Baffling Troubleshoot 2003 Gen1

The battery is different . And has to be assembled like it was when it was taken apart and I don't have the breakdown Ron Lewis or somebody Chapman will be along in a minute with the diagrams but generally goes back like you took it apart or the picture you took before you took it apart or something but it's very different than the generation too I don't know what paperwork or list you're looking at they're similar but not the same I don't think they even look the same side by side I've got one here somewhere and well it's different and I have not rebuilt it or taken it apart or played all the whack-a-mole games with it because thank God I don't have a whole car here that needs it cute cars but I can't get any parts for them now Love the look just just nothing to get for them all the plastics and everything on the interior are done when you finish them break them or whatever happens I've been looking but no sir not in the southeast United States I don't know how Ron is dragging all those things out of Texas and places.

 

I have a couple of batteries with the covers off sitting on my bench, just like they came out of the car. Would a pic help? Or PDFs from the service manual? Otherwise, IDK how to diagnose/repair these or I wouldn't have those two on my bench. Each only had a couple of low sells when I took them out of the car about a year ago.

Re: me piling up all these Prii in Tx. I get them all over. IDK what shape your car is in, how many miles, but there are two for sale at auctions not far from you.

2002 TOYOTA PRIUS for Auction - IAA

2001 TOYOTA PRIUS BASE (ECVT) for Auction - IAA

I haven't bought from IAAI because they've always had a membership fee that Copart didn't require. But now CP does, although it's a little lower. However, those two cars don't appear to be in "public auctions," i.e., you'd have to go through a broker, like Clean Title 2002 Toyota Prius 1.5L for Sale in Templeton MA - SCA

Pretty sure IAAI, owns SCA. It's all the same inventory, but they have a dealer license and charge their fees - it's be $300 on these cars, and maybe a documentation fee (I've not used that broker). There's also a hidden fee, kinda, that kinda makes it a PITA - they require that the vehicle be removed from the auction by a licensed DOT auto transporter. The auction doesn't care, as long as you don't try to drive it away (no license, salvage title=illegal).

My guess is that both of these cars will sell for less than $1000. The MA car for more - it can be repaired and back on the road. The NY car sells for $300-$400. To those prices, add broker fees and auction fees. I'm guessing about $1500 for MA and $1000 for NY.

The wild card on both cars is whether they still have the OEM cat. As a run-and-drive, the MA car has its value regardless. The NY car is your real opportunity. If it still has the OEM cat, you can sell that for almost as much as the car will cost you. It'd be a sure break even except for the broker fees (I don't usually bid on broker-only cars for that reason - their fees really matter at the bottom end where these cars are).

If it was me...I buy the NY car, drive there, and negotiate with one of the DOT truckers waiting there to be my "carrier". I've paid guys as little as $20 and as much as $80. Using their credentials, I get the broker to release the car. If necessary, the carrier will tow it out of their auction yard and off the property. I have my own truck/trailer/tow dolly, so I can pick it up from there. Or...

The auction yard doesn't like it, but I've pulled the parts I've wanted right there in their parking lot, then gave the title to one of the drivers there in return for towing it to a local scrap yard. But, that's hard at ground level. Best to have a battery-powered sawzall that you can cut the cats out just like the thieves do. That way, you don't even need a truck - I drive my Prius and fill it up with parts, and dispose of the rest using local scrapyards/tow trucks.

The carcass brings around $200 to the metal yards. The cats are worth around $700. That's all there is on that NY car - every other body part is bent and the car has too many miles. So, you're only bidding against local recyclers. But, you know it has a good battery. You can see the Ready light in the pics. You can see why it's at the auction - the front end wreck. It'd be some work and 600m round trip, but you'd get a free battery and other miscellaneous parts.

And that, is how I roll.

 

Gen 1 starts numbering at the most positive module, which was a difference from gen 2 and gen 3 (and I haven't looked up gens after 3).

You can find more details in this post.

Technically, when I say "starts numbering", I'm talking about the way Techstream (or another scan tool) orders the blocks, not necessarily whether that is the left or right end, or the end next to the ECU. So you might still want to check me on that.

If you still have the original factory "no. 2 frame wire" (the harness with all the little voltage sense wires), the one that is gray with a black stripe shows you the most positive terminal, and the one blue with a black stripe goes on the most negative at the other end. (That's also where those colors go in gen 2, even though they reversed the numbering. Gen 3 went and made those wires red and black, and put the red one on the negative, those jokers.)

