and pay them to fix it. How many miles on it?