Death of main battery +(

Great. It would be nice to keep this forum non-commercial. Thanks.

Again, it would be nice to keep this forum non-commercial. Thanks.

 

Freidawg, our apologies for jk450. No clue why he is adamantly against any HV battery rebuilding, but it goes back for months and months without any let up. Sorry.

The rest of us cherish expertise, do not be chased away. The forum dies a little bit when each expert is forced out.

 

I have never stated that I am "adamantly against any HV battery rebuilding". Indeed, I pointed out in this thread that the OP has just such a source nearby. In the past, I have, however, pointed out some rather bold statements made by Re-InVolt, a battery rebuilder, which could not be supported. Re-InVolt did not challenge my observations. However, they still use such statements to sell batteries. That's life.

No one has forced out any experts. To be blunt, the only regular contributor to this forum who, in my opinion, has consistently given reliable advice has been Patrick Wong. It would be great if there were many more, but there aren't. That's reality, and I think you are having a hard time accepting that.

If you look at friedawg's posts, you will see that he is still learning. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but folks who seek guidance need to be aware of that when considering the advice that is offered. Given that friedawg advertises "complete diagnostic repair on the Toyota Prius", I'll guess that he won't be too happy to read my assessment, but folks with broken cars deserve the truth.

Remember, people generally come here for help in getting their car running again. That's all they want. Too many times, self-appointed "gurus" have given advice in this forum which has wasted people's time and money. That's not funny. My guess is that you haven't complained about this because you haven't been able to recognize it. Think about that for a while.

 

jk450,
You seem to know a lot, but somehow your posts are not useful in getting people with problems sorted out or advancing the general well-being of the Prius community. Perhaps you have not grasped the constructive part of criticism, or you do not know your limits.

I have not decided, but I do know that I doubt your advice, and I really am skeptical of your motivations.

 

A couple suggestions, why not ask picknpull if they have a good used battery, or another car in the lot with one. Sacramento will have everything, it is a ways as you know, but it's flat and maybe go get one and have someone local put it in. They aren't so large.

The Gen I is a cute little car, if otherwise in good condition, just replacing both the batteries isn't so terrible a thing, to get a lot more use out of it.

CR tested a GI with over 200k and found the test results were very close to when they tested a new one.

 

I disagree. I have posted twice in this forum with specific questions to the OP in hopes of learning enough about the vehicle to confirm what the actual problem may be before giving advice. I haven't tried to sell the OP any parts, and I haven't posted videos that are irrelevant to the vehicle under discussion. If you feel that my approach is not useful, I won't to try to convince you otherwise.

I have a low threshold of tolerance for BS.

Please question everything. For all you know, I could be making stuff up. But again, keep in mind that I have not yet given any advice in this thread. We simply haven't yet learned enough about the vehicle to do so.

Remote diagnosis of a vehicle—from described symptoms alone, often without benefit of adequate diagnostic equipment—can be difficult if not impossible in the best of conditions. But it's so much easier to guess, and say "yep, you need a battery". Heck, we could throw in a photo or a graph, and then we'd look really smart. But that won't fix the car.

I have nothing to sell. The OP wants to know what is wrong with his or her car. If someone here can help, great.

What do you think is wrong with the car, and why?

 

I would have agreed with this idea several years ago. Used to be, many Gen I battery packs in junkyards were in decent shape. Plop one in, and off you go. But most of those packs have now been sitting in junkyards long enough to degrade irreversibly by now. I haven't seen a revivable Gen I battery pack come out of a junkyard for a couple of years now. Could it happen? Sure, but the odds are not that good, unless you happen to stumble across a wrecked Gen I that recently had a battery pack replacement.

A junkyard will sell you a battery with the assurance that you can exchange it if it's not good, but after the second or third pack, they're usually going to run out of stock and have to buy one to satisfy you. That's when the "guarantee" often starts to go south. Exchange? Maybe. Money back? Doubtful.

One of the very few instances in which I agree with Re-InVolt is with their assessment that used, discharged Gen I battery packs generally aren't worth reviving anymore, unless you have time and money on your hands and simply want to play. That's why I'm skeptical of the "reconditioned" Gen I battery packs recently advertised with a 90 day warranty.

