People that make this helpful video an important piece of information. Don't just trip the lever, trip and hold the lever and push the hatch open. Because what happens is people trip the lever, then awkwardly squirm out of the car walk to the hatch and find it still doesn't open. It will lift a quarter inch but it won't open.
Not only did my battery die, my spare was flat! I put power to the fuse tray and used the strut as my ground. This powered the display and I was able to use the door unlock button to open the trunk. You would think that Toyota would put a little cable from that lever to the back seat area somewhere to manually release the trunk. Thank you for the tips it was good
Hello and thanks for the video. Please try this in the future. I promise it's far easier than performing gymnastics to get to the hatch release inside the car. Hook up your jumper cables under the hood as you indicated. You now have 12 volt power to the car. Walk around to the rear of the car and open the rear hatch as you normally would. Keep in mind you may have to unlock the doors first. Good luck.
I was wondering why he didn't open the hatch like normal after connecting a boost pack or booster cables or a charger to the post he showed in the video.
Left my overhead cabin light on, came out and discovered a dead battery. Thank you so much for showing us how to get into the car, the rear door opened and the battery recharged.
Well done! Note that when you remove the top of the tool tray, there's a plastic cutout that covers the opening where the hatch latch sits. If you punch out that cutout, you can reach the hatch latch without taking the tool tray out of the car. Good tip about checking the air pressure in the spare!
@@ratrod40It does power the accessories/computer though, without which the car definitely will stay dead, no matter how much power you have in the HV battery.
I came in here because I want to help someone who has the same problem as mine. Just recently my 2008 Prius went completely dead even after changing to a new battery. There was no life, nothing at all. I had to ask my friends to give me a jump. After watching many RUclips videos I found out that one of my fuse was gone. When you open the fuse box, at the right under C section, there are two blue no.15 fuses. I changed the second one from the top. After that I also had to tighten up my negative volt battery which is in the trunk attached to the back of the car. Make sure you unscrew the negative volt before putting on the new fuse. After that it came to life. Hope it helps someone.
Christmas eve in Europe - dead Prius - great tips - borrowed a battery pack/charger from a neighbor - followed your instructions - terrifc - many thanks
Good video, simple and clear. My 2008 looks the same, though this time around I just went through the rear passenger door and took the access hatch cover off the battery without removing the luggage compartment floor. I appreciate the very helpful reminder to remove the connection (and telling us the proper wrench size!) to the negative terminal before attaching the charger leads and giving it juice.
Excellent advice David! Just got my 2005 Prius running.. it had a dead 12 volt.. I really appreciate that your video was helpful, accurate and efficient !👍
A neat video ! . I'm an old Mechanic and know nothing about the prius, this makes it dead simple to understand and get going again . I also appreciate the tips in the comments . -Nate
Also if your fussing with the 12 volt battery get a flashlight and look in the bottom of the well that battery is sitting in. On most prius it will be full of water. Very very common to have a cabin leak back there. It comes from cracks in the body. There are 2 black plastic strips on the roof sides. They pop right off. Look at the valley area where those drip valleys meet the hatch quarter panel. You can see there its pop welded and puttied. On just about every G2 you will see hairline cracks in those upper hatch corner valleys. Not sure if its from slamming the hatch cover all the time or its just big body flex there. very very common leak lots of water under the spare tire and in the battery well. if really bad the water will overflow in the cabin and get under the back seat carpet.
@@MilesCobbett Also I assume its the plug in the battery well. There's 2 plugs in the trunk floor one under the spare tire and one in the battery well. Would not to surprise me there was a swimming pool under the spare tire.
If you can jump start the car at the front fuse box, using another 12vbattery or a lithium jump pack, and get it running, then opening the back hatch is no longer a problem. The Prius twelve volt battery is only used to boot the electronics (microprocessors) that actually control the machine, so it's not a heavy current draw. It's not like a ICE engine where you have to rotate the entire mass of the engine. Once the Prius is booted up and running the system will attempt to recharge the 12v battery, assuming that the battery isn't defective, or so badly sulfated that it won't hold a charge. But you might need to take it on a longish drive, like 30 miles or so, to fully recharge ...
No need to open the hatch back to jump start the car. Use an 8-foot jumping cable to get to the battery through the back door. We tried to open the hatch back unsuccessfully, then tried the cable through the car back door without any problems.
The old stealership, always taking shortcuts. My 12v dies if it sits more than 2 days. I think the battery is weak and an aftermarket remote start kills it. Great tip on checking the spare as long as you're down there. I remember the 1st time I had to open the hatch from the inside, thanks Toyota.
On a 2019 Prius Plus model I could not find a lever to open the hatch but was able to access the battery from inside the car to give enough charge to open the rear hatch electronically, thanks for your help
Even if the battery is fully dead the door unlocks with the fob key. He also showed you how to unlock the hatch when the battery is dead. Geez, people have no common sense these days🤛
Not bad advice but I have gotten the rear doo open by putting a charger on the terminals under the hood. You can also hook another battery to those terminals (like jumping the car) which gave me enough power to walk to the rear of the car and unlatch it normally. Much easier than pulling everything out from the side door on your stomach.
I'm watching this while eating and taking a dump on the toliet, and my hands are still dirty, and this man put on a pair of gloves to open the fuse box
Yeah, definitely don't jump a car by attaching the jumper to the battery directly. Always use the chassis as the negative terminal or in these cars, just use the under the hood terminals.
Thanks. My 2007 must be Gen 1 since it looked a little different at the fuse box. It was more difficult to open the rear hatch than just pushing a lever and pushing up with my head. It wS only partially unlocked the first time and wouldn’t pull open, so I had to push down hard on the outside of the hatch to re-latch it and then try again, pushing up with my shoulders. Mind you I’ve had several disk fusions in my neck and back, so I am surprised that the rear hatch as an escape portal probably wouldn’t work.
