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  #1  
Old 10-11-2014, 10:51 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Toyota Prius Hybrid.

After four years, eight months and 108,000 miles, my Prius battery pack, has one bad cell.
I bought it in early 2010, with 93,300 miles, at a sub-KBB wholesale price at a local Toyota dealer. Because of the high miles, they couldn't sell it as a certified used car.
That was the good part!
I'm going to try to buy, either a rebuilt or a good low-mile battery, from a totaled car. I might even consider rebuilding the pack, myself.
I guess, all good things have to come to an end.
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  #2  
Old 10-11-2014, 11:28 AM
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Eric H Eric H is offline
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That sucks, it's rare for the battery pack to fail that early. We have dozens of Prius' at work going back to 2002 and I can only recall one battery pack failure.

If you were in California the warranty is 10 years 150k.

People are repairing their own batteries by replacing only the bad cell, lots of videos about this on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvEtiQXtTFc

Be careful if you decide to try it, they have something like 300 volts inside.
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Old 10-11-2014, 12:41 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric H View Post
That sucks, it's rare for the battery pack to fail that early. We have dozens of Prius' at work going back to 2002 and I can only recall one battery pack failure.

If you were in California the warranty is 10 years 150k.

People are repairing their own batteries by replacing only the bad cell, lots of videos about this on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvEtiQXtTFc

Be careful if you decide to try it, they have something like 300 volts inside.
It all started with a slight mistake, of leaving the rear hatch open for twelve hours, overnight. The 12 volt utility battery is charged by a circuit in the inverter module. The inverter gets all of it's power from the 200 volt battery pack.
I'm a retired Industrial Electrician, so I'm no stranger to higher voltages, but I will be extremely careful. I was never too crazy, about getting shocked.
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Old 10-11-2014, 03:18 PM
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Eric H Eric H is offline
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A dead 12V battery shouldn't affect the traction battery at all but the 12v battery is required to start the car since it runs all the electronics.

Leaving the rear hatch ajar is the most common cause of Prius no starts at my work, we have to jump start them often for this reason but it's never caused any other issues.

I don't know why Toyota doesn't have a Battery Saver relay to prevent this problem, or some way to use the traction battery to give the 12v battery a boost.

I recently had to fix a couple Ford Escape Hybrids at work, they had sat for eight months so naturally the 12v batteries were dead, in addition the traction batteries had discharged to the point they wouldn't start the engine.

How to fix that? Turns out the Ford (at least on the older models) had installed an emergency button that would charge the traction battery from the 12v battery enough to start the engine.
Press the button (with a good 12v battery) and eight minutes later the vehicle starts, provided of course the traction battery hasn't been discharged to the point of ruin.
Eight months was cutting it pretty close, they were down to less than 30% charge at that point but they recovered.
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  #5  
Old 10-11-2014, 07:41 PM
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Ed in Tx Ed in Tx is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric H View Post
Leaving the rear hatch ajar is the most common cause of Prius no starts at my work, we have to jump start them often for this reason but it's never caused any other issues.

