Prius (2004-09) :: Car Is Not Keeping The Battery At 60% SOC In Hot Weather
Jul 29, 2013
So, I noticed after the week long heatwave (using Priidash and the Prius display) that during normal driving (under 65mph and slow accel) that my prius is NOT keeping the battery at 60% SOC....It is staying in the low 50's or as low as 39.5%....If I go above 70mph, I see the battery being drained and not recharged at all....I reset the battery (twice) the first time it made no difference but the second time the car turned on and said I had 60% SOC when in reality before the ECU reset I was at 49.5%. I know my battery is good because I have stress tested it many times. Its in great shape. The only thing I've done differently these past few weeks is I left the car in Park with the AC on 75 auto for about 5hrs on 4 different days....Its a 2004 Prius.
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I have posted separately about my 'supposed' dead HV dead battery. The charge was down to one bar and the the system didn't allow ICE to start for recharge. I finally got a reading of a about 207 volts today and when I fiddled with the start button on and off a few time today, the ICE started. After about 15 sec.
It indicated it was pumping juice into the battery. When it finally got up to about 4 bars it turned off. I had to move the car off the tow dolly (it's home for the past week) and did so in electric mode even though there was a Ready on the display the engine never came on. Before maneuvering it around much I tried to get the ICE to start again to recharge the battery, now down to 2 bars.
By pressing the gas in park and neutral, it would start and rev up but never generated any power to the battery. Fiddled around with the power button some on/off/on, etc. until I got the ready light and sometimes it would start charging but only once did it charge to 6 bars and usually stopped as soon as there were 4 bars.
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I noticed that if I turn on the car and just drive with the AC on, depending on the outside temperature, the battery goes down to 2-3 bars from 6 bars within a mile a so. As it has been discussed in this forum extensively, the higher the battery charge swing, the lower the battery life. I noticed something yesterday, I warmed up the car till the engine stops with the AC on, and then the drive off. The battery stayed at 6 bars for all my commute and I believe this is healthy for the battery. Suggest/observe similar behavior or am I just burning gas for nothing. I have a scan gauge and definitely you get worse fuel economy for the first few miles if you warm up the car.
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The Volt has a mode called "mountain" that keeps the battery at least 40% full at all times. Does the Prius Plugin have a mode to keep its EV-mode battery a minimum percentage?
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Does the engine turn on and off frequently lead to a lower engine life? I have always heard that the biggest wear on an engine happens when it is turned on. If the oil is draining from the Prius engine each time stops it seems like there would be a lot of engine wear.
Does the Prius (2010) engine have some way of keeping the engine lubricated when it is turned off?
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I am having heat issues with my 2004 Prius. Recently it has been difficult for the defroster to keep the windshield clear and the heat output is clearly not normal. It's chilly here in Vermont so having heater is important. I have been doing some reading in this forum and have gained some insight into how the heating system works.
One observation I notice is that the radiator does not seem to get hot at all. If I open the cap on clear overfill tank under the hood it appears to be full. In fact the coolant seems to be circulating through this tank. If I dunk my finger into the fluid it is only warm. There is a warning about not opening when hot but it is not hot so I can open it.
As I sit in the car I can hear liquid circulating through in the dash board area. When I change heater setting to enable different vents and defrost each change produces sounds that would make me believe the mechanical things are working ok. It's just not very warm.
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I got a new Prius Plug-in 2012 and when the cold weather came this winter, which isn't that cold at 40F, the 12v battery seems to get discharged very often. This week, I must have jumpstarted the car twice already. The 12v battery seems to get drained when I park outside in the (not so) cold, or when I park underground for hours. I also notice that the traction battery gets filled up; it's as if the 12v battery drains into the traction battery.
(I leased a Prius 2010, not plug-in, for 3 years and this never happened even if I parked it for days in even colder weather.)
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On a hot sunny day, occasionally I have to be stopped for extended periods with the A/C running which means the engine will come on for a few minutes out of every 10 minutes or so. to charge the traction battery. Engine comes on at 2 bars and goes off at 3 bars.
As engine efficiency at idle is low, would it be better to put it in D with the brake firmly pressed and push the accelerator so that the engine speed is in the high efficiency range so as to produce more charge for the fuel burnt and maybe also I could charge it to a few more bars on the battery indicator?
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"Vehicle with smart key system: The indicator light flashes after the "POWER" switch has been turned OFF to indicate that the system is operating." I have noticed that my immobilizer light will not blink when it has the no start issue. usually when the key is out the light blinks but when it won't blink.... it won't start.
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I just got a 2005 Prius, it is getting about 40-43MPG in 50F weather. This is my first time with a hybrid, much less a Prius. Is this normal for this car in this weather, or does something seem wrong.
The 12V seems to be getting about 11.7-11.8 under load.
Tire pressure is about 33PSI, going to increase it most likely from the sounds of other people having it higher.
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I have seen several posts recommending Costal Tech's mod to keep one of the aux power sockets ("cigarette lighter") live. However, this does not work for the 2010 Prius (works only until 2009). How to make the cigarette lighter live even when the car is turner OFF?
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It has been cold recently (out of the past week, highs in 20's or lower). This hasn't been as much of an issue before, but in the past week I have had the red triangle of death, brake warning light, check engine light, and VSC light all come on at the same time, three separate times. Also, the display screen shows a red outline of a car with "!" through it. Each time this has happened, the lights didn't come on as soon as the car was "Ready" but only after the gas engine was running for a minute or two.
