RAV4 Prime 12V Battery Problems | How to Jump Start a RAV4 Prime or Hybrid
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- čas přidán 28. 06. 2024
- The RAV4 Prime 12V Battery can become discharged if you don't drive it for a while, especially if you leave it plugged in. I demonstrate how to jump start the rav4 prime should your 12V battery have no juice.
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Hi Daryl. Just used your video to jump start my husbands work vehicle. Thank you.
Yes !!!
The Best Info on this Rav4 hybrid situation.
Thanks so much for watching and commenting. Really appreciate it !!
I like how you are doing this in short sleeves. I'm doing it in Fairbanks, AK at -40F. Great video, thanks!
Oh geez.. I can't function at below freezing.
Thank you for this excellent video. I appreciate your very clear and concise instructions and step-by-step directions. This video was very helpful.
Glad it helped!! Thanks for watching and commenting!! Really appreciate it.
Thank you! Just about to migrate from ICE and had a panic moment! All is good again.
You got this! Thanks for watching and commenting!!
Thanks for this! Very clear and concise!
Yeah.. I had no idea of the ability to jump from the engine bay. That was a neat trick by Toyota.
Thank you! I did not know that it is best not to us the Prime to jump start other cars. Also, thanks for showing me where the battery is.
You bet!!
Thank you! Nice tips from the manual
Thanks for watching and commenting !!
It’s a shame that Toyota hasn’t done the same as Kia, on the Sportage there’s a function where you can charge your 12v battery enough to start the car from the main hybrid battery.
Totally agree.
My RAV4 2020 Hybrid was discharged after 6 days at a remote campground. I had started the car every 2 days, but I did not let it run long enough to properly charge the engine starter battery. The campground host came to my rescue with a standard jump starter. I could not open the lift gate. Luckily, my car manual was in an area up front. The User Manual had a clear diagram and instructions.
Nice job !!
Great vid with excellent info. Wished you emphasized more the order of connecting the cables. If you don’t connect the ground wire LAST you will get a spark and might cause damage. Important! Also I’d suggest if your battery is discharged and needs jumping you should plug in a trickle charger asap to bring the battery up to capacity. Relying on the traction battery to charge the small battery might not do it effectively.
Thanks so much for the advice and sharing the info.
Superb - thank you!!!👍
Thanks so much !!
Thanks a lot for the good explanation, … The question is, what happens when i connect the cable directly in the battery?
I would think it should work the same. Just easier on the jumpers in the engine bay.
thank you so much!
You're welcome! Thanks for watching !!
Thank you so much for this excellent video. My RAV4 Prime usually cannot be started after sitting idle for more than 2 weeks. My Toyota Prius does the same thing after about one month of sitting idle.
Thanks so much. Really appreciate the view and the comment. It certainly has it's quirks.. but we still love our Prime.
Thanks for the video, Daryl. What a hassle! Does anyone regret buying the R4P because of the 12-volt-battery-drain issues?
We've never had an issue, but we don't leave it plugged into power all the time.
very interesting 👍
Thanks so much for watching and commenting !!
I've already had to jump start my R4P and I've had it less than 2 weeks! What killed the battery, I think, is my OBD-II bluetooth dongle. It's supposed to shut itself off after the car powers down, but I think mine isn't doing that, and after 2 days with it being left plugged in, the battery was too low to boot the car's computers, and I had to jump it from a 12 volt AGM power wheelchair battery that I had at hand. Leaving a dome light on will also kill the battery in a day or so, if you have switched the lights on manually and thus disabled the auto-off timer. All of Toyota's Hybrids have tiny batteries with very little reserve capacity, since they don't have to crank the ICE starter motor. I am thinking of leaving a 12-amp hour LiFePO2 battery in the spare tire well, as an emergency power source for jump starting the car, since the regular battery is so prone to going flat.
We've not had to deal with this yet.. but I know it's coming. At least now i'm ready should it ever happen. All that battery on board.. but still can't start the car. Crazy..
We had the exactly same problem after a few months we bought the car. However the jump start use to work and it doesn’t work anymore so had to contact Toyota to sort this out. But it’s quite annoying that a new car is already showing problems
@@hpmag60- In the event that something might go wrong with the emergency jump start terminal in that fuse box under the hood, you need to know how to access the actual 12 volt battery in your Rav4 Hybrid or Prime. I've made a You Tube video on this: czcams.com/video/Fnq4nzLa238/video.html
There's another problem though: if the rear hatch is locked, you won't be able to open it if the 12 volt battery is dead, and you can't get at the battery with the hatch closed. It's a Catch-22 situation, and it's why Toyota put that emergency jump terminal in the front fuse box. In the situation of a dead 12 volt battery with all of the doors closed and locked, there is only 1 way to get the car going again:
1. Unlock the driver's door with the emergency mechanical key in your fob.
2. Get out your jumper cables: I recommend keeping a set under the driver's seat for just this situation.
3. Pop the hood.
4. Attach the jumper cables from your car to a booster battery, and Boot up the car as you normally would. As soon as the car boots up and displays the "READY" light, you can detach and stow the jumper cables. Leave the car in READY mode for at least 30 minutes, to allow power from the traction battery to re-charge the 12 volt battery. If the battery is more than 4 years old, you should probably get it tested and replace it if it shows significantly degraded performance.
