Newbie here, hybrid battery question!

You are correct that normally the hybrid battery should retain the state of charge overnight. Possibly the smaller 12v batt is bad which might help to explain. You can find instructions here to check that one the 12v.

 

That looks like coolant circuit air bleed nipple. That's normal appearance. Basically, it's at the high point in the coolant circuit, and after a drain and refill is left open to let air vent out, then closed when coolant starts coming out.

 

Is the hybrid battery SOC always low in the morning?
Is the final part of your drive home in EV? The display can be a bit slow to update, so it's possible that when you turned it off its rrue SOC was lower. To check it, one day when you get home park, turn off climate control and all lights and accessories and wait a few minutes to confirm your final SOC. Then see how it compares in the morning.

 

Yes, that's normal when the car is turned on--it's the voltage supplied by the DC Inverter to charge the 12v battery. It indicates NOTHING about the condition of the 12v battery itself.

What kind of mpg is the MFD showing you?

Go to this thread and follow instructions: Weird stuff happening? MPGs dropping? Test The Battery | PriusChat

 

This only tells you that the dc-dc converter (the prius battery charging system) is working, it tells you basically nothing about the health of the battery itself. To properly test the 12V battery leave it off overnight (or at least for several hours) and then, *before* placing the car in ready mode, measure the 12V voltage in accessory mode with the full headlights on.

*Note. Once you place the car in ready mode, it starts charging the battery and this will mess up your measurements.

 

Yeah, unless you missed out some details that's bad, real bad!

However it might not be as bad as you say because you might not understand that some minor details here could make a big difference. You say you drove 175 miles to recharge it, so you might not understand that it can charge (and especially discharge) in a matter of minutes or even less. So when you say it was almost full green (7 bars) when you got home, perhaps you meant a few minutes before you turned the car off. This could make a big difference.

If you're driving slowly at the end of a trip, parking the car or whatever in full electric mode, possibly with the AC running, that SOC can be going down pretty quick. So if you don't watch it closely you may be shutting down with a lot less SOC (state of charge) than you think.

Watch it over the next few days, look closely at the SOC exactly at the point where you shut it down, and see how it goes. Ideally it should be the same SOC when you start it up the next day.

 

Is the car shut all the way off? I ran the battery into the red one time when I left it in ACC for about an hour one time... Not sure if it should have done that though; haven't seen red since then!

 

carbon,

Welcome to PriusChat. Is the Inverter cap you're asking about in your post #6 the same one you're inquiring about being missing off the nipple in your photo in post # 3, or a different one? How about a photo of where the inverter cap is missing from if it's not the nipple cover.

You have an '05 with the JBL stereo & I think I remember reading here that there was some issue with the JBL still drawing current after the car is shut off, so maybe that is causing the 12V battery to be low (or bad---especially if it's the original 8-yr old 12V) & that would cause the high voltage system to work harder to help recover the 12V. My '05 still has the original 12V battery with no issues or system flakiness yet, but I probably should consider getting it replaced before next winter.

Nobody has jumped in yet to answer your question about the missing rectangular piece in the plastic vent grill in the picture in your post #5. It's just a pop out piece (that has the word "frame" embossed on it so you can check the frame#/VIN# stamped into the sheet metal behind it. When you do look in there you may also notice a small crescent shaped cutout & a larger rectangular cutout in the sheet metal. This is where the mice or other rodents can get through the firewall & into your heating ducts to do some damage.

You may not have any such problems if your car is garaged or (if parked outdoors for any length of time) not near any wooded areas. You'll know if you have a problem & need to do something if you go to change you cabin air filter & you find all kinds of debris on top of the filter as you slide the filter tray out. IMPORTANT : if you see any debris as you start to slide the tray out, STOP & go get a vacuum cleaner to suck as much as you can out of there.Try not to let any of that junk fall into the blower motor box or you'll have a lot of rattling or may even jam up the blower itself & blow a fuse. Having or not having that missing plastic piece won't make any difference whether the rodents get in there or not (they will get in behind that plastic vent grill through openings at either end by the hood hinges).

If you do develop the rodent problem, you need to remove the windshield wiper setup (when re-installing them, you just line up the outer end wiper tips with the little clear dots in the black area of the windshield---you'll see them before you remove the wipers) & then the 2 segments of that black plastic tray/grill (be sure to reseal that seam between the 2 segments or you'll have some unwanted water issues). You'll find 3 much larger openings through the firewall over by the driver's side. All 5 openings should be covered over with wire mesh or something most hardware stores carry called "Guttter Guard". There is a step-by-step guide to the procedure either here or over at PriusOnLine called something like "Mouse hotel" or "Mouse proofing your Prius" (maybe not the exact words, but try doing a search to find it).

When you're under the hood & through doing that (if needed), you should also consider using a leftover piece of the same material to cover over the OUTER end of the tube to the airbox where the engine air filter is or you could find some of the same nastiness below the engine air filter (it could get chewed all the way through too & that would NOT be good for the engine). Any auto recycler/junkyard that has any 2G (2004-2009) Priuses would be the best & cheapest place to get your missing plastic cover with the word "frame" stamped on it if you still want to cover that hole. But the most important thing if you develop a rodent problem is to cover those 5 openings through the firewall with the "Gutter Guard" stuff. I hope I have been helpful.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

Hi again, carbon,

I don't know much about the JBL issue. I just remember reading that the unit was found to be causing a draw on the electrical system AFTER the car was shut off. If you're going to replace it, that should no longer be any concern to you.

Replacing the missing rectangular plastic piece with the word "frame" stamped on it will only make it less easy for mice/rodents from getting inside the dashboard area & heating vents (don't go new for that part---just try an auto recycling yard/junk yard first). They (rodents) will still get in there around the ends of that plastic grill where the hood hinges are. The only way to stop them is to cover up all 5 openings with the Gutter Guard or similar material (don't forget the outer end of the air cleaner tube too).

As far as the plastic/rubber cap for that nipple valve is concerned, $12 total to replace that sounds too steep for me. Even though that nipple doesn't have anything to do with your A/C system, you could probably go by a place that does A/C service & they might have a similar cap that will do the job of keeping that nipple valve clean for much less $ (maybe even free---but don't tell them that you were going to spend $12 on line, or they may decide to charge you close to that figure too). You could also try your local hardware store for something that might work.

Keen (in Bolton,Ct)