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HV battery cell replacement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Hummingbird62, Sep 18, 2013.

  1. Hummingbird62

    Hummingbird62 New Member

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    I am new to this forum and I am hoping one or more of you have had experience with changing cell(s) on your battery and the ensuing aftermath. I replaced a bad cell and put it all back together without any real problems. That is, until afterwards. The car started up just fine, and everything worked just fine with one exception. My driveway is on an incline. When I started the car, I let off the emergency brake and coasted in neutral to the street while looking over functions such as audio and climate. When I tried to put the car in gear, it wouldn't do anything. I tried turning off the car and re-starting it several times to no avail. All it did was give a warning message that read something like this: The parking P mechanism is abnormal. Put the car at a level place and try again. We had to drag it to a level place about 20' away and now it won't do anything much. It's as if I need to jump start the 12v battery, which I will do when my wife returns with our other car.
    Any ideas?

    Thanks
     
    #1 Hummingbird62, Sep 18, 2013
  2. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    This is the normal confusing message you get with a Prius when the 12 volt battery is low. Be very careful when jump starting the car you get the polarity correct the first time. Lots of damage if you get this wrong.
    Do not run the engine on the second car while jumping.
    If the battery is the original it is at the end of it's life after 8 years.
    The battery parts you replaced are called modules there being 6 cells that make up a module. Just replacing a module without balance charging the complete battery pack rarely works I'm afraid, but hopefully it will for you. It usually requires a fair amount of time and effort to be successful, but is well worth the work put in.
    Did you refit the battery safety link correctly sliding it down after pushing the handle down? something often missed for someone doing it the first time.
    One final point never use neutral in the Prius unless there is a compelling reason. This is the only state that the car cannot look after the state of charge of the batteries.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #2 Britprius, Sep 18, 2013
  3. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    Yep, classic weak 12v battery symptoms
     
    #3 usnavystgc, Sep 18, 2013
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome to priuschat, all the best!(y)
     
    #4 bisco, Sep 18, 2013
  5. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Check 12v.
    Also, was the cell you put in matched to the others. At the very least did you have it match voltage wise?

    Be careful with trying to start the car over and over. Eventually you will run the HV pack to low.
    And once it's too low, you'll need a special high voltage dc charger to recharge the entire HV pack. Or I suppose you could use a small hobby charger and charge each of the cells one by one. It would take a long time and not be much fun.

    If you need help, feel free to give me a call during business hours.
     
    #5 ericbecky, Sep 19, 2013
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