2004 Prius Died - HV Battery Failure?

[mdooley]

Hi,

We live part time in Arizona outside of Winslow. Our place is off-the grid, 11 miles out of of town with the last 8 miles out a dirt road. We drive back and forth between San Diego and Arizona about 10 times a year (1200 miles roundtrip) and our car has about 120,000 miles on it. We call it the farm model because they body is pretty beat up. We love it - great MPG and room for 2 adults, 3 kids and lots of stuff (3/4 size cello, 2 violins and a viola, 5 laptops, and more!).

Last Thursday our friend took our car into town to get two new tires and the shop had a problem getting the car started. I thought they'd disabled the smart key system and thought nothing of it. Shortly thereafter our friend called us and said the VSC light was on and some other lights which she couldn't describe well enough for us to identify over the phone but the car was still running okay. I looked up VSC on the internet and it seemed that if the car was running, it was okay for her to drive it down the dirt road to our place.

When we got around to looking at it on Friday, it turned out the lights that were on were the VSC light, the red warning triangle and the hybrid system warning icon. We called the dealer (about 62 miles away - 50 miles on the interstate) and they told us if we could drive it, drive it in.

When my husband drove it to the dealer, it started with the check engine light, red warning triangle, and hybrid system warning icon lights on. The VSC light was no longer on. It drove fine for 8 miles on the dirt road.

After about 2 miles on paved road the cruise control went out. Then about 20 miles later the AC was not working (though the fan was still blowing air). At some point the VSC light also came on. The miles per gallon appeared normal for the road; possibly a bit low (but the window was down); the battery showed normal charging and the screen showed normal fluctuations of gas versus electric motor.

The car felt in some way not normal when he drove it (in terms of handling) but he wasn't sure if he was imagining this. He kept the speed down to around 55-60. When he pulled onto the off-ramp, a buzzer started sounding and the engine quit at the top of the off-ramp. Various interior warning lights were blinking, the radio would not turn off (so I turned the volume down below hearing), the car would not turn off or go, the warning buzzer kept sounding, the doors would not lock. The car had plenty of fuel.

We had the car towed the remaining 1 miles to the dealership. About an hour later the dealer told us that our HV batteries were dead and they needed to get the special charger from Toyota to charge them before they could tell us anything and they wouldn't be able to find out when they could get the charger until Monday.

We were scheduled to drive back to San Diego on Saturday so we rented a car and returned to California. On the way we stopped by the car at around 9 AM and 4 PM and found that various interior warning lights were still blinking and the warning buzzer was still sounding.

The 12 volt battery has never been replaced. I called the dealer this morning and the service rep adamantly stated that if the hybrid battery is dead, the car will not turn on. And they cannot diagnose the problem until they clear the hybrid battery codes which necessitates charging the HV battery with the special charger. When I queried her about the random blinking of lights, she said she hadn't noticed it. She adamantly stated that the 12 volt battery was not our problem. I asked her if they could put a charge on the 12 volt battery and remove the CDs that needed to be returned to the library . . .

Occasionally previous to this, the car would not turn off when I pressed the power off button and I would have to repeatedly press it. Also, the check engine light has been on for some time, (it had been intermittently on and off).

Any advice would be most appreciated. I am inherently wary of dealership service and would much prefer fixing this ourselves. However, it's not practical this time.

Thanks,

Ming

[icarus]

I can't comment on the HV battery issue,, but clearly there would be no harm in charging the 12 volt battery,, or putting a new one in to check things. (I would think it unusual for the Hv battery to fail suddenly. From what I know about batteries is that they generally fail over time, accepting and holding smaller and smaller charges. A single or multiple cell failure is also possible,, but most likely would be a failure in the interconnection between the cells, something most dealers won't touch.

More importantly however, is the fact that the dealer advised you to drive with the read Triangle of death lit. If something was damaged as a result of a ~60 mile drive with the Triangle lit,, I would think the dealer has a large amount of culpability in any repair, regardless of any warranty.

Let the experts chime in, but I wouldn't pay a cent to a dealer in this situation until I had some (good) opinions from here.

Icarus

[Patrick Wong]

1. Was your car originally purchased, licensed, and operated in California? If so, and it is still licensed in CA, then the hybrid system including the battery benefits from a longer warranty period. In particular the battery is covered for 10 years / 150K miles.

2. I would have guessed that your problem was either the 12V battery failing, or the inverter coolant pump failing, or a combination of those two events.

3. I understand that it is very difficult for dealerships to obtain the traction battery charger, so don't be surprised if this doesn't happen anytime in the near future.

4. Please ask what DTC (diagnostic trouble codes) had been logged by your car, and post.

Good luck, pls keep us posted as to the outcome of your problem.

[mdooley]

Hi,

I just got a call from the dealer. Apparently they can get the traction battery charger tomorrow. She seemed to think once the HV battery was charged, the car would be fixed!!!! I told her I didn't think that would be the case . . . Anyhow, after they call me tomorrow I'll find out what the DTC codes are. I can't get back there until the weekend anyhow so I don't need to be too demanding at this point.

Thanks for the all the advice and regretfully we bought the car in New Mexico (took 3 weeks there instead of the 6 months in San Diego at the time!) and it's registered in Arizona.

Ming

[donee]

Hi mdooley,

I agree with Patrick. The progressive change in operation as driven implies the coolant pump problem. And in your area, that has lasted longer than many. Supposedly its been revamped since 2006. The problem with the controls operation of the vehicle before the main issues sounds like the 12 V battery. Also have the throttle body cleaned if it has not been done in the past 25 K miles. A sticky throttle body could explain why the hybrid battery was depleted. That would probably give an engine light. When is the last time you had the plugs changed? You do long trips, so they get severe service. And of course how about the engine water pump and belt?

[brownsnoutuk]

Fried the Invertor?

[Frayadjacent]

I agree with what Patrick mentioned... a funky or failed inverter coolant pump could cause the inverter to overheat. When that happens, systems start shutting off.

OR

The 12v battery has seen it's last day. Both should be relatively inexpensive fixes compared to the HV battery.

[jayman]

Oh boy, I sure hope the inverter wasn't fried

We really do have to think up an easy way for folks to keep an eye on their inverter temps. Say keep the parts cost <$50, which could potentially save a +$4,000 inverter

[icarus]

I still say the dealer has culpability in this for suggesting the OP drive 60 miles with the warning light on!

Icarus

[jayman]

I agree, but one should also realize that if this suggestion was verbal, it quickly turns into a pissing contest of "he said she said"