Auris Hybrid battery questions

[itm]

I have a couple of questions regarding the Battery on the Auris Hybrid (2016 model):

1. Does a flat Battery manifest itself in the usual way - i.e. a failure to crank up the petrol engine - or are there additional signs in the Auris Hybrid?

2. I notice that the Battery is tucked away in an unusual spot in the boot. How easy is it to replace it yourself when the time comes?

[PeteB]

You mean the 12V Battery?

1. On Hybrids, when the 12V Battery is low, a number of signs can point to it, including seemingly unrelated error messages about brakes, parking on level ground and more.  The 12V Battery doesn't actually start the petrol engine, but apart from the usual things like working the interior lights, door locks etc, it operates the computers and relays that connect the big traction battery (aka HV - High Voltage battery).  It is the HV battery that starts the engine when necessary.  When the 12V battery gets very low however, it can fail to engage the relays so the car won't go to 'READY' mode.  It also works the electric pumps for things like the braking system, which is one of the whirring noises you occasionally hear when you first unlock the car, and this doesn't help when the 12V battery is struggling to operate the relays.  Once the car does enter READY mode, the HV battery charges the 12V battery even when the engine is not running.
    
2. It's not too hard, but you need to ensure the new battery is the right size (so it can be clamped into place properly), has the right size/shape terminals and can be connected to the ventilator tube that lets gasses produced by the charging process exit the car without going into the passenger area (not a problem with cars that have the 12V battery in the engine bay.  If the battery is very flat, the electric boot release doesn't work which is why there are jumper terminals under the bonnet.

[itm]

Thanks for that - yes I was indeed talking about the 12V Battery. I had no idea how it shared duties with the HV Battery. By jumper terminals I assume you mean the +ve block in the fuse box (covered by the plastic cap) plus any nearby earth connection?

When I first set eyes on the Battery in that tiny compartment in the boot I thought "that's going to be a bugger to get out"!

[PeteB]

Yes - back in 2004 onwards when the cars started having electric boot releases, a number of people posted that they'd had do so all sorts of contortions to get to the boot from the driver's door (the other doors wouldn't open either if the car had been deadlocked (double locked)!  Imagine their embarrassment when someone told them about the terminals in the engine bay.

Care does need to be taken with the 12V Battery as Toyota fit a smaller lighter one since it doesn't have to start the engine, but the downside is it's easier to flatten by leaving an interior or parking lights on, sitting in the car in Accessory mode to use the radio etc.  More recent models shut lights and Accessory mode off after 20 minutes for this reason, but it's still way too easy to flatten it.  A Volvo I had in the 1990s had a vastly bigger Battery which could support the interior lights (mine had 7!) being left on for a few days, by a Toyota Hybrid with one or two interior lights left on won't last a single night if they car doesn't shut them off automatically, as people with older cars that didn't have that protection found out all too often.

[Gerg]

I understand that this wasn't your question but, it's worth knowing:-

The 12v Battery is covered by the 5 year warranty,

The dealer establishes if the Battery is good or bad on a dedicated Toyota battery tester, which produces a print out which is needed for Toyota's warranty authorisation, if required.  (This isn't just for the hybrid.)

But if you request it to be tested at a Toyota dealer, they *may* charge you 1/2 an hours labour if their tester declares it good.

It's an expensive Battery with a higher than normal specification, the cheapest replacement like-for-like is from a Toyota dealer, as all Auris have the same fixed-price battery replacement cost on Toyota's service menu, so this one ends up a good deal.

It would appear that the genuine batteries are all made by Yuasa, so say the people at Yuasa technical.  The specification allows the battery to offer more deep-discharge cycles before wearing out than a conventional battery.

HTH