Everyone who owns a Rav4 Hybrid or Prime needs to know how to jump start it. You need to know where the jump start terminals are under the hood, and where the 12 volt battery is located (in the back, on the passenger side under the floor), and have a set of jumper cables where you can get at them - under the driver seat is the best place. DO NOT put them in the spare tire well! You can't get at them there if the hatch is locked and you can't open the hatch if there's no 12 volt power.
Harbor Freight sells a set of 10 gauge jumper cables for $9.99 that are perfect for a Rav4 Hybrid or Prime. They are 12 feet long and come in a storage pouch that fits perfectly under the driver's seat. You don't need anything heavier than 10 gauge, since the 12 volt system only powers the computers, lights, and brake booster pump, and these systems only require about 50 amps, which 10 gauge cables can easily handle for the few seconds it takes to boot up the car.
There are manual release levers for the rear hatch and the fuel door located behind access panels in the case of 12 volt battery failure.
@@officerkrupke4966- The problem with this, is that to access those emergency release levers, you have to crawl into the back of the car through the rear passenger doors. This may not even be possible, for example if the rear cargo area is not empty, or you are not young/athletic enough to do this. I'm 67, and my days of being able to climb around in the back of a car are considerably behind me now. Most people I know keep items like jumper cables and tool kits in the spare tire well (assuming the car has one), and in any car with an electric rear hatch, you DO NOT want to ever keep your jumper cables there: if the 12 volt battery is dead, it might be extremely difficult, or impossible, to retrieve your jumper cables. Find another place for them, like under the driver's seat. Since Toyota Hybrids do not have conventional starter motors, the 12 volt battery is only there to power the car's computers, lights, infotainment head unit, and the brake booster and steering assist motors. So you don't need heavy duty 4 gauge jumper cables. For $10, you can get a set of 10 gauge jumper cables from Harbor Freight that work great for jumping any Toyota Hybrid or Prime that has a depleted 12 volt battery, and they are small enough and thin enough to fit comfortably under the driver's seat, where you can easily get at them in a dead-battery emergency. As soon as you connect the cables between your car and a donor battery, you can power-on, and the hybrid's traction battery and 12 volt DC converter will immediately start re-charging the dead 12 volt battery. Do not power the car off for at least 30 minutes, to give time for the 12 volt battery to regain sufficient charge that you won't have to jump it again. If it won't accept enough charge in 30 minutes to reliably re-boot the car, you probably need to replace that batt6ery, especially if it's more than 5 years old and you live somewhere with extremely hot summer weather, which is the #1 killer of lead-acid batteries.
Could you please explain your comment about if you leave it charging it will go flat? You said this at the start of tbe video. Also why not put a battery tender on the 22v battery and trickle charge it.
It's in the users manual to not leave the Prime plugged in for extended amounts of time. It will drain the 12V battery and then you'll have to jump it to get it started. You could trickle charge it, but just leave it unplugged and it will be fine.
I hate the flat post they have on my 2020 RAV4 Hybrid, why not more like a round post for the positive side to make a good connection. I have looked to find some adapter for my jumper cables but couldn’t find any. I have been able to finally make connection but I have had to tinker with the positive jumper and that flat post The negative connector is nice square piece of metal. Do which they would redesign this feature for jumping the battery.
Understood. Thanks for sharing.
I had same with toyota camry 2022 hybrid so i pull out 12v battery and charge it separately this night.So will see tomorrow..still charging…is it ok if i do it this way?
I'm not familiar with the Camry, but assume you can do this. Hopefully it starts.
I now see the manual for the Rav4 Hybrid says is may not run if the hybrid battery falls below -22F. When I got it going after charging the 12V battery in the previous post, the temperature had warmed from -40 to -22, and it appears the weather change rather than the 12V charger that made it run. It has now been in the -30s for two days, and my R4H won't start even after jumping the 12V battery. It has the Toyota winterization package and has been plugged in all week. When I press the Start button, he Ready light flashes five or six times, then goes out and I get a Not Ready To Drive message. Why do they sell these in Alaska? I wish the dealer had warned me when I bought it.
You say you "plug-in", but then you keep referring to it as a hybrid. The Hybrid doesn't have a plug, the PHEV (Prime) does. Nevertheless.. it's terrible that you can't start it in those weather conditions.