I don't know why Toyota doesn't have a Battery Saver relay to prevent this problem, or some way to use the traction battery to give the 12v battery a boost...
That makes no sense! Even my '02 Trailblazer times out after 20 min and automatically shuts off all lights interior and exterior if a door or the rear liftgate isn't closed all the way. All done in the body control module.
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Old 10-11-2014, 11:35 PM
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rca2000 rca2000 is offline
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My 1986 Riviera ALSO had a battery saver feature--that would cut off any lights left on--after 10-15 minutes or so. my van I have now--a 2001 Chrysler T&C--also does.
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Old 10-12-2014, 10:00 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by rca2000 View Post
My 1986 Riviera ALSO had a battery saver feature--that would cut off any lights left on--after 10-15 minutes or so. my van I have now--a 2001 Chrysler T&C--also does.
I thought, for sure this Toyota had it as well. When I went into the garage, the next morning, the light was on.
This car has all kinds of tricks. Keyless start and entry, back up camera and climate control. All kinds of options, that spoil you.
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Old 10-12-2014, 01:12 PM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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There are several places that refurbish prius battery packs, look up the Toyota dealer in Madison, WI, they sell more hybrids than any dealer in the country, They could steer you to someone who does it. My uncle bought one of the very first, a 1999 model, he still drives it.
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Old 10-12-2014, 07:51 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by Olorin67 View Post
There are several places that refurbish prius battery packs, look up the Toyota dealer in Madison, WI, they sell more hybrids than any dealer in the country, They could steer you to someone who does it. My uncle bought one of the very first, a 1999 model, he still drives it.
I'm not going to give up that easy. The prius is still the best engineered, hybrid car out there. It has been my daily driver since I bought it. It has been driven, no less than 35 miles a day. Many days, over 100 miles a day.
I can still drive it, but as long as the fault indicator is lit, the cruse control doesn't work and the regenerative breaking, is less effective.
I'm still doing the research, regarding the repair or replacement of the battery pack.
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  #10  
Old 10-13-2014, 07:15 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by Olorin67 View Post
There are several places that refurbish prius battery packs, look up the Toyota dealer in Madison, WI, they sell more hybrids than any dealer in the country, They could steer you to someone who does it. My uncle bought one of the very first, a 1999 model, he still drives it.
I looked at many of the Toyota entries on U-tube.
The procedure looks like something, I should be able to handle. I think the high cost involved is the job is very labor intensive.
At this point, I have very little to lose. In the area I live in, its impossible to renew the registration of a vehicle that doesn't pass the emissions test. Even though, the fault has nothing to do with emissions, as long as the check engine light is on, they will not even bother to test it.
A real vicious circle.
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  #11  
Old 10-22-2014, 09:18 AM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
I'm not going to give up that easy. The prius is still the best engineered, hybrid car out there. It has been my daily driver since I bought it. It has been driven, no less than 35 miles a day. Many days, over 100 miles a day.
I can still drive it, but as long as the fault indicator is lit, the cruse control doesn't work and the regenerative breaking, is less effective.
I'm still doing the research, regarding the repair or replacement of the battery pack.
I just ordered two used cells on E***. They're from a 2007 pack and check out at 7.8 volts, no load.
This should prove to be one of the more interesting undertakings, removing and disassembling this pack.
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  #12  
Old 10-23-2014, 04:33 PM
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Eric H Eric H is offline
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Originally Posted by dieseljeep View Post
I just ordered two used cells on E***. They're from a 2007 pack and check out at 7.8 volts, no load.
This should prove to be one of the more interesting undertakings, removing and disassembling this pack.
If we don't hear from you in a couple days we'll call 911 for you.
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  #13  
Old 10-24-2014, 12:12 AM
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ChrisW6ATV ChrisW6ATV is offline
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I look forward to hearing about your battery-repair experience. A Prius will likely be my next car (if I can fit in one OK on longer trips; I am 6 feet 4 and have only taken short trips in a friend's Prius). Used ones are available for less than $10,000 these days.
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  #14  
Old 10-24-2014, 09:44 AM
philcophan philcophan is offline
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While you're in the neighborhood and if you have the tools to test... I'd recommend load testing each and every battery and kicking out those that don't pass muster. It's been quite a while since I played with the boss's beloved Prius... a vile car to work on for sure... seems you need three wrists and two elbows to get at most things... wait till you must replace the HID lamp or power supply... a real day at the beach...!!! Since I retired, he bought another one... guess I wasn't there to fix the thing. Somewhere around here I have a service manual I downloaded from the bit torrents or one of the newsgroups... hunt it down and download it as it is quite the manual!!! Good luck!!

Jim

PS: BTW, he went to Spain from December to March and the car sat in the garage and the battery came up to 100% within 30 to 45 minutes of driving!!!... not even close to my expectations.
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  #15  
Old 10-24-2014, 12:03 PM
dieseljeep dieseljeep is offline
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Originally Posted by philcophan View Post
While you're in the neighborhood and if you have the tools to test... I'd recommend load testing each and every battery and kicking out those that don't pass muster. It's been quite a while since I played with the boss's beloved Prius... a vile car to work on for sure... seems you need three wrists and two elbows to get at most things... wait till you must replace the HID lamp or power supply... a real day at the beach...!!! Since I retired, he bought another one... guess I wasn't there to fix the thing. Somewhere around here I have a service manual I downloaded from the bit torrents or one of the newsgroups... hunt it down and download it as it is quite the manual!!! Good luck!!

Jim

PS: BTW, he went to Spain from December to March and the car sat in the garage and the battery came up to 100% within 30 to 45 minutes of driving!!!... not even close to my expectations.
Mine has the regular halogen, incandescent type lamps. It was still fun. You had to use a mirror, because it's so tight in there.
There was some kind of a coolant valve, that was leaking. $434.00 later, the check engine light was still on.
I always address any leaks, as my cats have access to the garage.
More later, Gentlemen.
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