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Recharging Prius's (or any Hydrid car's) Traction Battery by Towing (Gen I)

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by kinkajan, Oct 7, 2012.

  1. kinkajan

    kinkajan New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
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    Background:
    2003 Prius. Millage 89 K. main battery is original and 12 V battery is bought in 2009.

    out of gas last night. Car stoped with waning ! sign..
    Put gas but the car did not start. 12 V battery is OK as cabin and dashboard lights are coming.
    The near panel where, consumption etc. are shown that light also comes but after a minute or so.
    Tried to jump start with 12 V battery terminals at rear trunk but no result.

    Only the main battery warning sign is on.

    Fault code reset did not work... No previous trouble in the car in last many years.
    Fact:

    The traction (main) battery gets recharged when a driver applies the light brake in DRIVE position.
    If someone tows my prius and I, sitting in Prius, press the brake lightly, the traction battery may get the charge required to start the engine.

    Question:

    Will towing in four wheels on ground and in DRIVE position, damage the Prius?

    Thanks!
     
  2. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    I can only say that every Prius owner's manual I have read warns against it. I do not have a Gen 1 manual though.

    I would get codes read. (many auto parts stores can read them, certainly the dealer can)
     
  3. Corwyn

    Corwyn Energy Curmudgeon

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    The car starts using the 12V battery. If the car is not started, the large hybrid battery is NOT connected to the motors (that requires the 12V battery to close the safety relays). So, I don't see anyway that towing it could possibly help (and it could hurt the car).
     
  4. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    ** Moderator note: Moved to Gen 1 forum **

    Correct - unless you can get the car into READY mode, you're not going to get any sort of charge by 4-wheel towing. Sadly, you may have to resort to a dealer (or competent shop that specializes in hybrid vehicles) to charge the HV battery enough to get the car operational. Given the 273.6 volts involved, a specialized charger is required.

    Lesson here is to fill up before you get to 1 flashing pip and to stop the car as soon as you've run out of gas. Do not attempt to continue driving the car once the ICE fails to start due to lack of fuel (usually a check-engine light appears at that point).
     
  5. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    Too many attempts to restart a Prius after running out of gas will result in a hard-code being set that has to be dealer reset. It may be cleared by an OBD scanner but this is not area where a lot of experimentation has been done.

    As for your other speculations, without some hard data from a Prius aware scanner, I have no idea of what is wrong.

    Bob Wilson
     
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  6. dabard051

    dabard051 Tinkerer-in-Charge

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    FWIW: for those intent on keeping their GenI / Gen II Prii operable for a few years more and suspect that their main traction battery is decaying, visit hybridautomotive.com... as well as own a ScanGauge II tuned to their vehicle.

    This company (HybridAutomotive.com) makes the specialized chargers for recharging and levelling the batteries in the traction battery package. They have models for Gen I, II, III and IV Prii, as well as other makes of hybrid cars.

    These units are NOT for the faint of heart; they require opening the traction battery case and bringing a couple wires out to the charger. Their installation instructions are online; read them and be comfortable with their requirements before you order.

    For me, it was worth the $500 for the charger, as I support a fleet (4) of Gen I Prii, and one recently ended up with a very discharged traction battery due to a particularly inept operator. So it kept me from having to replace at least one traction battery before its time.
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i got blown off the line by a gen I yesterday. looked like it just came out of the showroom.
     
  8. Pri-Eye

    Pri-Eye Junior Member

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    I recharged my battery by dismantling it and using a Tenergy charger for 7.2V - 12V NiMH / NiCd Battery Packs for R/C Cars, set to 0.9 Amps. ( UPC: 851197001307 )

    It takes a few hours per cell, and stops around 60%; my battery guage was missing one bar.