@@davidgpo It just would not charge. I even put a little Wyze wifi camera in the garage aimed at my charging unit so I could watch the voltage on the meter from lying in bed. I could see it going from 4.8 to 4.0 to 3.6-I didn’t want to fully discharge the battery, so I pulled it off the fuse block in the engine compartment and hooked it up on the actual battery in the rear of the car to see if it would work there. I also followed the advice to disconnect the negative ground terminal from the grounding plate next to the battery, so all juice from the charger would go to the battery and not dissipate across the car’s electrical system. Only then did I finally see the voltage reading going up: 6.0 then 8.5 then 12.0 and finally 13.2. I pushed the start button and was pleasantly surprised that it started right up. I heard charging via the fuse box only works if your battery is not dead-just below optimal 12-13.6 volts.
I was trying to figure out what exactly I need to disconnect from the battery to begin safely trickle charging it and you skipped over all those details, it looks like you disconnected the negative terminal but I can't see the positive, does that need to be disconnected as well?
Do you want to charge from the engine compartment or directly on the 12v battery in the back? If you are going to charge from the engine compartment: Don't disconnect the cables from the fuse box. Attach the negative lead from the charger to the (-) black connector and the positive lead from the charger to the (-) red connector. I hope this helps.
I suppose if you want to bypass the wiring of the car you would have to disconnect the neg and pos leads from the fuse box and hook up the leads from the charger to the leads that lead to the 12v batt in the back of the car.
Helpful, thanks…but you know what, this is the second car I’ve had in succession, where there’s no keyhole in the boot. There’s one on the door, but not on the boot. It’s a giant pain and only serves to draw more attention to the slightly weak aspect of this otherwise pretty good Hybrid, which is that 12V battery and I doubt there’s Prius owner out there, has not/will not experience the wonder that is the suite of faults and inconvenience that blossoms from a failing chunk of lead-acid cr@p. If they were not going to make the 12V a decent-sized Lithium ion battery, they could at least supply a keyhole in the boot. Anyway, I’m a bit grumpy because I just bought the car yesterday, and the suggestion was the battery was weak after the car had been sat for a month. After a 150-mile trek home, for it to cause m trouble within 1 minute of powering-on the very next morning, I don’t appreciate. I did negotiate on the basis of my belief the battery was not merely discharged, but dying, and this turning out to be the case, doesn’t make me feel better! I’d hoped to at least get a couple of journeys before jump-starting my purchase! Anyway, we press on. Thanks for the info, it’s a lot easier than investigating when you won’t even know what kind of a little stupid lever you are looking for, or even if a little stupid lever exists in the first place. The other car was a volvo. ‘Phantom drain’ is so common, they could at least make their diagnostics point it out, instead of the plethora of warnings that are utterly meaningless and in fact, totally misleading…garbage about parking on level ground and the parking brake…we shall overcome. Thanks and take care all.
I believe the donut spare tire is not inflatable, the reason you see the stem, is when you are changing a flat you know which side of the tire to mount, obviously the stem will be pointing outward from the car.
My 2008 does not have a key lock at all on the rear door. If I need to get in with a flat battery I have to pull apart the boot covers and use my finger on the latch. Not needed for jump start but we can't just use the key.
Thanks for the tip on opening the hatch. That seems dangerous that there is no handle to open it without taking the car apart. Most modern sedans have a latch inside the trunk to open the lid... of course you'd have to have back seats that fold down. I really didn't see much of what you did to charge the battery in the rear of the car.... so I am still at a loss. Besides RUclips likes to put ads up before the video is finished...annoying as hell.
For this video I affixed the battery charger directly to the battery in the rear compartment. When I top off the battery I do it from the engine compartment. If you go to the fuse box on the driver's side of the engine compartment. Remove the fuse box cover and you will see a terminal covered with a red plastic cover. That's the positive terminal to which you affix the positive cable of the battery charger. The negative cable of the battery charger gets clamped to a stud on the unibody a few inches to the rear of the fuse box.
I have a 2007 Prius and the car may be parked for months in the garage. I was planning to put a battery tender on it. Can i hookup the battery tender through the fuse box or do I have to go directly to the battery?
Hi! I have a 2006 Prius. I did not drive it for a couple of weeks and the car was dead. My husband replaced the battery in the back of the car and the car turned on without a problem. My husband turned it back off and the car never started again. What can we do? Please help and any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Check the fuse box and check all the fuses and the starter relay. Then take a volt meter to the battery to check it's voltage. If it has 12 volts the battery is good. Put the volt meter to the leads of the starter to see if the starter is getting voltage. If the starter is getting voltage the starter may be bad.
Fine instructions up to a point. But you didn't show where to put the key to open the hatchback itself. The only keyhole is in the driver side door and the key doesn't turn.
Just want to clarify- if you need a quick jump you can do this under the hood? But if you need to recharge the battery.. it should be done on the actual battery itself in the trunk?
It should work either way. I thought the charge would be more efficient by charging directly on the battery rather than going through ten feet of wire (the longer the wire the more resistance).
When you have jump started the car and the engine is running wait a few minutes and your remote will work to CLOSE the doors then OPEN them, this will open the trunk/boot.. at least this works in my 2006 prius .. good luck.
my car's 12V battery is dead, all the doors are locked, and i tried to use the manual key to get in the car; but unfortunately; the door never opened. How can i open it, please?
Your going to have to either jimmy one of the doors open, jimmy the rear hatch open or jimmy the hood open to jump the battery from the battery connection under the hood. If you auto insurance includes towing call for a tow driver, many of them can get a door or a hood open,
5:47 Also it looks like from the few seconds you focus on the charger, that you've connected it while it's still connected to the car. Is that safe? Some advise to completely disconnect the battery from the car.
The factory recommends jump starting and charging the 12 volt battery at the fuse box junction under the hood. If that fails and the rear hatch is locked you have to unlock the hatch as shown in the video.
@@davidgpo OK thanks for that. I went with just charging direct to the battery as you've shown in your video as I was worried about damaging the electronics at the front. Seems to be working fine. My charger is only 12V x 2.7A so only 50W approx. Very low power, and so no need to disconnect. Didn't want to charge the 12V using gas and the traction HV battery given the price of gas at the moment! See what happens in 10 hours time...
@@davidgpo That seems right. Well the Prius is now fully operational again after 8 hours of 2.7A x 12V, but I'm going to leave it charging a few more hours as the charger is saying the 12V battery is not yet full. I believe there's actually a way of finding out about the SOH of the 12V through the main console in the Prius but I'd have to look it up again (it's some bizarre combination of tap brake 3 times, start engine twice, turn headlights on and off 5 times, something like that....)
