How to charge battery

[Anya28]

Hi, i was recently rear ended and my trunk was  not closing which resulted in the   interior lights remaining on which killed the Battery. This happen a week ago. How do i recharge the Battery and getthe car to start?

[FROSTYBALLS]

Hello Anya - welcome to Toyota Owners Club.

Moved to the Prius club.

[kithmo]

If it's locked, open the car with the mechanical key and pull the bonnet catch. Under the bonnet you'll see a small red cover on your right hand side (as you are looking). Lift the cover and there is a copper connection, connect a positive (red) jump lead to this and a negative jump lead to a bolt connected to the body (earth) and the other ends to a donor Battery. The alarm may go off at this point, if so just press the unlock button on your remote. You should now be able to get the car into Ready mode by pressing the start button. Leave the car in ready mode for about thirty minutes to charge up the Battery. Bear in mind that if the Battery has been left flat for some time, it will probably not be in good shape and may need replacing. 

[PeteB]

Hi Anya

Sorry to hear of your trouble.

1. Open the driver's door using the emergency key (can be extracted from the main fob, there's a little button somewhere near the key ring attachment to release it).  Be prepared for it to feel very stiff, it can require quite a bit of force, especially if the car was deadlocked.
2. Open the bonnet (hood - I'm guessing you're in the USA?).  Find the main fuse box (on right had drive cars they are towards the back right of the engine bay as viewed from the front of the car - if yours is left hand drive, it might be somewhere else.
3. As part of the fuse box, you will find a pair of jump start terminals to which you can connect either a jump starter or jump leads from another car.  If using another car, I've recently seen suggestions that the other car should not have it's engine running, but it will do no harm as the Prius needs little power to start because the main High Voltage Battery actually starts the petrol engine.
4. Once running, disconnect the leads, as the Hybrid system will charge the 12V Battery all the time the green READY light is on, even when the petrol engine is not running.
5. Leaving the system on for half an hour or so (even if not being driven) should be enough to give the Battery a reasonable charge as long as it hasn't been flat long enough to damage it.

Once the car starts, you can unlock the other doors and trunk.

When the jump leads are connected, be prepared for the alarm to go off (it fitted), it will stop when the engine starts.

You can then turn off the trunk light by a switch on the lamp, and also turn off the interior (dome?) lights to stop the battery being flattened again until the car is fixed.

[PeteB]

Ah, Kithmo beat me to it while I was still writing my reply!

[Anya28]

Thanks guys. I'm in Trinidad and Tobago actually. The 12v Battery is in my trunk not under the hood. Would that make a difference?

[PeteB]

No.  They put the jump start terminals in the engine bay because with a flat Battery the electronic trunk release doesn't work.

Think of it as an extension lead to the 12V Battery for the jump leads.

There have been amusing stories of owners doing contortions to get to the trunk from the driver's door because they didn't know about the jump start terminals, and with a flat Battery and the doors deadlocked, only the driver's door and hood/bonnet can be opened!

Getting to the trunk that way would be impossible for me - too old, fat and unfit!

[Anya28]

My car is thanks. My car is unlocked though because the trunk does not close since the accident so getting in the car was no problem

[PeteB]

5 minutes ago, Anya28 said:

...I'm in Trinidad and Tobago actually...

Ah, sorry - when I hear "trunk", "hood" etc. I tend to think USA, which I probably shouldn't

[Duffryn]

7 minutes ago, Anya28 said:

Thanks guys. I'm in Trinidad and Tobago actually. The 12v battery is in my trunk not under the hood. Would that make a difference?

No, it won't, that is normal for the Gen3. Charge connections will be as described above.

[PeteB]

Just now, Anya28 said:

My car is thanks. My car is unlocked though because the trunk does not close since the accident so getting in the car was no problem

In that case, your options are:

• take Battery out and charge it (if you have the equipment available) (or charge it in situ if you disconnect the car's positive [red] lead)
• jump start straight to Battery
• jump start using under bonnet/hood terminals

All three options will be fine.

[Heidfirst]

bear in mind that if you have run the Battery flat & it has been sitting discharged for a week whilst it will probably charge fine you may have shortened it's life.

[Anya28]

Hi everyone i  was able to charge the Battery using a barmttery charger and i got the car started and its off to the mechanic for repairs. I thank you all for your help.

Anya

[PeteB]

Hi Anya.  Glad you got it sorted, and thank you for reporting back.  Hope the repairs go well.