As I'm not driving my car, will leaving the engine idle for an hour:
1. charge the battery sufficiently each few days?
2. run the battery down
3. cause problems as no revving/load bearing on engine
I am not going to use my Prius for six months. What can I do to keep the starter battery alive? this battery is almost new. Also would like to hear if the long period of inaction will affect the main battery.
View 19 RepliesMy 2006 V8 sat for about 5 days last week. It started but apparently was flashing all kinds of low voltage alarms (according to my daughter, I was out of town)... She moved it aside and used another car... I charged the battery and cleared codes with the VCDS but within a day the battery was flat again. Battery test recommended replacing battery so I put a brand new battery in on Wednesday. We took the car on a trip of some 300 miles with no problems at all on Thursday, I drove the car Friday and Saturday with no indication of any problems (voltmeter in dash always sitting at 14+ volts, no messages or indications of any problems). Today (Sunday) battery is way flat again; my intelligent charger indicates 100% charge but just over 6 volts in the battery, and, based on the 100 % charge indications, stops charging and goes into Maintainer mode. My battery tester confirms the ~6 volts and recommends replacing the (brand new !) battery.
The battery management controller is: 3D0 915 181 D this being a 2006 should have the "updated" controller...
The car, suppose it is possible that this brand new battery is faulty but I believe it is much more likely something has gone haywire with the Phaeton...
Something is draining the battery after the car off and locked (I was alerted to look at the car because the lock lights on the door sill were no longer flashing).
If I can't charge up the battery to 12 volts yet another battery is indicated !?
In reading about battery problems I have never seen a suggestion on a particular device that fails ON and causes such a severe drain...
If the battery is in fact not being charged by the alternator how would this be checked ?
When I noticed no flashing lock lights on the car my first action was to disconnect the left (accessory) battery by taking off the negative lead. I then connected the charger which gave the indication of 100% charge but only 6 volts, and wouldn't charge beyond this. I disconnected the charger and connected the battery tester, which confirmed the 6 volt reading and recommended a new battery. I had to move the car as it was blocking other cars; I reconnected the battery and started the car by turning key to the left and back to the right, it started with "please start the engine" and a "level system fault" as expected, I could hear the switching relay in the trunk going on and off as expected, and I moved the car, left it running for a few minutes to move other cars, and parked it. I again removed the negative lead of the left hand battery and reconnected the charger. The "intelligent" charger now read 11.8 volts or so and a 16 % charge level, more reasonable but totally confusing as to why it changed. I disconnected the charger and used the battery tester which also read about 11.8 volts and, good news I guess, rated the battery OK. Right now the charger is reconnected and we'll see if it will bring the battery up to 12 volts and 100% charge...
Recently we went on trip requiring a 3 hour ferry ride. Decided to keep it in READY to listen to the stereo and maintain a minimal level of heat. I noticed the engine kicking on and no arrows from or to anywhere. The HV battery gauge was mostly down to 2-3 bars but still no arrows. There were times that it kicked on and the arrows showed the batteries being charged too. Was the engine kicking on without charging just to maintain the engine coolant temp to provide heat for the cabin, or what?
View 4 RepliesLeft the car out in the open for three days, temperatures three or four above freezing. In a car park. When leaving the car park, the Phaeton did not change out of 1st gear. I was only able to give the symptoms 50% of my attention as I was negotiating the car park and its exit - but as I moved out of the car park, and picked up speed the down shift didn't occur until just under 4000 rpm. After that initial hiatus, it changed gear perfectly. Left it again another two days out in the (relative) cold, and the strange behavior has not returned. I wouldn't mention it only it has done this once before, about 12 months ago. Selector was definitely in drive, not s, and definitely not over to the right for manual changing.
View 6 RepliesThis 2005 LeSabre with a 3.8 v-6 ran fine but had a marginal battery. Then the key got left on overnight leaving the battery totally dead. After jumping the battery and letting it charge, the engine cranked fine but refused to start. Haven't had a chance to check for fuel or spark. Why would a dead battery trigger this no start condition?
View 2 Replies2009 Hyundai Accent w/~90k miles
The other day my car failed, showing all the signs of a bad alternator (battery light on, lights dimming/flickering, etc.).Had a mechanic look at it and it was definitely the alternator - the bracket had even broken - as well as the battery.After replacing, though, it still has a problem with charging the battery, at least on initial start.Basically, when you start the car, the battery light comes on immediately. Hit the accelerator or drive 15-20 feet and the battery light goes out and the alternator starts charging again.
The mechanic thinks it is a wiring problem and said that would cost 800+ to fix. He suggested I just live with it. Does his diagnosis seem correct? Are there other things I should look at and/or test?
Just wondering if leaving the USB plugged in with the car is off drains the battery at all? Should I unplug it when I shut the car off or is it ok to just leave it plugged in?
View 4 RepliesI have a 95 Mazda protege. The battery went dead from leaving the lights on. We jumped it and everything was ok. Drove around, shut it off and it started again, no problem. The next day the car wouldn't start. Had dash lights, and it clicked but this time there is a high pitched noise. It is not an engine noise. I jumped it, it started right up. Tested the alternator, its putting out 14 volts. I could not find the source of the noise. I checked that all doors were closed and that sort of thing. I shut car off to see what would happen, the tone of the noise changed but car hadn't built up enough charge to re start.
View 13 RepliesIn comparing the battery drains on a Camry hybrid versus a Prius Gen II hybrid I discovered both have three stages of battery drains after a door open incident. On a Gen II Right after the door is open the drain was 1.37 amps.
