Prius (Gen 3) :: 2009 - 12V Battery Keeps Dying / Replaced 3 Times
Feb 12, 2015
Bought a 2010 Prius V new and have put 100K on it since Sept. 2009. About 9 months ago, the 12v battery died. I ordered a Yellow Top replacement from Amazon, charged and installed it. Six weeks later, the new battery's died. I charged it again and suspected the engine's wasn't charging the battery. I took it to Toyota for an electrical checkup and they say all is fine. Six weeks later, the battery's dead again.
This time, the charger says it has a dead cell and won't take a charge. Amazon replaces the battery for free. The cycle repeats three more times and again, dead cell. This time I go to Toyota and buy their expensive battery. The cycle continued four more times (although I haven't had a dead cell indication). I've been back to Toyota for follow-up twice and each time they say there's nothing wrong with the car. The last time they told me we weren't driving it enough to charge the battery but I know that's because we take several 150 miles trips every other week or so (plus daily commuting time).
I'm thinking there's something that's causing a slow drain and wondering if it could be the digital system that keeps your inside lights on after you exit the vehicle and then slowly dims them, only it's not going completely off due to age.
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I bought the car brand new in May of 2009. All was good until February of last year when the battery died. I kind of wrote it off as one of those things that's part of life in AK. But then the same thing happened in November - yes, it was cold again, but it died after I'd successfully started it and drove it to my husband's work. He was inside for maybe thirty minutes. Not wanting to waste gas, it turned the car off and listened to the radio. When hubby came back, I tried to start the car and ... nothing. We had to get it jumped. Hubby said I shouldn't have been listening to the radio with the engine off. Anyway, I had a service appointment at the dealership a few days later and mentioned that the battery died again. They checked it and said it was weak so they replaced it.
Now, of course, I'm super-paranoid about everything that could be draining the battery. I turn the lights off whenever I turn off the engine (even though that's supposed to be something the car does automatically), and only listen to the radio when I'm driving. I've made sure that there's nothing plugged in any of the power outlets, and I don't have anything that's aftermarket. Oh, and middle of last year the radio/CD player died too, and that had to be replaced. Don't know if it's linked, but it's still odd.
The only advice the dealership had was to drive it more. I guess I'm pretty severe on the car - work's maybe a fifteen minute drive (20 if it's snowing) and a fair few of my journeys are short ones, for a variety of reasons. Plus, it's Anchorage, AK. Severe driving's standard here. But I never had these issues with my other cars, and my driving patterns haven't changed at all. Could there be something that's draining the battery that I haven't thought of, or am I really stuck with driving around Anchorage aimlessly for at least 20 minutes each time I get in the car?
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2009 Accent GL Sport manual transmission. Battery keeps dying. 2 batteries over the last 9 months. This is on my son's car. Replaced battery and a few months later it's dead again. Had the system checked no drains on the battery, alternator work great. No fathom drains in the system. The car can set for a week before being driven. The only thing we can think of, because it's not driven every day, the little battery drains out by the systems in the car(clock, etc.). we think there's a .8 amp drain or less.
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So here's the deal my '02 prius' traction battery is dying really fast. But here's the thing, it will charge fully and be fine for a few months and then one day Its like the battery says, "now I don't want to play anymore." and dies really fast and is a pain to charge even a little bit. I can even drive to work (at least half an hour away) and I can get to freeway speeds and charging 95% of the way and it will still be at a very low charge. Then after a while it will charge all the time while staying fully charged. I'm eventually going to replace the battery anyway but wanted to know if it sounded like something else, too.
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Well I work overnight security and I'm able to watch movies in my car or be on my laptop at work but I ruined my battery( didn't have the car engine on) and now that my battery is dying I noticed huge drop in gas mileage .
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Once a Gen I battery starts showing signs of dying (overcharging when should be in "sleep' mode, MPH loss, loss of power, etc.), what is the range for how long the battery might go before all the lights go on indicating "now it's really dying"?
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The 2005 Prius I bought has had the AC compressor replaced 3 times in about 6 months with new toyota parts, the repair shop told the man I bought the car from not to bring it back there anymore they cant find the problem and toyota will not replace the compressor again for free...I guess 2 replacements is their limit.