@@yggdrasil9039 All one has to do is get the car started which is easy since it doesn't have to crank the engine. The car charges both batteries itself with the gas engine. A short trip of less than 10 minutes will usually be enough for it to keep starting reliably. If you really need to charge your 12v more than once after a discharge its probably time to change the battery.
Prius 2007 nothing show light, all not working. It's hard open the door and even the back. We used key it's open driver side, insert key and power buttom green, and red but nothing all work. Maybe it's battery problem.
Dude, that’s ridiculous. Just get some power from jumper cables or a battery charger to the jump terminal under the hood and then the hatch will open like it normally does. The rear hatch for open one second after you connect. Any power to the jump terminal
I went to autozone they told me its conpany policy they cant charge or test my battery. My screen is cracked and touchscreen doesnt work. Is it safe to buy a battery teater amd test it myself
@@davidgpo That physical key do not work now. very weird. Used to work last time my fob did not work. The difference this time battery is out completely If i knew this would have happen i would have charged the battery every 7 days Lesson learned. Probably battery wont charge if its zero? But i need to open the car. if you google fob physical key not working in 2010 prius . You will find few. For some its more of key issue. Mine is something else. Key moves both direction but car donot open at all. first time door opened tiny bit. May be it was security feature? After that its shut completely. I should have used hanged that time but i did not belief physical key need some battery help. I have to get towing guy to unlock. locksmit guys asking 120cad+tax min
They should have put an old fashioned level pull near the driver's seat like the old japanese cars always had. I will put cable onto that point and leave it for future situations. In the meantime I have pulled out the main battery as block no 11 on 22 cell had come up with the triangle fault code so doing the replacement of that over the weekend.
Wait. What? Are you saying these batteries don’t need to be replaced? I asked two different people at parts stores if they couldn’t be recharged and they said no so they lied to me or it’s just not recommended?
The Prius has two batteries. One is a conventional 12 volt battery that is similar to batteries in other cars and it is rechargeable. The other is the traction battery that is very large and contains high voltage. It is made up of a series of batteries connected together. It is used for powering the electric motor that drives the car a low speeds. That battery recharges when the car is driven but when it goes bad it has to be removed and replaced which is very expensive. I hope this answers your question.
@@davidgpo no it doesn’t but I’m used to it. A long paragraph explaining how the Prius works as if I don’t know… My question was when my 12 V battery went dead could I have not recharged it rather than pay almost 400 (fkn) Dollars for a new one?!
@@rainafortini5797 12 volt batteries are rechargeable until they get old and will no longer accept a charge. A load test will determine the state of the battery.
@@davidgpo wow… it’s funny because I left mine on the porch waiting for confirmation that this battery was in fact garbage and of course I did discover you the day after I gave it back to the dealership… to recycle it, or maybe sell it to some unsuspecting customer for 300+ dollars (thanks for the knowledge)
Unfortunate;y, he is demonstrating on a car with a working battery installed. That's why he was able to open the back driver's side door by reaching in and pulling the handle. In reality, if the battery is dead, the back door handles do not work so you are stuck with having to try to climb over/between the front seats to get into the back seat to try to put the seatbacks down and do the rest of the steps to open the hatchback. The men in every video on its problem have done the same thing. If you are going to show how to do this with a dead battery and all the doors locked, you should disconnect the battery first so we can see what's it's really like.
Actually in my case - I started with searching for 'how to open the hatch from inside the prius with dead battery' - found that easily on google - then navigated to this fine video and it got me to the steps needed - You are correct in your assessment. Perhaps you could add value and create the full video you are referring to?
"Alright I got my charger hooked up", hold on, that's the most important part of it! So now I have to go to watch another video to learn how to hook up the charger to a 12V battery. It's a shame you can't use the charger at the front with the fuse box. It seems to be OK to do this with the gen3 as there are a lot of videos saying it's OK to do this. Not sure why it's not for the gen2 but don't want to risk it. Thanks anyway
Whatever you do DON'T CHARGE A PRIUS WITH OVER 2.5 AMPS. The manual also warns not to charge the battery in the vehicle because the noxious gasses released from the battery can cause the battery to explode and that can KILL OR MAIM YOU and IT WILL RUIN THE CAR. Less than a year ago, I used a battery charger to start MY 2004 PRIUS I charged it on the lowest setting, but it was not a trickle charger. A day later, the battery was dead forever. I had it towed to the dealer. A new battery costs almost $280, but the dealer was the only supplier who offered a three-year warranty. At the time I jump-started, I tried to keep the voltage the lowest setting but had no idea of the danger I put me and my vehicle in. My new battery died from a door-ajar dash light that stayed on for a few days in my garage. When it died last Sunday, I didn't even bother to try to jump or trickle charge it. I used roadside assistance to have it towed to the dealership so they could evaluate it. The dealer replaced it free of charge. I am SO GLAD I did have it towed. I could have saved so much hassell if I had I would have had it towed to the dealer instead of jumping it a year ago. Please, BE CAREFUL!
Thats total bullshit. The 12 volt battery is vented it releases no gas at all really. I have been battery charging my prius from the jump point for about 12 years. Your battery died because it was old as shit never battery tended you left the door open and flat killed it. I Have been using this charger a MUS 4.3 for about 3 years on Amazon. Its new has recondition mode. Your charger is a piece of shit has no recondition mode which would have removed the sulphation it got from sitting stone cold flat dead which really hammers an old battery. The charger didn't kill it it was already killed. People who have repeated dead batterys all have one thing in common. That's they never ever arm the cars alarm with the fob. need to do that every single time you get out of the car. If they did it would alert you to lights left on or door ajar. That and if its nighttime arm the car then peek in the window and make sure you didn't leave the overhead light on.
Barbara. You don't know what you are talking about. But you are excellent at telling horror stories. Your Prius charges its 12 volt battery all day long while you are driving and the battery is always in your car. So we should all be dead. A 4 to 7 amp charger is highly unlikely to overheat your 12 battery. Its no different from any other 12 volt battery. Lasty most people charge their Prius from under the hood. But even if they charge it from the hatch, why would anyone close the hatch on their power cord or charging cables? The since the car charges itself once its started nobody charges their car externally when driving with out at least a half mile of power cord.
