Battery Charging Problem

[mcorsino]

My 2004 Prius is not charging the HV battery, only three to two bars and quickly drop to one bar. The engine continuisly is charging the battery but it wont last to long, most of the time is running with the gas engine.

I just bring the car to my local dealer, they check the car with a scanner and they didnt find any trouble code. They program the HV ECU because it is a Toyota campaign, they charge me with $72 for the diagnostic.

Guess what? the car continues with the same problem, last night driving to our church we heard a loud noise coming from the back of the car, when we check it we found that is a fan close to the battery.

Did anyone have this problem before?

[efusco]

Where are you located? How many miles on the car? Are you the original owner? Any prior problems with the car?

It sounds, to me, like your battery might be bad, but it's hard to tell for sure.

[mcorsino]

We are from Puerto Rico, the mileage is 56.065, i am the original owner and this is the first time that we have a problem with the car. I just bought the car for my wife she only used it for her job and the church, normally driving it no more than 35 miles daily

[morpheusx]

just curious if you are trying to drive with just yellow arrows.

[richard schumacher]

What MPGs are you getting?

There is a vent opening on the right side of the rear seat. This vent must always be kept open and not blocked.

If you do not have them, buy copies of both the Prius Owner's manual and the Prius Scheduled Maintenance Guide. They will save you trouble and money. Any dealer should be able to order them.

[mcorsino]

I am getting 45MPG, about the battery vent i will check it, Thanks for the info.

[David Beale]

If the battery actually has a problem it will eventually set a code that the dealer will see. It may just be the heat is affecting battery operation. 45 MPG is fine with short trips.

When the battery is hot you WILL hear the battery fan. You can identify the noise is the fan as the sound will appear to be coming from the vent on the top left side of the rear seat.

[archae86]

Originally Posted by David Beale

You can identify the noise is the fan as the sound will appear to be coming from the vent on the top left side of the rear seat.

right side if you are taking the reference while looking toward the front of the car.

[rigormortis]

thinking about this, i bet the easiest way to test the HV battery at home would be to start the car, put it in drive, keep your foot on the brake and accelerate and sit there and force the prius to charge, after a few minutes or maybe 30 minutes or longer if it does not go all the way up then theres probably something wrong.

another way to test it the battery i guess would be after u get 6 bars, maybe turn the car off for a day or more and see if you get the 6 bars? hmm.. not sure about that one, but i guess it could indicate if the battery would hold a charge or not???

don't let off the brake pedal or it will leap forward and hit something, and that is not a warranty claim, heh

with no codes to read, the only thing the dealership can probably do, i bet, is to fly the guy over with the prius battery charger....

i dont know if toyota has a way of checking the individual modules, this should all be covered with the built in HV battery ECU diagnosis, and i agree with others, until your car actually throws a code, toyota can't help you

[efusco]

Force charging should chart it up in 5 minutes or less...at least to the first green bar.