A neighbor of mine has a Camry Hybrid that appears to have a dead 12V battery and won't start. I took my car over in an attempt to help jump start it. When we connected the jumper cables, the dash lit up, nav system came on, etc. but nothing would happen when we tried to hit the engine start button.
A bit of Googling suggested a couple of different tricks - we tried the one about pushing the engine start button with the key fob itself, but no joy. Are there any special tricks that we need to be aware of when attempting to jump a Camry Hybrid? Relatedly, if I take my neighbor to AutoZone and we install a new battery, is it that simple or are there other tricks involved?
The only way I've ever managed to jump a hybrid is if the gas was being held too the floor when trying. It engages the ICE engine directly
I have a Prius not a Camry...
Does this Camry have a fob that can be inserted into a slot.
Try holding the Start button down for a long hold.
If you put a 12v battery into the car it is as simple as doing it in any car. The Prius 12v battery is in the trunk. I'm unsure about the Camry.
dropstep said:
The only way I've ever managed to jump a hybrid is if the gas was being held too the floor when trying. It engages the ICE engine directly
On the Prius, turning on the front defroster setting (button on steering wheel) will call for the AC compressor and therefore turn on the gas engine.
Or, turn the heat to high also turns on the engine. The AC runs off electric but the heat runs off hot coolant and to get the coolant hot the engine has to run.
Gas to the floor and heat on will be things we try in the morning. I think we tried a long press on the start button.
The Camry battery is in the trunk like a Prius. We couldn't find a slot for the key fob to go into, but it was pretty dark. Maybe we'll see something in the light that we missed.
This forum never fails, thanks all!
Direct: jwelsh02...yahoo...
Available in the morning. Send email for phone number
Some research...
Dead two dollar battery in the key fob...
https://youtu.be/pMx83u_JJ3M
Long hold...
https://youtu.be/jMxDMRtPVoA
Vigo
MegaDork
10/20/19 8:37 p.m.
When you say NOTHING happens, do you mean nothing, or that you can turn the car on but cant get the READY light?
Dash lights and accessories turn on, but the car doesn't get to Ready.
szeis4cookie said:
Dash lights and accessories turn on, but the car doesn't get to Ready.
I suspect dead two dollar battery in the fob.
My research says no slot to put key into but like video above shows hold the fob over the button until it beeps.
Vigo
MegaDork
10/20/19 9:00 p.m.
I had to do a dance one time when FIL ran my old Prius out of gas and cranked til it wouldn't crank no more. Once we put gas in I had to do a sequence of button pushes to trick the car into working again. I don't remember the sequence but im pretty sure my search terms were basically "prius wont ready" so try googling "camry wont ready". 
I'm willing to wager that a fresh battery or fully charged current battery would get you ready. Jumper cables are just not effective on a lot of modern cars.
I was hoping for better:(
if the battery is 4-5 years old it could be ready to replace ,
if you just want to get it running , pull the battery out of another car for the test ,
if the original battery is old anyway , they may need your help again.....and again......
Circling back with an update - we got it running! Turns out both the key fob and the 12V batteries were dead. Started right up after my neighbor went inside and grabbed his wife's key.
Thanks again for all the advice!