 

As I understand things, Re-Involt sells a pack for G1 Prius made up of G2 batteries put into a G1 case. If I had a G1 that needed a pack and did not want to buy an OEM from Toyota, that is the kind of pack I would look for. Heterogenous pack discharge after sitting on a shelf for a long time is an issue, and I think can only be dealt with by the non engineer customer by purchasing from a dealer that QA's the pack adequately before shipping. In this case paying more gets you more.

-- Opinions of a lay, non-engineer, but interested onlooker.

 

No apology necessary, and I don't intend to run off. I can't take it too personally when I see a large percentage of the posts here involve him arguing with other members or criticizing, correcting, or editorializing posts from other members.

jk450 can certainly espouse his opinions here (and obviously frequently does) the same as the rest of us.

I am passionately dedicated to these cars and to helping them stay on the road. I am also an un-apologetic advocate for the use of recycled and rebuilt auto parts. Yes, its how I make my living. I am too old to do it as a hobby.

Eric
Adopt A Part
800-508-2211

PS: We're having great success with an expanding business and many satisfied customers.

 

You are obviously dealing with the wrong "Junk Yards".

Eric
Adopt A Part
800-508-2211

 

I am too happy to acknowledge that I am still learning. Learning about Hybrid cars as well as many other things in life. I hope I never get so smart that learning ceases.

Eric
Adopt A Part
800-508-2211

 

I hope you get smart enough to stop advertising in this forum. It reminds me of ambulance chasing.

 

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This is my first posting... I've had my 2001 Prius since April 2005, but just recently found this forum.

My 2001 Prius with 130,000 miles is experiencing a 3009 code, (That dreaded exclamation point in a triangle --- leaking voltage?). I have a great mechanic in Clarkdale, AZ, who was going to send me to a Toyota dealer, but I found these postings and Re-Involt.com's website, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to proceed.

Any ideas / suggestions / hints are welcome!

MeriJeen in Sedona, AZ
2001 Prius purchased used in 2005

"Sometimes we are at our best, and sometimes we are at our worst. I hope that the worst times become extinct and the best times proliferate."

 

Check your private messages

Eric
Adopt A Part

 

1. You will have noticed that the car continues to run despite the presence of the high voltage fault. If you don't notice any driveability issues then there is no immediate urgency to take action (unlike 2G Prius, where the high voltage fault will result in the car refusing to run after it is made IG-OFF.)

2. The high voltage fault may be due to the traction battery but it could also be due to any component in contact with high voltage, including the traction battery ECU, the inverter, the transaxle, and the high voltage wiring. From your OP I assume that no one has actually identified the traction battery to be the failed part?

3. If I were you I would continue to drive the car as-is, until a driveability symptom appears (such as transaxle noise, lack of power, etc.) Then take the car to your local Toyota dealer and ask for the DTC to be read and a diagnosis performed. Good luck.

 

Patrick describes a logical way forward. The only thing I might add is: You MIGHT run the risk of the car leaving you stranded as the failure manifests further. Depending on your specific situation (how many miles you drive each day, how close you are to a dealer, how many cars in your family, the money situation etc), this may or may not be a big deal to you. If it is a big deal, you might consider getting the diagnosis sooner rather than later.

Eric
Adopt A Part

 

Have your great mechanic read this article, especially the section entitled "The Diagnosis":

Prius 1st gen - Replacing Transaxle

If the issue is in the battery pack, you may be interested to learn that some shops have been able to remove accumulated crud from the top of the pack, as a stopgap procedure:

Luscious Garage | Blog | Toyota Hybrids P3009: High Voltage Leak Detected, internal to battery

It doesn't always work, but sometimes it does for a while. Eventually, though, the battery will fail.

 

Wild guess: would you by chance be using the forum's PM feature to drum up business for your junkyard?

 

did he TS get the car fixed?

lusiuos is a good place to go and otherwise there are 2e hand batterys taht can be posted to you.