@@coloradochicmeeee I don't have the car any more, I gave it to my daughter. I think there is a way to reach under the grill to get to the hood latch. Do you have AAA? They might be able to unlatch the hood for you. ruclips.net/video/Tyboz0GvH9s/видео.html&ab_channel=RalphLegnini
Usually when I come to all these videos is because I have an issue and I am wanting to get it corrected, and the last video I watched the guy spent 45 seconds repeating the same thing before getting to the point of the video and in this one.. let's take a break to talk about tire pressure. UGH. Video IS Helpful, credit to that, but so many videos have long, tedious and unnecessary commentary. When I have a car issue, I want the info to fix it, not fluff. Again, tho: your video is very helpful over all.
I purposely oversimplify because my channel is geared to the youth who attend substandard government schools that don't teach any useful skills, also for older folks looking for a challenge.
Omg I can’t believe Toyota made it so ridiculously difficult to open the hatch when the car is dead. Why couldn’t they put a manual key port on it!!?? And... I do also hate that under normal circumstances there isn’t a hatch button anywhere inside the car or on the fob
DON'T PUT YOUR HAND TOUCHING BOTH THE POSITIVE FUSE BOX TERMINAL AND THE CHASSIS! He had a glove on and perhaps the battery was mostly dead but don't do what he showed. Please be safe!
Also don't touch the red and black jumper cables to your tongue at the same time. Why would your hand ever be on the positive fuse box terminal and the chassis?
Very convenient? Doors are unlocked when your battery is died? Try making this video when your doors are locked and the battery is dead AND the Valet Key (manual lock on the driver side) is too old to work...
If your key doesn't work you'll have to call a locksmith. Don't go to the dealer as they are very expensive. I don't know why Toyota didn't build a lock on the right side door, Oh yes I do, it saved them $5.00 a unit!
@SquishySquid . First you remove the horizontal cover that hides the tire tools, THEN you remove the black plastic tray that hides the spare. Then you can reach the hatch release. If you need to remove the hatch trim(big plastic piece) for another repair, search RUclips
My battery was OK. My prius 3rd gen would not go into D or R, only from P to N. Toyota said, known issue, recall. This is what they did: 1 04899-47070 TRANSISTOR KIT, P WARRANTY 2 08887-02809 GREASE X 23 7884 WARRANTY 1 04899-47060 PLUG KIT, INVERTE WARRANTY 1 08826-00100 SEAL PACKING WARRANTY 1 90430-18008 GASKET WARRANTY
People that make this helpful video an important piece of information. Don't just trip the lever, trip and hold the lever and push the hatch open. Because what happens is people trip the lever, then awkwardly squirm out of the car walk to the hatch and find it still doesn't open. It will lift a quarter inch but it won't open.
That was very thoughtful of you thank you
Not only did my battery die, my spare was flat!
I put power to the fuse tray and used the strut as my ground. This powered the display and I was able to use the door unlock button to open the trunk. You would think that Toyota would put a little cable from that lever to the back seat area somewhere to manually release the trunk.
Thank you for the tips it was good
Toyota can't add a cable, that would increase the cost of the car by a $1.75! ;-)
Claire Panda not if your car is completely dead
Hello and thanks for the video. Please try this in the future. I promise it's far easier than performing gymnastics to get to the hatch release inside the car. Hook up your jumper cables under the hood as you indicated. You now have 12 volt power to the car. Walk around to the rear of the car and open the rear hatch as you normally would. Keep in mind you may have to unlock the doors first. Good luck.
I was wondering why he didn't open the hatch like normal after connecting a boost pack or booster cables or a charger to the post he showed in the video.
Left my overhead cabin light on, came out and discovered a dead battery. Thank you so much for showing us how to get into the car, the rear door opened and the battery recharged.
I replaced those lamps with LED lamps for just that reason: ruclips.net/video/QZMt-UZRasc/видео.html&ab_channel=davidgpo
@@davidgpo Where do you get those lamps?
@@amywalker7515 I ordered them through Amazon.
Well done! Note that when you remove the top of the tool tray, there's a plastic cutout that covers the opening where the hatch latch sits. If you punch out that cutout, you can reach the hatch latch without taking the tool tray out of the car. Good tip about checking the air pressure in the spare!
Great tip!
The battery in the rear does not start the car ! Only the hybrid battery starts the car!
@@ratrod40It does power the accessories/computer though, without which the car definitely will stay dead, no matter how much power you have in the HV battery.
I came in here because I want to help someone who has the same problem as mine. Just recently my 2008 Prius went completely dead even after changing to a new battery. There was no life, nothing at all. I had to ask my friends to give me a jump. After watching many RUclips videos I found out that one of my fuse was gone. When you open the fuse box, at the right under C section, there are two blue no.15 fuses. I changed the second one from the top. After that I also had to tighten up my negative volt battery which is in the trunk attached to the back of the car. Make sure you unscrew the negative volt before putting on the new fuse. After that it came to life. Hope it helps someone.
I'm glad that you figured it out. I hope your experience helps someone else. Thanks for watching!
Just a note, but by "volt", you mean "terminal". It's the negative terminal that is attached to the chassis with a cable and a bolt.
Christmas eve in Europe - dead Prius - great tips - borrowed a battery pack/charger from a neighbor - followed your instructions - terrifc - many thanks
I'm glad it was helpful for you!
Good video, simple and clear. My 2008 looks the same, though this time around I just went through the rear passenger door and took the access hatch cover off the battery without removing the luggage compartment floor. I appreciate the very helpful reminder to remove the connection (and telling us the proper wrench size!) to the negative terminal before attaching the charger leads and giving it juice.
Thank you. I'm too old to crawl back there ;)
Excellent advice David!
Just got my 2005 Prius running.. it had a dead 12 volt..
I really appreciate that your video was helpful, accurate and efficient !👍
Thanks for the vid! I can see now that I'm gonna have to buy 3 more temp tires so they can match if I have a flat.
A neat video ! . I'm an old Mechanic and know nothing about the prius, this makes it dead simple to understand and get going again .