The first time the lights came on, I was driving back from class, but after I got back to my house I did some internet research and saw it may be a low oil indicator. Checked the oil, it was almost at the bottom mark on the dipstick, and it had been over 10,000 miles since the last one (oops! we don't normally do that). After reading some stories online, I took it in to get an oil change, and the lights went off for a couple days. Second time the lights came on, I checked the oil level, it was definitely over-filled, so I took it back to Walmart and had them redo the oil so that it was at the right level. I checked the oil level before leaving the parking lot that time and it was at the top mark on the dipstick. Again, all the lights were off for a couple days.
Today, I drove my car for about an hour in the morning (temperature was around upper teens, wind chill below 10) and had no problems. Then, this evening I turn the car on and start driving out of the parking lot when the car beeps at me and flashes all of the warning lights again. I drove back to my house and it is now sitting in the driveway. I am not planning on driving it until I can have a car mechanic friend take a look at it on Tuesday, but he doesn't know anything about the hybrid system/battery.
My wife and I have also noticed that since the weather has been colder, the hybrid battery (shown on the "Energy" screen when driving) seems to be charging and discharging much faster than normal. I haven't seen it at only 1 bar or full of green bars more than a couple times in the 2.5ish years we have owned the car, but in the past two weeks it has happened 5-10 times (estimated). I am not sure if this is due to the weather, or if it could indicate a problem with the (hybrid?) battery. For obvious reasons, this makes us nervous :/
As a side note, I changed the transmission fluid sometime in December, so I was wondering if possibly I didn't put enough fluid back in. I have checked the diagnostic screen and found some codes, but most of them seem to relate to the audio, which doesn't concern me as much as the code that seems to indicate the transmission, which is why I mention the change I did a while back. I just don't know why it wouldn't have shown up until now. I'll attach some pictures I took tonight of the codes and lights.
Also, the battery is a couple years old, but after sitting for a couple hours the battery was reading 12.1 V according to the diagnostic screen, so I don't think that is the issue. We haven't had any trouble getting the car to start, and once it is running it still seems to drive normally with the warning lights on. What these codes mean, and a possible cause for the warning lights?
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I think this happened last year. Whenever it happened, I know it's happened before. It only happens when it's cold outside. Yesterday, it was 18ºF which, Priapus was happy to show me, equates to -6ºC.
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I have an 05 Prius with 108k miles I bought about 2 months ago. My commute to work each morning is 1.5 miles with speeds of 25mph or less.
Usually the car has acted the same way each day. The ice spins consistently as I creep along to work. But last night the temps dropped to -10f and this morning when I left for work it was about 3 above. I turned on the car and instead of the few seconds after ready it takes for the ice to turn on it turned on right away today. I let it warm for about 3 minutes then set off. Right away I noticed the ice start to Rev up.
And as I slowly approached 25 MPH it was revving abnormally high. It was showing energy from the ice to the wheels and to the mg and charging the battery which was at the normal state of charge. All blue, right before green. When I stopped at a light about 1 mile in the ice turned off as normal, and started right away as normal. But it seemed the ice was still revving as if it was working very hard to pick up a slow increase in speed.
I pulled into my parking spot, battery showing green state of charge now, and the motor stopped as usual. I do not run the heat on this trip and it takes usually 5 minutes, so I just tough it out.
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I've been having a few problems with keeping my ipod connected with Entune. I was working fine but lately the ipod screen keeps saying loading. Then when I switch to another source like FM, then back to Ipod, I also get a "Function not available" screen. The only thing that has fixes this is to hard reboot my ipod, and turn off the car and restart.
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Is there any way to keep the front white LED lights on with the driving lights?
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It has been very cold and snowy recently. This morning when I left for work it was about -6 degrees F. After about 15 miles into a 55 mile trip down a snow free road with a 70 mph speed limit I had an unusual experience. Cruise is set at 75 (based on GPS), had to slow down to negotiate around a couple of triple trailer trucks. When I selected resume with the cruise, the engine revved and then cut in and out as it tried to accelerate to 70 mph.
No trouble lights or dashboard warnings. I turned off the cruise, and feathered the throttle and edged back to 75 mph, and then reset cruise. I rolled down the road for another 10 without issue. I again tried to duplicate the problem and I was unable to reproduce the engine cut out. When it malfunctioned, it felt as if the ignition was switched on and off. What might cause this erratic engine behavior?
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just got the car drove over 1000 miles without issue. Then it rained a few days, could be unrelated. Drove a quarter mile and it all went to ... Finished the 3 miles and it wouldn't start. During said trip red triangle engine and exclamation mark yellow haunted to screen. Turned off the AC to listen. No strange noise. I believe only the ice was running, no hybrid. Regen was working. Current lights red triangle, yellow exclamation, brake, engine, abs, red car with exclaim, anti skid, will go into neutral. Power button will not turn green just amber. Battery 12.4. Hybrid almost full, inverter pump working. No thrown codes under info 3 seconds slash lights on off 3 times. Emv says ok. Brake lights working.
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I've got a 2008 Prius which I bought used last summer. It works quite well except for one behavior: In cold weather, sometimes, the car either does not start at all, or starts without the dashboard gauges lighting up.
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My 2005 Prius shifts into Neutral, "N", when I put it either into Drive, "D", or Reverse, "R", during Cold weather, mid 20's and below. It will only stay in "B" to drive, and I have to hold the shifter in "R" to back up or "D" to drive. After the car warms up while driving 15-20 minutes in "B", I can shift it into "D" and it will stay there. I normally start the car and let it warm up in the morning for 10-15 minutes on cold days, below 25F but still I'm only able to drive it in "B" until it's ready. I just moved to Montana after driving this car in normal Southern California driving conditions. It happened while vacationing in Montana during the winter of 2007 a few times but it didn't bother me since I wasn't living there. I reported to Toyota but they couldn't do anything since the weather wouldn't co-operate. This car is still under 70,000 miles.
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On some cold winter mornings, my dashboard stays dark. Later, sometimes hours later, it lights up normally.
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