Battery Has Discharged!

[RunningInPleasePass]

Maybe something like this would help you guys get some peace of mind when parking somewhere for a longer period of time:

http://antigravitybatteries.com/microstartxp3/

If i still decide to get me an Auris HSD in a few months, i will definitely buy myself something like this..

This looks like an amazing little device, perhaps Toyota needs to offer something like it in their options catalogue?

My Auris Excel went flat overnight after a 200 mile round trip, luckily it was parked on my drive so the guy from the AA could get under the bonnet to get at the jump start terminals.

If the car had been in my garage, the AA could not have opened the bonnet, not enough room, and with no power, he could not have opened the boot, so I don't know how he would have jump started it.

[geo13647]

Would something like this work? There would need to be enough charge in the car battery to allow the start up process to click a few relays so that there was "power" to the 12v socket...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Auto-Tecnik-Emergency-jump-start-assistance/dp/B00GWJCHL8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_7

Nope! There is no juice in the Battery, you need to be able to get the car into ACC mode to open the 12v sockets,

if it can do this, it can start the car. The 12v Battery is just a bias source to the inverter to enable the HV to start the engine.

G...

[Cyker]

Man this is sounding like the HSD's equiv of our DPF! Is there really no space to put a bigger Battery? Even just a spot it can be placed and wires run back to the 12V system?

IIRC we had a Corolla person who had an issue with their Battery dying unexpectedly quickly (Like after a year) and in the end they just put in a diesel Battery and as far as I know it's been fine ever since.

Probably not an option in a Prius, but assuming the Auris HSD is based off the same platform as a normal Auris, they may have left the battery bay? (Then again that space may be taken up by the leccy bits of the HSD... )

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I wonder if it is a design fault on the Auris HSD? The 12v has always been a bit of an achilles heel on the Prius, right from the early gen1's. The UK engineers designing the AUris were perhaps inexperieced or unaware of this and have slapped additional parafinalia onto the Auris HSD that isn't on the Prius (it wasn't on the Prius for good reason as the Jap engineers obviously knew the 12volts limits). These items would normally be ok on an alternator charged car, but they've miscalculated the lower charging rate on the hybrid and thus these low Battery issues are occuring.

Wonder if Toyota will bury their head and ignore this issue like they originally tried with the gen3 Prius brake problems that subsequently caused all the recall problems.

Might be worth posting some of these problems on the Prius chat forum. Don't let the name put you off. All hybrid options in the US are called Prius (Prius, Prius C, Prius V etc), unlike our Prius, Yaris HSD, Prius+ etc. There are a lot of knowledgable folk on there including many who literally know the Prius running gear, electrics and computers INSIDE OUT (Toyota designers and engineers maybe?). They may be able to tell you stats and figures of what the charging circuit can actually do.

Worth a pop.

[geo13647]

As Toyota are totally failing to accept, and more importantly, fix this issue,

has anyone found an acceptable alternative Battery ~60Ah that will fit in the space,

and has the vent pipe needed.

Possibly a Bosch S5, as the Optima ones are way too £££.

Probably need a CTEK MXS 5 charger too, as the inverter charging is totally inadequate.

Well, I wasn't really wanting a 'plug in' but don't see any other choice at the moment.

G...

[Nozuka]

Sadly i can now report that every model of the Auris HSD seems to have this problem, not only the top of the line one.

[johalareewi]

Source??

[Nozuka]

Source??

German Forum. They made a list of all failing Auris HSD and every Model is now in it.

Which means it's not related to the configuration you choose and just up to bad or good luck.

[OzmoOzmo]

The key is these 'normal' Toyota 12volt batteries seem very fragile. The first heavy drain, or age (i.e. over 4 years old) and they seem to have no capacity at all, and die. The dash lights go funny, central locking goes funny. alarm goes wacky etc etc.

Any more trouble (give it one chance) and go straight to Europarts and buy a Bosch silver 4 year guarantee battery (about £52+), and all will be well for 4 years.

Having those issues as described here - odd flickering and blinking dashboard lights. Leave a while - then all ok and engine starts no problem.

250 euros from toyota dealer for a 12V Battery seems a bit high so I have these batteries to choose from my local garage

- but he cannot provide any pointers which is more suitable - and No idea if the vent will fit - would anyone here know which of these if any is best to get? Finding it hard to get a Battery locally (Too heavy to post from UK).

Toyota Prius Hatchback 2005 EU Model Original 12V Battery.

Option #1 - EXIDE BATTERIES EA457

http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=1358072

Option #2 - EXIDE BATTERIES EB457

http://www.micksgarage.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=3219116

ta.