I also appreciate the tips in the comments .
-Nate
Thank you! We're not old we are well seasoned! ;-)
@@davidgpo Speak for your self, Sir ! =8-) . -Nate
Also if your fussing with the 12 volt battery get a flashlight and look in the bottom of the well that battery is sitting in. On most prius it will be full of water. Very very common to have a cabin leak back there. It comes from cracks in the body.
There are 2 black plastic strips on the roof sides. They pop right off. Look at the valley area where those drip valleys meet the hatch quarter panel. You can see there its pop welded and puttied. On just about every G2 you will see hairline cracks in those upper hatch corner valleys. Not sure if its from slamming the hatch cover all the time or its just big body flex there. very very common leak lots of water under the spare tire and in the battery well. if really bad the water will overflow in the cabin and get under the back seat carpet.
Very good point. Fortunately, our interior is bone dry.
Thanks for the tip. This happened to me and wondered why the carpet floor behind is always wet. Discovered the trunk was full of water.🥲
There is a rubber plug under the car that is the lowest part of the battery compartment. I popped mine off and the water drained out :)
@@MilesCobbett Also I assume its the plug in the battery well. There's 2 plugs in the trunk floor one under the spare tire and one in the battery well. Would not to surprise me there was a swimming pool under the spare tire.
If you can jump start the car at the front fuse box, using another 12vbattery or a lithium jump pack, and get it running, then opening the back hatch is no longer a problem. The Prius twelve volt battery is only used to boot the electronics (microprocessors) that actually control the machine, so it's not a heavy current draw. It's not like a ICE engine where you have to rotate the entire mass of the engine. Once the Prius is booted up and running the system will attempt to recharge the 12v battery, assuming that the battery isn't defective, or so badly sulfated that it won't hold a charge. But you might need to take it on a longish drive, like 30 miles or so, to fully recharge ...
Whoever decided to not make a bypass for unlocking the back without climbing in and doing a bunch of nonsense needs to lose their job.
No need to open the hatch back to jump start the car. Use an 8-foot jumping cable to get to the battery through the back door. We tried to open the hatch back unsuccessfully, then tried the cable through the car back door without any problems.
not alot have 8 foot cables however I used to sets 😂
No need to attach the cables directly to the battery.
The old stealership, always taking shortcuts. My 12v dies if it sits more than 2 days. I think the battery is weak and an aftermarket remote start kills it. Great tip on checking the spare as long as you're down there. I remember the 1st time I had to open the hatch from the inside, thanks Toyota.
It sounds like you have a current draw. You need to find which circuit is related to that.
On a 2019 Prius Plus model I could not find a lever to open the hatch but was able to access the battery from inside the car to give enough charge to open the rear hatch electronically, thanks for your help
Even if the battery is fully dead the door unlocks with the fob key. He also showed you how to unlock the hatch when the battery is dead. Geez, people have no common sense these days🤛
Not bad advice but I have gotten the rear doo open by putting a charger on the terminals under the hood. You can also hook another battery to those terminals (like jumping the car) which gave me enough power to walk to the rear of the car and unlatch it normally. Much easier than pulling everything out from the side door on your stomach.
I'm watching this while eating and taking a dump on the toliet, and my hands are still dirty, and this man put on a pair of gloves to open the fuse box
Yeah, definitely don't jump a car by attaching the jumper to the battery directly. Always use the chassis as the negative terminal or in these cars, just use the under the hood terminals.
Thanks. My 2007 must be Gen 1 since it looked a little different at the fuse box. It was more difficult to open the rear hatch than just pushing a lever and pushing up with my head. It wS only partially unlocked the first time and wouldn’t pull open, so I had to push down hard on the outside of the hatch to re-latch it and then try again, pushing up with my shoulders. Mind you I’ve had several disk fusions in my neck and back, so I am surprised that the rear hatch as an escape portal probably wouldn’t work.
YIkes! It's best to find a way to charge the battery through the engine compartment.
@@davidgpo It just would not charge. I even put a little Wyze wifi camera in the garage aimed at my charging unit so I could watch the voltage on the meter from lying in bed. I could see it going from 4.8 to 4.0 to 3.6-I didn’t want to fully discharge the battery, so I pulled it off the fuse block in the engine compartment and hooked it up on the actual battery in the rear of the car to see if it would work there. I also followed the advice to disconnect the negative ground terminal from the grounding plate next to the battery, so all juice from the charger would go to the battery and not dissipate across the car’s electrical system. Only then did I finally see the voltage reading going up: 6.0 then 8.5 then 12.0 and finally 13.2. I pushed the start button and was pleasantly surprised that it started right up. I heard charging via the fuse box only works if your battery is not dead-just below optimal 12-13.6 volts.
I was trying to figure out what exactly I need to disconnect from the battery to begin safely trickle charging it and you skipped over all those details, it looks like you disconnected the negative terminal but I can't see the positive, does that need to be disconnected as well?
Do you want to charge from the engine compartment or directly on the 12v battery in the back? If you are going to charge from the engine compartment: Don't disconnect the cables from the fuse box. Attach the negative lead from the charger to the (-) black connector and the positive lead from the charger to the (-) red connector. I hope this helps.
I suppose if you want to bypass the wiring of the car you would have to disconnect the neg and pos leads from the fuse box and hook up the leads from the charger to the leads that lead to the 12v batt in the back of the car.
Helpful, thanks…but you know what, this is the second car I’ve had in succession, where there’s no keyhole in the boot. There’s one on the door, but not on the boot. It’s a giant pain and only serves to draw more attention to the slightly weak aspect of this otherwise pretty good Hybrid, which is that 12V battery and I doubt there’s Prius owner out there, has not/will not experience the wonder that is the suite of faults and inconvenience that blossoms from a failing chunk of lead-acid cr@p. If they were not going to make the 12V a decent-sized Lithium ion battery, they could at least supply a keyhole in the boot. Anyway, I’m a bit grumpy because I just bought the car yesterday, and the suggestion was the battery was weak after the car had been sat for a month. After a 150-mile trek home, for it to cause m trouble within 1 minute of powering-on the very next morning, I don’t appreciate. I did negotiate on the basis of my belief the battery was not merely discharged, but dying, and this turning out to be the case, doesn’t make me feel better!