By plugging in, I mean the winterization package - oil pan heater, blocker heater etc. It is a R4H, and the inability to plug in or heat the HV battery is the core problem when it's way below zero. I traded it in yesterday for an all-gasoline Rav4. I told the sales manager they shouldn't be selling cars in Alaska that won't run in the winter. He told me, "If people want to buy hybrids, that's their choice, but i wouldn't own one." That says it all to me. @@GoldenK9Campers
Thank you! This is great info-- I had heard warnings about jump starting the Prime. I'm wondering if you have any suggestions for portable chargers? All of the popular ones I search for (Andeman, NOCO, etc) all have charger lead cables that are >12" long, so they can't span the width of the car to connect the positive and negative leads as you suggest. I can't find a single portable charger with more than 12" leads.
This is pretty close to the one I used in the video. Seems to work well.
www.autozone.com/test-scan-and-specialty-tools/battery-charger/p/duralast-80-amp-12-volt-battery-charger-dl-80d/1249429_0_0?cmpid=LIA:US:EN:AD:NL:1000000:BAC:19488533492&&CATARGETID=120054150001289263&CADevice=c&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2eKtBhDcARIsAEGTG43wkDNRu0lCcTh-rU2hD8zIsRwQRM2yTbqzM9jCNRYC9opNJ0MdHxQaAhMhEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
sir why do i have o unplug and plug again my 12v battery to fully charge the batteries when i leave it for long period of time on charge for example 6 hours
I don't really understand the question. Please elaborate. Thanks..
I've never thought this could happen to Rav4 Prime or any other plug-in hybrid. When you jumpstart Rav4 Prime will its gasoline engine start? It is just interesting to know the difference between jumpstarting a hybrid and a regular gasoline engine vehicle.
I agree. But supposedly it happens all the time. All that battery power.. and that little 12V battery leaves you stranded.. and while it's plugged in as well. Just mind boggling.
If the traction battery still has plenty of juice, the car will start in EV mode as soon as you provide enough voltage to the jump start terminals shown in the video; the ICE engine won't need to run. But if the Traction battery has a State of Charge at or below 14% when you power the car up with a jump battery, it will start in HV mode and the ICE engine will start, and run long enough to bring the traction battery to at least 14%~15% State of Charge. In all Toyota Hybrids and Primes, the 12 volt battery is only powering the computers, the stereo, the lights, and the HVAC fan. So the jump start battery only has to provide about 300 watts (25 amps), not the 700 amps that it takes to crank over the starter motor on a conventional gas engine car.
@@laura-ann.0726 You are quite the wealth of knowledge !! Thanks for sharing !!
@@laura-ann.0726 Thank you for your detailed answer! If 12v battery is only needed for the computers, stereo, lights and HVAC fan what causes the 12v battery to lose power in the first place? As far as I know all these mentioned consumers are shut down when the vehicle is parked. Traction battery?
@@ruslank4028 - I posted the question on the Rav4 World forum, and one owner responded that batteries sometimes develop internal faults that can cause more rapid than normal self-discharge. Or some component in the car's extremely complex electronics is drawing current even when the car is "off"; this is a malfunction but it can be extremely hard to track down in these Hybrid cars. The only way to absolutely prevent a dead battery when there's an unknown fault, is to disconnect the positive battery terminal, and that's not an ideal solution, as you will lose your radio presets, and maybe vehicle customizations too, and the ECU computer might throw an error code and "Check Engine Warning light when you eventually reconnect the battery.
So I try to jump my Rav4 Hybrid. The Ready light blinks 5 or 6 times, then shuts off, and a message comes up that reads Not Ready to Drive. Is there something I need to reset? I put a battery charger on it, will try again in an hour or two..... Hooray! The charger got it going!
Great job !!
my rav4 prime died while plugged in and now we can’t unplug the charger because we can’t unlock the car while it’s dead. To my understanding, you’re not supposed to jump the car while it’s plugged in. What would you do in this scenario? We can’t unplug it without the power to unlock the car but can’t unlock the car without a jump!
Yikes, that's a good one. You can unlock manually with the hard key in the keyfob, but i'm not sure that will unlock the charge port. I haven't heard about jumping not allowed when charge port is connected.. But if that's a concern, you don't need to jump the car just connect a battery charge to the jump charge ports in the engine bay (shown in this video), from there you can simply let it charge up the battery (should take a couple of hours), or at that point you should have power to the car and should be able to use the unlock button on the keyfob or on the door which will unlock the charge port. Hope that helps.
How Dow we openthe battery
Hm.. please clarify.
My RAV 4 Hybrid 2020 battery is going flat every time I vaccum it from inside to clean, I make sure power is turned off before I open all windows to vaccum and clean from inside :( car dealer doesn’t have any clue
That's weird.
@@GoldenK9Campers yeah too weird, I can’t find what exactly is draining the battery 🤒
Can you not jumpstart it using a portable powerbank sized jumspstarter?
For sure you can.
From what I've seen you would probably have to jump it in the rear compartment due to the fact that the powerbank jumpstarter cables are very short.
@@Ronton617 good to hear you could still jumpstart them like that.
Booster !!!
thanks.