Patrick Wong

Hi Patrick-05 Prius (87k miles)... and stunned at what the Toyota dealer is telling me the fix needs to be...
No probs b4, then noticed dash clock not working after return from trip (2.5 days) during drive home... Halfway home clock came back on so I reset it and went to bed... (1 of 3)

Thanks

The relay box is mounted above the engine, on the cowl. When you look for the spark igniters you will see that the box is in the way.

Thanks. Any pics anywhere that I can find this relay box?

Use the correct NGK or Denso iridium spark plug listed in the owner's manual. Tightening torque is 13 ft.-lb. Remove the relay box on cowl

Patrick, could you steer me to the link that has the DIY instructions for spark plug changes? Thanks.

You will need to remove the passenger-side front air bag, the engine ECU, and a couple of other ECUs for access. I suggest you obtain repair manual info at techinfo.toyota.com

Any instructions on how to replace the blower motor on a 2007 prius?, thx much

I'm on it. Thanks again Patrick. Will let you know how this plays out.

Hi Ramu,

There are two bus bar assemblies. Each bus bar is a rectangular plastic strip, that contain sheet copper segments. Wires are attached to allow the traction battery ECU to monitor the voltage of 19 traction battery module pairs. The copper segments connect the battery modules.

Corrosion will develop over time as the battery modules leak electrolyte. A sense wire may have broken.

It is much cheaper to replace those bus bars vs. having to replace the entire battery. Whether that will help depends upon whether a module has failed.

I suggest you have the tech gain access to the traction battery, remove the sheet metal cover and bus bars, and measure voltage of each module. If you find that the module voltage is relatively even (within 0.2V) there is hope that by cleaning all corrosion and replacing the bus bars (if needed), the battery may work. If one or more modules shows a significantly lower voltage, a long-term fix requires you to replace the entire battery.

Ouch. Figured that might be the case.

What exactly is the bus bars that connect the voltage sense wires? Is that a common fix or more of a gamble? Doesn't sound like that would be such a costly procedure?

On one separate related note, I noticed you live in Green Valley, AZ. It's a longshot, but do you know any of the Gradillias' from Green Valley. Their daughter was a roomate of mine in Tucson for about 6 months.

Hi Ramu,

DTC P3006 points to a traction battery fault, with uneven state of charge across the 38 battery modules.

P3030 means that at least one of the sense lines that monitor module pair voltages is broken. This is the corrosion problem that your mechanic referred to.

P3115 means that the traction battery current sensor is malfunctioning.

You might inquire with your mechanic whether the bus bars that connect the voltage sense wires can be cleaned or replaced. Perhaps that will be sufficient. If that doesn't help then it is likely that the traction battery will need to be replaced, which will cost ~$3K or so.

Hi Patrick,

Thank YOU so much for taking the time. BTW- Saw that you grew up in Honolulu. I grew up on Maui and went to school at UH Manoa.

Just got off the phone with Toyota. Here's what I was told: Error codes coming up are: P3006, P3030, and P3115. The technician reports that he's familiar with two of the three. He said one of them indicates "Corrosion in the HD battery." And the other an issue with a wiring harness that goes to the battery. The third he is unfamiliar with.

Going to do some research online for these DTC's now. Any of these sound familiar?

Thank you again for your help.

-Ramu

Hi Ramu,

1. Ask the service writer what DTC has been logged.

2. If DTC P3191 or P3190 have been logged then ask for the throttle body interior and throttle plate to be cleaned. If the iridium spark plugs were not replaced in the last 60K miles do that now.

3. See if your car still has a problem. If it does, have fuel line pressure checked. It should be at least 43 psi. If not then check the circuit opening relay (apply 12V to the coil terminals and measure resistance across switched terminals. If resistance is greater than 0.5 ohms, replace the relay.) If the relay is good then you will have to replace the fuel tank which contains the fuel pump.

4. If you have a problem but fuel line pressure is good, then check the engine ECU part number (suffix should be 47054). If a lower suffix, look for a salvage unit with that suffix in the part number which should cost ~$300 or so, and replace the engine ECU (located behind the glove compartment.)

Hi Patrick,

Almost everytime I search Google with a Toyota Prius question, I find a post from you in PriusChat. I thought you might share your perspective about the problem I've encountered with my 2003 Toyota Prius which has 141,000 miles on it?

Here's the issue:

Recently the exclamation mark over the car silhouette showed up as an error message. The engine is running very rough and has very limited acceleration. It does start up though. Along with this warning message, the check engine light is on as well.

I saw your answer to a similar post: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-care-maintenance-troubleshooting/96193-2001-prius-will-absolutely-not-start-even-if-i-jump.html
but the symptoms here seem different. Yesterday I had the Prius towed to Maui Toyota. They called me after an hour of diagnostics and told me they'll need to run another hour @ $120/hr.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thank YOU,

Ramu

Greetings,

Perhaps you can give me some much appreciated insight

I saw your reply in regards to a P3009
http://priuschat.com/forums/generation-1-prius-discussion/106336-help-dealer-over-filled-oil-claims-battery-died.html



Here is my problem, the dealer is telling me it's a P3009. But I am concerned that over-filling of the oil led to a problem with regenerative breaking. Could that in any way cause the code?
http://priuschat.com/forums/generation-1-prius-discussion/106336-help-dealer-over-filled-oil-claims-battery-died.html

Hi Andrea,

If your car has a no-start problem and you are confident that you have sufficient fuel, then the 12V battery may be a suspect.

One easy way to check the battery is simply to turn on the headlights. If they are bright then the battery is OK; and if they are dim then the battery has a low charge.

A more sophisticated way to check the battery is to measure its voltage using a digital multimeter. You would expect a fully-charged battery to measure at least 12.6V.

It is also possible to measure the battery voltage via a special screen on the MFD; however that is subject to some error. If you do a search you should find several strings on how to do that. Good luck.

Hi Patrick,
I am new to this forum. I read your reply about other owners problem and hope you can help me.

I recently had the nightmare of my 2008 Prius not starting after work one night. It seems that the 12V battery had failed. Do you know where and how to check the life of the battery? I like the idea of doing it myself, but don't want to fry my car or electrocute myself.
Thanks
Andrea

Hi,
It was recommended I ask you about the transaxle problem I'm having before I put the big bucks into it. This is the thread if you are able: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-technical-discussion/104069-5000-transaxle-assembly-new-post.html

thanks

Hi Ron,

See this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-care-maintenance-troubleshooting/58968-location-transaxle-fill-plug.html

This is a pretty simple task, about as difficult as changing engine oil. Tightening torque on the drain and fill plugs is 29 ft.-lb. Clean off the drain plug before reinstallation, as it has a small magnet that accumulates ferrous metal wear particles.

Good luck.