I’d hoped to at least get a couple of journeys before jump-starting my purchase! Anyway, we press on. Thanks for the info, it’s a lot easier than investigating when you won’t even know what kind of a little stupid lever you are looking for, or even if a little stupid lever exists in the first place. The other car was a volvo. ‘Phantom drain’ is so common, they could at least make their diagnostics point it out, instead of the plethora of warnings that are utterly meaningless and in fact, totally misleading…garbage about parking on level ground and the parking brake…we shall overcome. Thanks and take care all.
Very well written. Thanks!
I believe the donut spare tire is not inflatable, the reason you see the stem, is when you are changing a flat you know which side of the tire to mount, obviously the stem will be pointing outward from the car.
Check again, it is inflatable. There a valve on the rim.
My 2008 does not have a key lock at all on the rear door. If I need to get in with a flat battery I have to pull apart the boot covers and use my finger on the latch. Not needed for jump start but we can't just use the key.
That's literally what the video was about. The key doesn't work on the hatch.
You really helped me out of a tough situation. Thank you!
Great news!
Thanks for the tip on opening the hatch. That seems dangerous that there is no handle to open it without taking the car apart. Most modern sedans have a latch inside the trunk to open the lid... of course you'd have to have back seats that fold down. I really didn't see much of what you did to charge the battery in the rear of the car.... so I am still at a loss. Besides RUclips likes to put ads up before the video is finished...annoying as hell.
For this video I affixed the battery charger directly to the battery in the rear compartment. When I top off the battery I do it from the engine compartment. If you go to the fuse box on the driver's side of the engine compartment. Remove the fuse box cover and you will see a terminal covered with a red plastic cover. That's the positive terminal to which you affix the positive cable of the battery charger. The negative cable of the battery charger gets clamped to a stud on the unibody a few inches to the rear of the fuse box.
@@davidgpo Thank you very much for this additional info.
Yes, a really piss-poor design for those Oh-So-Intelligent Japanese designers to come up with.
With a 12 volt booster connected to the fuse box your key fob should now open the trunk, right?
Yes, it should work.
I have a 2007 Prius and the car may be parked for months in the garage. I was planning to put a battery tender on it. Can i hookup the battery tender through the fuse box or do I have to go directly to the battery?
You can hook it up through the fuse box.
Hi! I have a 2006 Prius. I did not drive it for a couple of weeks and the car was dead. My husband replaced the battery in the back of the car and the car turned on without a problem. My husband turned it back off and the car never started again. What can we do? Please help and any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Check the fuse box and check all the fuses and the starter relay. Then take a volt meter to the battery to check it's voltage. If it has 12 volts the battery is good. Put the volt meter to the leads of the starter to see if the starter is getting voltage. If the starter is getting voltage the starter may be bad.
@@davidgpo The G2 Prius does not have s starter. Its uses MG1 to spool up the engine.
@@PlymouthVT I didn't know that. Thanks!
We can connect postive wire to de red cover below .and negative to that screw so it can charge the battery automatically?
Yes, but it's only automatic if your charger has a feature to keep it from over-charging.
Fine instructions up to a point. But you didn't show where to put the key to open the hatchback itself. The only keyhole is in the driver side door and the key doesn't turn.
That's the problem. The hatchback doesn't have a key lock. Thanks for watching.
Just want to clarify- if you need a quick jump you can do this under the hood? But if you need to recharge the battery.. it should be done on the actual battery itself in the trunk?
It should work either way. I thought the charge would be more efficient by charging directly on the battery rather than going through ten feet of wire (the longer the wire the more resistance).
Bullshit. I have been maintenance charging my 12 volt battery for 13 years using the front jump points.
This was very helpful!!
So, you can jump start the car from the fuse box?
Yes
@@davidgpo Thanks!
@@gordonliu3972 Good luck!
Thanks for this video David.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you so much for the tutorial!!
I felt so relieved to find this video that related to my current circumstances.
I'm glad that it was helpful!
Thank you. I was hoping not to have to crawl into the back,, but hey, saves $150!
Just put on your "grubbies" and go surfing! LOL
I have a problem with this, so can you show me to solve it clearly?
Can you be more specific?
When you have jump started the car and the engine is running wait a few minutes and your remote will work to CLOSE the doors then OPEN them, this will open the trunk/boot.. at least this works in my 2006 prius .. good luck.
my car's 12V battery is dead, all the doors are locked, and i tried to use the manual key to get in the car; but unfortunately; the door never opened.
How can i open it, please?
Your going to have to either jimmy one of the doors open, jimmy the rear hatch open or jimmy the hood open to jump the battery from the battery connection under the hood. If you auto insurance includes towing call for a tow driver, many of them can get a door or a hood open,
@@davidgpo
that what i was thinking of.
Thank you ❤
What a lifesaver!!!
5:47 Also it looks like from the few seconds you focus on the charger, that you've connected it while it's still connected to the car. Is that safe? Some advise to completely disconnect the battery from the car.
The factory recommends jump starting and charging the 12 volt battery at the fuse box junction under the hood. If that fails and the rear hatch is locked you have to unlock the hatch as shown in the video.
@@davidgpo OK thanks for that. I went with just charging direct to the battery as you've shown in your video as I was worried about damaging the electronics at the front. Seems to be working fine. My charger is only 12V x 2.7A so only 50W approx. Very low power, and so no need to disconnect. Didn't want to charge the 12V using gas and the traction HV battery given the price of gas at the moment! See what happens in 10 hours time...
@@yggdrasil9039 The factory has a limit for the battery charger. I'm going from memory but I believe they specify 3 amps max.
@@davidgpo That seems right. Well the Prius is now fully operational again after 8 hours of 2.7A x 12V, but I'm going to leave it charging a few more hours as the charger is saying the 12V battery is not yet full. I believe there's actually a way of finding out about the SOH of the 12V through the main console in the Prius but I'd have to look it up again (it's some bizarre combination of tap brake 3 times, start engine twice, turn headlights on and off 5 times, something like that....)