View 11 RepliesI left my hazard lights on for 3 hours. Outdoor temp is 25 F
Car will not power up, no dash controls illuminate when fob is inserted and start button pressed.
Can I rectify this problem by jumping the accessory battery with a 12V power pack make to just art ordinary cars.
Can it be main battery that is the problem. It is the original 12 V battery.
Just wondering if leaving the key in the ignition in the lock position causes the car to draw power from the battery.
View 6 RepliesWill it drain the battery to leave the rear hatch open for extended time? i.e. for tailgating or camping (2008 Prius)
View 6 RepliesThe Phaeton is a 2003 6.0 W12 model. The car used to be a demo car and has currently around 80.000 km. It is not equipped with a keyless entry system. I recently put an Xcarlink device to connect my iPod. All the rest is a standard equipment (basically all available at that moment).
The problem with the car started when I could not open from the remote key. I tried to open the driver door, but the never used lock jammed. The only option was opening the trunk using the key. I had to lift the lid using some force against the dumpers, but it worked.
As the both batteries on the car were original 2003 (so went through the showroom period as well) I new that they cause the problem.
I bought two new batteries and replaced them. I proceeded according to the service manual so disconnected the right battery -, right +, left -, left +. I am pretty convinced that I did not blow the battery isolator. The left battery applied is 95Ah in place of 92 before. It has the max current of 800 A in place of 850 A. The right battery is exactly the same specification as before. After testing the old batteries the left one showed current of 2.8V so it was definitely broken. The right one seemed to be OK (12.58V)
After replacing the batteries I could open the car and all the entertainment systems and electronics inside would work except for:
1) The suspension lifting and tire pressure warning lights are on.
2) I cannot start the engine - it does not crank at all even using the emergency mode - two times start and back to accessories mode
3) The trunk lid does not close automatically.
I am getting the car towed to the local VW dealer tomorrow, but I am afraid they will see the Phaeton for the first time in their lives (small Dutch dealer nearby Utrecht), so I am a bit afraid of the car.
I just got a 2004, it did have a bad 12V battery which I did replace, still not charging.But First it is making a loud noise under the hood sounds like towards the right side.when I accelerate starts at 18 to 20 miles per hour. Tried sitting still with car in gear and pushing accelerator can not get it to make the noise that way, without the wheels rotating.
View 17 RepliesI don't own a Prius, but my parents own two identical 2002 models (each with 120k miles).
My mother's car wasn't driven for nearly a month (hip replacement), and when they tried to start it last week, the ready light would blink 3 times - but no cranking.
After taking it to the dealer, they were quoted $4600 to replace the traction battery and ECU. We did the mandatory research on rebuilt batteries, but with only a vague diagnosis from the dealer, we were not convinced that this was the (only) problem.
So, my brother and I decided to swap the ECU, then the battery from my father's working Prius to my mother's - thereby proving the issue. Upon removing the 'dead' battery from mother's car, I decided to open the module, and check each battery. We measured anywhere from 3.0 to 6.4V on the individual cells - and 7.0V to 11V on the paired cells. It was clear that the batteries had discharged unevenly. The total charge remaining was about 151V - still above the 40% SOC minimum I'd read about.
We then bought 5 x 10A chargers from Walmart, and connected each to a pair of modules. Set the charge to rapid (10A) and waited 30 minutes (or until the charger indicated full). After 2 hours, all 19 pair were charged fully - with each reporting 15.7V +/- 0.5V. The total power was about 295V.
We reassembled the battery, re-installed it, and the car started immediately. We let it sit running, until it cycled off on its own. About 5 min later, the ICE fired again to charge the 12V battery - but it threw a P3006 error code. It showed a PS + MAIN + battery icon on the MFD. Using an OBDII scan tool, we cleared the error, and drove the car for a few miles. The error code did not return during that drive - but did one more time after letting it cycle off/on automatically. After clearing the code a second time, it never repeated again.
My assumption is that the 300V HV charge was above the 80% SOC and it didn't like that. But after a few cranking cycles, and the tendency for the battery to discharge back to it's rated output, the error no longer repeated.
Is there anyway to charge a couple of batt cells by running the car.
Just replaced 2 packs and there voltage is 2-3 volts lower than the rest of the batt packs? the ones replaced are at 14.5 to 15 where the others are at 17-18 volts.
Have a 2009 with 25K on it, purchased in April when they were practically giving them away. Recently did an oil change and got snow tires, then left my husband in car with heat on for 20+ minutes, and now mileage is in the 30's and the battery isn't charging itself or regenerating. What could be going on?
View 6 RepliesI have got Prius 2004. I have got a problem. With MFD. It's showing the screen where it should show that the battery is charging but it's not showing the charging at all. Car is running fine and starts as normal. I have changed the 12V battery but it's still not showing the charging.
View 6 RepliesRight now my husband and I are driving from San Luis Obispo Ca to LA and back in a day. We noticed right before the grape vine on the I5 that the engine was really working, even on flat ground. Looked at the battery and it was purple. We have been driving for about 2 hours averaging about 70mph on mostly flat land. The battery finally charged itself on the big downhill of the grapevine (I5) but we're noticing we're running right through it again unless we start to break more. So, it's not getting any recharge during driving, just breaking. Can it be the generator? What causes this?
View 5 RepliesMy battery frozed because I never take it and it just doesn't charge enough when I do.
Now I took it in, charging. When I took it in it was in good condition, no cracks, no frost/ice
Now, after about 1/2 hour of charging it's all frosted and the connectors of the battery also...it is inside in my room at about 19C and charging at 6 amps.