That's only if you're sure you've got the original no. 2 frame wire; there are some non-Toyota replacements available, which may use completely different wire colors.

 

great looking car at auction in Harrisburg, PA right now. 100k miles, and looks like it. My guess is the cat was stolen, but if you're not in a CARB state, that's a $200 repair. Listed as "on approval" so there's a minimum bid he'll accept, but it should go for well under $2000.

 

OK, looking at these two batteries, they're just alike, as expected. Looking at it like it sit in the car (service plug front and left), the first module is - (neg) closest to you (service plug side) and + is at the other end, towards the front of the car. And, as expected, the last module to the right has the + terminal closest to you. I took pics on my phone if want them.

 

If you understand how car auctions work, this car went through the first time without getting a bid that met the owner's approval. Now, it's coming through a second time and the owner has posted a buy-it-now price of $1600 (right in line with my prediction). He can still accept a lower winning bid.

You can see the Ready light on in the pics, which should eliminate most serious issues. Again, I gotta think it's just the cat stolen.

Anyone looking into buying a battery for their car, could buy this for just a little more and it's probably in better shape, lower miles.

https://www.copart.com/lot/51393944/clean-title-2001-toyota-prius-pa-harrisburg

 

Nice looking '01 indeed, and it's only 75 miles from me. Just a caution or two, based on my experience with my '02 (162K+ miles). The hi-voltage battery failed at around 127K miles. The brake accumulator failed recently; expensive fix! I'd also be concerned that this early Prius had all of the factory service bulletin recall work done; IIRC these included, among others, a steering issue, hi-V battery terminal cleaning and sealing, et al. The brake fluid in that reservoir looks really skunky, too. It's supposed to be clear! A prospective buyer ideally should have access to owner's service records on the vehicle. And those cat whiskers/lightning bolts around the headlights have got to go!

 

LOL, yeah, I didn't like the whiskers either. For the price, I'd risk all that. Auction cars aren't like buying used cars. You don't get all that info. The trick is to figure out why they're at the auction. Usually not hard - it was in a wreck - which also tells you that the car was being driven at the time, so most of those common issues were probably OK.

This one isn't wrecked, so why is it here? First, notice that there are no insurance adjuster markings on the car. So, it's a for sale by owner, and the owner is probably Copart. They buy cars from individuals. And why would the owner sell cheap to Copart when the car looks nice? Because there's something wrong, obviously; but, we see the Ready light on the dash.

It still isn't a gimme that the cat is stolen, but that makes the most sense. However, the pic of the IC shows a piece of duct tape stuck on it covering up the CEL. So, that had been on for awhile, and yet the car still drove, so the owner got irritated by the light and covered it with tape.

About the only common CEL that still allows you to drive the car for a long time is that 1347 for the bad HCAC actuator. So, cat gets stolen and he drives it a short distance, enough to trigger the CEL. Or, more likely, he's already replaced the stolen cat with a cheapo aftermarket, but didn't hack the actuator vacuum line, so has the CEL and covered it up. Now, he wanted to sell the car, but can't with that CEL, and doesn't know about the hack, so thinks his only option is to buy a high-dollar CARB cat or dump it on Copart.

It's worth the 75-mile drive, IMHO.

 

But I already have a used Prius!

 

Of course. I wasn't really suggesting this as something you, or anyone specifically, should do. I was kinda trying to, again, show Bruce why it might be more cost effective, overall, than trying to rebuild an HV battery. This car isn't the greatest example - I usually only buy for scrap value - but this is probably worth more than the sum of the cat, battery, and scrap metal because of its low mileage, Ready light, and nice condition.

 

Just an observation, but of all the Gen1s I've looked at, I don't recall any with a mfg unit number over 1000. Obviously, they sold more than a thousand all three years. Of course, I can't say I checked that number on all the Prii I've owned, but I do on the 01s, just in case I have one of the very first cars delivered.

 

That auction car has a serial number 14xxx. My ‘02 is 55xxx ( last five digits of the VIN).

 

Hmm, then what do the last words on that label mean - the "No. 684"? I thought that represented its production number out of all the cars that year. If not, it makes no seeming sense, just those words there by themselves. The Japanese aren't know for embellishing needlessly.

 

Don't know about the no. 684, but the factory service bulletins ("recall" notices) always describe the vehicles to which they apply by citing the last five digits of the VIN. I deduce, therefore, that those are, in effect, serial numbers.