@@yggdrasil9039 All one has to do is get the car started which is easy since it doesn't have to crank the engine. The car charges both batteries itself with the gas engine. A short trip of less than 10 minutes will usually be enough for it to keep starting reliably. If you really need to charge your 12v more than once after a discharge its probably time to change the battery.
Prius 2007 nothing show light, all not working. It's hard open the door and even the back. We used key it's open driver side, insert key and power buttom green, and red but nothing all work. Maybe it's battery problem.
You can open the hood and charge the battery at the battery terminals incorporated in the fuse box.
@@davidgpo How the heck you open the Hood when your battery is dean and you are locked out?
@@mishrasunny You key fob has a physical key on it to open the driver door. Then you can open the hood
Hi can I take the battery out then after charging put it back in? Is this something doable? Thanks
Yes, it's easy to remove the battery and charge it outside the vehicle.
Dude, that’s ridiculous. Just get some power from jumper cables or a battery charger to the jump terminal under the hood and then the hatch will open like it normally does. The rear hatch for open one second after you connect. Any power to the jump terminal
I went to autozone they told me its conpany policy they cant charge or test my battery. My screen is cracked and touchscreen doesnt work. Is it safe to buy a battery teater amd test it myself
Don't understand why they won't test your battery. Did you call some other stores/shops? I don't see what harm you can cause by testing it yourself.
Try batteries and light bulbs
Due to covid, they wouldn't run a diagnostic on mine, (corporate policy) so that could be it. Find a locally owned.
Dude dead battery cant open the door with fob key. I am looking for how to open front hood.
My daughter has the car now. Isn't there a cut key embedded in the key fob?
@@davidgpo That physical key do not work now.
very weird. Used to work last time my fob did not work.
The difference this time battery is out completely
If i knew this would have happen i would have charged the battery every 7 days
Lesson learned. Probably battery wont charge if its zero?
But i need to open the car.
if you google fob physical key not working in 2010 prius . You will find few.
For some its more of key issue.
Mine is something else. Key moves both direction but car donot open at all.
first time door opened tiny bit. May be it was security feature?
After that its shut completely. I should have used hanged that time but i did not belief physical key need some battery help.
I have to get towing guy to unlock. locksmit guys asking 120cad+tax min
@@nastybadger-tn4kl Sorry to hear that.
They should have put an old fashioned level pull near the driver's seat like the old japanese cars always had. I will put cable onto that point and leave it for future situations. In the meantime I have pulled out the main battery as block no 11 on 22 cell had come up with the triangle fault code so doing the replacement of that over the weekend.
How do you figure out which one needs replacing?
Thank-you--Very helpful!
Clint
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks for the info,,,Really helpful,,,Best Regards
Glad it was helpful!
Wait. What? Are you saying these batteries don’t need to be replaced? I asked two different people at parts stores if they couldn’t be recharged and they said no so they lied to me or it’s just not recommended?
The Prius has two batteries. One is a conventional 12 volt battery that is similar to batteries in other cars and it is rechargeable. The other is the traction battery that is very large and contains high voltage. It is made up of a series of batteries connected together. It is used for powering the electric motor that drives the car a low speeds. That battery recharges when the car is driven but when it goes bad it has to be removed and replaced which is very expensive. I hope this answers your question.
@@davidgpo no it doesn’t but I’m used to it. A long paragraph explaining how the Prius works as if I don’t know… My question was when my 12 V battery went dead could I have not recharged it rather than pay almost 400 (fkn) Dollars for a new one?!
@@rainafortini5797 12 volt batteries are rechargeable until they get old and will no longer accept a charge. A load test will determine the state of the battery.
@@davidgpo wow… it’s funny because I left mine on the porch waiting for confirmation that this battery was in fact garbage and of course I did discover you the day after I gave it back to the dealership… to recycle it, or maybe sell it to some unsuspecting customer for 300+ dollars (thanks for the knowledge)
@@mlaiuppa so they probably keep my old battery charge it and then resell it and never mentioned that to me…got it :( thx!
Unfortunate;y, he is demonstrating on a car with a working battery installed. That's why he was able to open the back driver's side door by reaching in and pulling the handle. In reality, if the battery is dead, the back door handles do not work so you are stuck with having to try to climb over/between the front seats to get into the back seat to try to put the seatbacks down and do the rest of the steps to open the hatchback. The men in every video on its problem have done the same thing. If you are going to show how to do this with a dead battery and all the doors locked, you should disconnect the battery first so we can see what's it's really like.
Actually in my case - I started with searching for 'how to open the hatch from inside the prius with dead battery' - found that easily on google - then navigated to this fine video and it got me to the steps needed - You are correct in your assessment. Perhaps you could add value and create the full video you are referring to?
Yes, l was locked out with no 12V power and had to start off using the little key inside the fob to open drivers door.
Thank you tremendously
How do you open the fuse box ? 😊
The cover has tabs on the side that need to be pressed to release them from capture. Be careful they get brittle and break easy.
Have a great day!!Great Video!
"Alright I got my charger hooked up", hold on, that's the most important part of it! So now I have to go to watch another video to learn how to hook up the charger to a 12V battery.
It's a shame you can't use the charger at the front with the fuse box. It seems to be OK to do this with the gen3 as there are a lot of videos saying it's OK to do this. Not sure why it's not for the gen2 but don't want to risk it.
Thanks anyway
It's OK I figured it out, it's pretty basic. Cheers
You definitely can use the front terminals for jumping or charging. I've done it a bunch of times.
did me good.. thank you for the video
Should specify year of prius, my 2008 has the 12 volt in the back
The year is specified in the description.
@@davidgpo sorry I meant in the title
You didn't watch the video at all, did you?
Idk now, probably on 2x speed like I watch everything else
Dunno if the older ones have the same 💩💩 batteries as my 2016 but at least mine is under the hood.
Vary thorough
I just learned that yesterday
You can charge on the front hood itself... No need to go to the actual battery in the trunk after all these difficult maneuvers
Yes, however if the battery won't take a charge you have to dive in through the back.
Whatever you do DON'T CHARGE A PRIUS WITH OVER 2.5 AMPS. The manual also warns not to charge the battery in the vehicle because the noxious gasses released from the battery can cause the battery to explode and that can KILL OR MAIM YOU and IT WILL RUIN THE CAR.
