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Shuddering transmission??

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by yotatoter, Oct 14, 2013.

  1. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    HI ,working on a 2002 prius with 153k miles. bought it with a "Bad transmission" diagnosed by toyota dealer. Got i home and did a quick check but there were no codes. I drove it about 50 feet into my garage where it would shudder baddly while being driven which from my experiance sounds like a bad MG2 motor. Drained the oil and thought hhmmm th oil does not smell bad and niether did it look burned. proceded to pull the mg2 but found it looked brand new, no burned spots or any such thing. SO I put it back together and think its a bad invertor. put on a different invertor that I have lying in my garage that I "think" is good and start the car. get code p3125 and p3120 and still have the bad shuddering when i try to drive it..Is there any way to test it futher before I pull the trans and put a new trans back in? Thanks for any suggestions..
     
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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  3. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    No I did not ,I have seen the burned part so far on any of the mg2 that I have changed..So you are thinking its an open leg on mg2?? Another question,If i let the car coast with the key off and car in nuetral would it still shudder or not??
     
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    No it will not. See my first post up top again as I just linked it.

    Its shuddering becasue the mg is extremely out of phase with one phase open.
     
  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Btw, LG garage gen1 shuddering post was the second hit on a google search. Was quicker than putting the lg garage name in and searching there blog.
     
  6. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    Yes I am familiar with LG,s blog..What threw me off was the fact that the mg2 has no burned spots and I than figured it was the invertor.. I will try to coast the car in nuetral with key off and see what happens..Thanks for your comments.
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    I answered your coast in neutral question in post #4. It will not shudder in neutral because mg2 is not energized.
     
  8. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    OK thanks a lot.. thats what i thought,just wanted to hear somebody else say the same thing...grin
     
  9. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Did you see on LG you can replace mg2 with the trans in the car on a G1. When you get it out you will probably find the burnt winding with your nose.
     
  10. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    Well if you read my entire post you will find that I already pulled the mg2 out but could not find any burnt wiring in it like I usually do,hence my confusion..does that help clear it up??
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Yes I read your entire post. It says you didn't find any "burnt spots" which means your looking and its probably buried in the bundle and not readily visible. Try smelling. I know its lost a phase and I know its got an open winding.
     
  12. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    OK thanks ,I will give that a shot and let you know what I find..
     
  13. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    It is rare that there's no obvious burn mark though. Was the car in an accident and maybe one of the three 3 phase Hi V orange cables to the trans is damaged?

    You already replaced the Invert and same codes so must be a hard to see burnt winding. Usually there catastrophic burns.

    See if its stinky along the bundle. If so pry the winding bundle apart and see if any burn marks.

    Pictures of mg2 windings area. Good clear focused close up pictures please.
     
  14. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    You are correct,its very rare not to find burn marks.. Will take some pics and post them. Busy fixing other vehicles so it will be a bit till I get it pulled again..
     
  15. 3prongpaul

    3prongpaul Hybrid Shop Owner, worked on 100's of Prius's

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    Did you measure MG2 windings with a megger or at least a regular ohm meter?
    (you should have done that before you opened the tranny to "look" for burnt windings).
    A real bad MG2 can be detected with a $5 ohmmeter. Unhook all orange MG2 cables from the inverter (MG2 is the square area, not the round area on the inverter). Check resistance between each orange cable and ground. If you have any dead shorts MG2 is hosed. You can get better information with a true meager, but a cheapo meter works in many situations.
     
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  16. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I would also suggest checking resistance across all three stator wiring phases, one phase at a time. If an open circuit is found, that would be evidence that particular wire phase has a burnt winding causing the open circuit.
     
  17. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    Thanks Paul,will try that.. I did find out however that even if you shut the key off and put the car in nuetral and coast down the hill it will still shudder. maybe sounds like chains and loose bearings????? Is that possible??
     
  18. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Looking over this thread, I've seen some things posted that don't completely square with what I understood to be the typical failure mode for the MG2 stator. As I understood it (from good descriptions by sources like Luscious and Arts), the typical beginning of trouble is a failure of the winding insulation that leads to a short--not an open. What results is effectively a closed-loop conductive path right within the stator itself. Because the rotor's made with permanent magnets, this turns the MG into a generator with no OFF switch. Any time it turns, it will transfer energy into the shorted loop of stator winding, heating it up, further burning insulation so that once begun, the failure inevitably progresses. It doesn't matter whether the car is on or off, or even whether the motor cables are disconnected from the inverter, because the magnets are permanent and the conducting loop is totally self-contained within the MG. It will shudder (and further cook itself) any time the wheels turn.

    Unhappily, it all seems pretty consistent with what you're observing. Best wishes for an affordable repair.

    -Chap
     
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  19. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    The only thing I would add is normal temperatures are:
    • ICE > MG1 > MG2 (the end unit)
    When MG2 stator fails, a generator with short and no OFF:
    • ICE > MG1 < MG2 (initially)
    • ICE < MG1 << MG2 (short trip)
    There is no cure except MG2 stator replacement or transaxle replacement. The fault is in the short in MG2 stators.

    Bob Wilson
     
  20. yotatoter

    yotatoter Member

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    Thanks a lot to both of you above.....Great explanation.. makes complete sense.. I will check my MG1 and MG2 temp and drive it a little bit and get some readings..