The AC blows warm and Im not sure how to tell if the compressor is working or not, the inside fan works on all speeds, the fan by the radiator comes on but is VERY loud....of course I don't leave it on, only for testing to try to find the problem.
Where to look or why this car is burning up compressors.
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So this morning when i started up my car the cel came on. The car seems to be running fine so i decided id try to go to work and hope for the best. Well nothing happened and i made it to work fine, but i noticed i was always regenerating power. My drive is 45 miles all freeway and little traffic most the drive.. ive never had this happen on my drive to work and ive had the car for a year now. Could the hybrid battery be dying? i have a cheap scan tool but that doesnt mean i will get the correct reading...
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Trying to figure out whether to fix or scrap our 2005 Prius with 193,000 miles and a mysterious 12V battery problem. What would you do in my situation?
We've had a recurring problem with the 12V accessory battery: I have replaced it myself three times. The last failure was the most mysterious, because after replacing the 12V battery for the third time, I conducted nearly daily voltage tests using the Prius' "secret" vehicle signal check. Voltage coming off of the 12V was normal, if not high the entire time in all of the Prius's various starting and ready modes. I wired up a solar panel to trickle-charge the 12V battery when we weren't around, and we plugged the 12V in at night to a trickle charger to keep the battery topped up.
Nonetheless the day came a few months after the latest replacement when we had our usual 12V failure symptoms: the time on the clock started resetting, the car didn't turn on on the first press, the Prius computer rebooted, and eventually the car wouldn't start without a jump start. This has been super-frustrating, and googling around, I haven't been impressed by people's reported experiences trying to have the dealer try to resolve such problems. My worry is that a dealer repair person will change the accessory 12V battery without fixing the underlying problem. I would suspect a parasitic draw somewhere, but voltage tests when the car was overnighted without any kind of charging did not suggest a serious voltage draw on the 12V battery.
Other details about the car: our keyless entry hasn't worked for several years (dead batteries in the key fob?) and we open the car manually using the key each time. We stick the fob in the slot each time we want to start it. MPG is comparatively low vs. other Priuses, perhaps 44-45 MPG, and lower when the 12V battery starts to die (37-40). I have had the car serviced (oil, etc.) like clockwork every three months; recently, I've noticed the engine is starting to burn oil a bit (level is reported low on each change).
Most of the driving has been done in the flats and the heat of California's Central Valley, and we've put something like 120,000 miles on it just in the last five years. Besides the fact that the 12V battery keeps dying, the car has been very reliable.
We just inherited a free Prius with just 60,000 miles on it, and I have a 1993 Camry with 150k miles on the chassis and maybe 60k miles on the replacement engine I had dropped into it a few years ago. The Camry just passed California's smog test and seems to be running well. We don't want or need three cars.
Our choice is to try to fix the Prius with 193k miles on it and donate the Camry (which gets about 20 miles to the gallon, the horror...), or keep the Camry and donate the Prius. My instinct is to not drop thousands of dollars into the high-mileage Prius, especially if these issues might be pointing to a dying main battery.
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My 2002 Toyota Prius keeps dying (triangle of death and OBD Code 3191) after running smoothly for a few seconds each time I start the engine. Clearing the DTC code allows restart. But the check engine light and triangle of death keep returning after a few seconds.
It has been doing all this since I recharged the 12V battery (which had been drained completely by a dome light left on for 3 days). Initial attempts to recharge the 12V battery were causing current spikes at charger, and (relay?) clicking sound under the hood. So I disconnected positive battery cable and charged the battery in isolation, then reconnected it to the vehicle after charging was complete.
When I reconnected the recharged 12V battery the vehicle (honking horn) alarm went off. But that stopped when I unlocked door with key. It may not be related, but I'm also hearing a fan-like sound (under driver seat) when ignition key is in run position. I don't recall hearing that sound in the past.
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Our 2012 Prius with now 17,000 miles in 8 months has developed a clunking noise when turning the steering wheel, especially far to the right at low speeds.