Less than a year ago, I used a battery charger to start MY 2004 PRIUS I charged it on the lowest setting, but it was not a trickle charger. A day later, the battery was dead forever. I had it towed to the dealer. A new battery costs almost $280, but the dealer was the only supplier who offered a three-year warranty. At the time I jump-started, I tried to keep the voltage the lowest setting but had no idea of the danger I put me and my vehicle in. My new battery died from a door-ajar dash light that stayed on for a few days in my garage. When it died last Sunday, I didn't even bother to try to jump or trickle charge it. I used roadside assistance to have it towed to the dealership so they could evaluate it. The dealer replaced it free of charge. I am SO GLAD I did have it towed. I could have saved so much hassell if I had I would have had it towed to the dealer instead of jumping it a year ago. Please, BE CAREFUL!
Thats total bullshit. The 12 volt battery is vented it releases no gas at all really. I have been battery charging my prius from the jump point for about 12 years. Your battery died because it was old as shit never battery tended you left the door open and flat killed it. I Have been using this charger a MUS 4.3 for about 3 years on Amazon. Its new has recondition mode.
Your charger is a piece of shit has no recondition mode which would have removed the sulphation it got from sitting stone cold flat dead which really hammers an old battery.
The charger didn't kill it it was already killed.
People who have repeated dead batterys all have one thing in common. That's they never ever arm the cars alarm with the fob. need to do that every single time you get out of the car. If they did it would alert you to lights left on or door ajar.
That and if its nighttime arm the car then peek in the window and make sure you didn't leave the overhead light on.
Barbara. You don't know what you are talking about. But you are excellent at telling horror stories. Your Prius charges its 12 volt battery all day long while you are driving and the battery is always in your car. So we should all be dead. A 4 to 7 amp charger is highly unlikely to overheat your 12 battery. Its no different from any other 12 volt battery. Lasty most people charge their Prius from under the hood. But even if they charge it from the hatch, why would anyone close the hatch on their power cord or charging cables? The since the car charges itself once its started nobody charges their car externally when driving with out at least a half mile of power cord.
The gases have an exhaust port attached to the battery in these.
I'm using the key but it still won't open
Open the hood and charge the battery through the access terminals near the fuse box.
@@davidgpo how do I open the hood if I can't get in? I know how to charge it just can't get in
@@coloradochicmeeee I don't have the car any more, I gave it to my daughter. I think there is a way to reach under the grill to get to the hood latch. Do you have AAA? They might be able to unlatch the hood for you. ruclips.net/video/Tyboz0GvH9s/видео.html&ab_channel=RalphLegnini
Thank you soooo much!!!!!!
Usually when I come to all these videos is because I have an issue and I am wanting to get it corrected, and the last video I watched the guy spent 45 seconds repeating the same thing before getting to the point of the video and in this one.. let's take a break to talk about tire pressure. UGH. Video IS Helpful, credit to that, but so many videos have long, tedious and unnecessary commentary. When I have a car issue, I want the info to fix it, not fluff. Again, tho: your video is very helpful over all.
I purposely oversimplify because my channel is geared to the youth who attend substandard government schools that don't teach any useful skills, also for older folks looking for a challenge.
tkank you bro!
You're welcome!
Thanks a lot!
You're welcome!
I got inside the truck and got it opened it by wiggling with finger inside small hole.
Strange design isn't it?
The thing I found is that the terminal opening is so small that it was REALLY hard to make my jumper cable make contact!
Yes, it's like a toy.
No.. it has a vertical tang of aluminum bolted to it very easy to attach a jump claw. Look at it closely.
@@davidgpo it IS a toy- we called them Toymotas in College, yet we all had one.
@@PlymouthVTThis. Took me a while to realize that as well.
Omg I can’t believe Toyota made it so ridiculously difficult to open the hatch when the car is dead. Why couldn’t they put a manual key port on it!!?? And... I do also hate that under normal circumstances there isn’t a hatch button anywhere inside the car or on the fob
That's about it. Keep your battery charged!
Thank you
DON'T PUT YOUR HAND TOUCHING BOTH THE POSITIVE FUSE BOX TERMINAL AND THE CHASSIS!
He had a glove on and perhaps the battery was mostly dead but don't do what he showed. Please be safe!
thats 12 volts dc dude. It wont hurt you a bit.
Bro, stick to squishy remakes.
Your kidding me.
12 volts dc is very safe. You can touch it all day long.
Also don't touch the red and black jumper cables to your tongue at the same time.
Why would your hand ever be on the positive fuse box terminal and the chassis?
I thought the tongue test was how you made sure your charger was working.@@AlitaBeyay
Very convenient? Doors are unlocked when your battery is died? Try making this video when your doors are locked and the battery is dead AND the Valet Key (manual lock on the driver side) is too old to work...
If your key doesn't work you'll have to call a locksmith. Don't go to the dealer as they are very expensive. I don't know why Toyota didn't build a lock on the right side door, Oh yes I do, it saved them $5.00 a unit!
P7
jeeez this guy goes on and one...HOW TO JUMP THE BATTERY??? he is out there with his friggin bicycle gage!
I am the 200th comment
ghaa wanted to see how you get the stupid plastic hatch opened and you skipped that @.@
You don't have to remove the plastic covering on the hatch, you can reach the latch with your hand without removing the cover.
@SquishySquid . First you remove the horizontal cover that hides the tire tools, THEN you remove the black plastic tray that hides the spare. Then you can reach the hatch release.
If you need to remove the hatch trim(big plastic piece) for another repair, search RUclips
Never trust a guy wearing prostate checking gloves.
Just turn around and bend over! Ha Ha
Lol
Those gloves tho
Hate the advertisements!!!!!
Way to use your head.
My battery was OK. My prius 3rd gen would not go into D or R, only from P to N. Toyota said, known issue, recall. This is what they did: 1 04899-47070 TRANSISTOR KIT, P WARRANTY 2 08887-02809 GREASE X 23 7884 WARRANTY 1 04899-47060 PLUG KIT, INVERTE WARRANTY 1 08826-00100 SEAL PACKING WARRANTY 1 90430-18008 GASKET WARRANTY