Prius dead battery - advice

[Artsy]

Hi All,

Got a question that is sort of electronic I guess.

My 2010 Prius has a dead 12v battery due to an internal light being left on by a passenger...

Can't even get central locking to work.

I've sourced a replacement battery from Toyota which is £140 or so which is ok.

My question is - is it worth getting the AA or similar to come and have a look at the existing battery and attempt to charge it outside the car or is it likely to have been killed off anyway?

Battery is probably old enough to warrant a fresh one it's just that everything was working fine before the incident so I'm thinking is the original 12v battery salvageable?

Edited by Artsy on Friday 31st May 10:41

[Artsy]

Unfortunately not - I don't have the equipment to do so.

The question is more along the lines of is it worth me getting the AA out to have a look at the battery or just get a new one on the basis that it would have to be changed anyway?

[Artsy]

I can't connect jump leads to a Prius - it's apparently very easy to damage the hybrid battery by doing so.

I'll have a look at battery chargers online and see how it goes.

Can I trust a £15 charger?

[Artsy]

Ken_Code said:

I can’t really say what you can trust or not, that’s more down to you than to the equipments

The best I can do I suppose is to say how I view it.

I used to teach electronics at Imperial College. I use a £15 charger on my McLaren 650s when it’s completely dead.

I think I can risk it on a Prius then

Thanks!

[Artsy]

I should add I'm referring to the 12V battery.

I'll consider next steps about setting fire to it as I'm currently undecided.

[Artsy]

This is the thing.

I worried it would be a waste of time to ask them to unhook the battery for testing and as I'm reluctant to let them attempt a jump start they won't hang around to charge the battery after it's unhooked.

No idea what the charge would be for a battery as they wouldn't tell me on the phone so I'll attempt the DIY first and if it fails the new battery from Toyota.

All I have to do now is get in through the front door, unlock the rear door, remove child seats, fold rear seats, empty the boot through the back doors, lift the floor in the boot, unlock the boot from the inside and then eventually remove the battery.

Amazon charger on the way meant to arrive tonight.

And it looks like rain outside...

[Artsy]

Well...

Battery is out which was more fun than expected as the rear doors wouldn't open from the inside due to deadlocks.

So I emptied the boot from the front door before I could access the boot latch.

Battery is a large Yuasa so hopefully salvageable.

It says recommended charge rate is 3A but charger I've bought is 10A so not sure how this will pan out but from what I can see online it's ok. I hope sonat least.

[Artsy]

I've put it onto a repair cycle.

Stopped it earlier and the battery is up to 10v from the 6.4 it was showing earlier sonim hoping something is happening.


Battery is a HJ-S46B24R which is showing online as an AGM battery.


Will find out tomorrow when I reinstall it in the car.

Edited by Artsy on Friday 31st May 19:50

[Artsy]

I guess I'll find out tomorrow

[Artsy]

I should add that the battery was still operating a couple of interior lights albeit very dimly so I'll at least give the recharge a go and hope.

If not, I at least know what I have to do in terms of replacement.

[Artsy]

Update.

The car has been back to normal for the last 3 days so, for now at least, I'll continue to use it.

If it fails on me then I'll be getting a replacement battery.

Thanks to all who contributed.