The first time the dealer identified it as a failed intermediate shaft and replaced it under warranty. Shortly after we told them it was starting to make the noise again, but they claimed they couldn't replicate the sound and anything they heard was normal 'linkage' (whatever that is). Shortly thereafter the clunking progressed so we took it in for now the third time, and they confirmed the problem, spoke with Toyota who said we must have had a bad part, and replaced it again.
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I have a 2006 Prius with 115,000 miles that I've been having some problems with recently. Over the past 2 months the car wouldn't start 3 times. Once I jump it it runs fine for 2-3 weeks. This morning it happened again. Whole looking back on it every time seems it happen when the car doesn't run very long before I shut it off again.
Took it by dealer today and to ask them and setup a appointment. They think I have a battery going dead and he quoted it as $220 to replace. When I went to leave dealer the flashers blinked 2-3 times before it finally started. Done same thing when I got home. I also noticed when I locked the door that the red key light stayed on, instead of normal blinking. Went back out about 10 minutes later and it was blinking as normal.
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We have experience dead car, no start conditions with our 07 Prius at least 4 times. The nearest we can figure is that there is a drain when we place the car in ACC mode, close the power windows then turn it off. This kills the car in less than 3 hours. The last time the hybrid system complained about being in neutral when jumped...we NEVER use Neutral
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I have a Prius for a company car. They have replaced the battery twice now and the thing only has 44000 miles on it. Got in it again after leaving an account this morning and it would not start. I let it sit about twenty minutes then it started. All my radio stations go out and every day I have to reset the clock. They have sent it in twice now and cannot find an issue but it keeps happening. Today was the fourth time in less than two months.
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I just replaced my battery and am wondering if by doing that my the system that counts 5000 miles until next oil change reset. My clock, radio stations, the consumption (miles since last fill up) all reset, so I'm wondering if the count to 5000 reset also. The odometer did not reset though, and the gas tank amount was correct. Just wondering because I didn't write down when my last oil change was.
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I recently replaced the battery in my key fob, just as a preventive maintenance measure. All worked fine for the first couple days.
Now, when exiting the car I push down on the door lock inside the door, get out and the doors unlock immediately. Only way to lock the car is to press the lock symbol on the fob. Touching the handle no longer works to open it. I must use the fob. The button beneath the steering column is in the correct position.
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I have replaced the Traction battery AND the 12volt battery. I clear all codes by disconnecting the 12 volt battery for a short period of time. I reconnect 12v battery and no warning lights. I drive for 10 miles and RED TRIANGLE, Check Engine and the Brake lights also come on the dash. 2006 Prius 130K miles.
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Purchased an 04 Prius with 140k miles and bad HV battery. Used torque app and pulled original codes for bad HV battery. I was able to drive/limp the car home for tear down and replacement. After installing a used HV battery that had 80k from and 08 car. It will start but shutdown after a few seconds. I was able to put it in to drive and move it but it still dies. Energy display shows no battery status and now I get the connect to air conditioner communication warning. The battery's are reading 15.2 volts each from the torque app these are read in pairs so seeing 14 readings all within .1v of each other. I am not getting any codes from the computer.
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I have a 2005 Prius recently replaced the hybrid battery. Not so happy with it, my mpg b4 was 49-51 mpg, now I only get 40-45 mpg. I notice the car is a little weaker and the ICE rev higher everytime I accelerate.
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2005 Prius I picked up a few weeks ago decided to eat both of it's batteries for lunch and leave me high and dry. I replaced the aux battery yesterday which I was lucky to get at cost at the toyota dealer since the aux battery was original. Put it in and all was well with the car for the rest of the day. Got in it today and headed out and was welcomed with the big stupid "!" triangle, the regen brake warning, check engine light, "PROBLEM" written on the display with a picture of a "!" inside a car outline, and some severely reduced performance. So I looked online and found a place with a bunch of low mileage batteries out of smashed up 2009's.
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My car started giving me trouble I ran the scan tool and it told me that cell 6 was bad on my battery. I replaced the cell and put the battery back in now the check engine light is on and the problem triangle is on and the car wont start and only shifts into neutral but when I check for codes i get nothing .
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