Prius 04 Not Starting After HV Battery Repair

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by hydride, Jun 24, 2013.

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  1. PriusGuy32

    PriusGuy32 Prius Driver Extraordinaire

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    I just want to clarify ... when you say the car "wont start" you mean it wont display "READY" on the dash? Or that the ICE wont start?

    My first thought was - I start the car all of the time and my engine never starts. Heck, sometimes it doesnt fire the ICE at all if its warm. But I always enter "READY" mode.
     
    #21 PriusGuy32, Jun 27, 2013
    hydride likes this.
  2. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    My engine never starts.
     
    #22 hydride, Jun 27, 2013
  3. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Does the READY light appear, or not?
     
    #23 Patrick Wong, Jun 27, 2013
  4. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    Lights and display turn on. I can listen to the radio, turn on the A/C, and everything except starting the engine.
     
    #24 hydride, Jun 27, 2013
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If you do not see the READY status light appear, then the engine will not start.
     
    #25 Patrick Wong, Jun 27, 2013
  6. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    Well it does show the ready light briefly.
    password: gen2prius
     
    #26 hydride, Jun 28, 2013
  7. koolingit

    koolingit Member

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    Some people might think I need a good slap for harping on this; but I'm not convinced the safety plug is all the way home and making good contact. Take a look at this video try one more time
     
    #27 koolingit, Jun 28, 2013
  8. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    I did exactly that--one more time. Maybe its the inverter? Just wanted to throw that out.:whistle:
     
    #28 hydride, Jun 28, 2013
  9. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    Well, I won't be going to dealer just yet. I'm going to order a whole new hybrid battery block from eBay and have the seller send one of his technician to install it on my car. We'll see what happens from there.
     
    #29 hydride, Jul 1, 2013
  10. koolingit

    koolingit Member

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    Good luck. Let us know how you make out.
     
    #30 koolingit, Jul 2, 2013
  11. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    Well, I found the problem. Right now I'm letting some of the rusted brass plates and nuts sit over night in some chemical solution. I'll reassemble this bad boy tomorrow and post an update. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1373950209.212736.jpg
     
    #31 hydride, Jul 16, 2013
  12. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    My Prius runs now. If anyone's curious, I found an extra nut and screwed the metal plate in tight. The car threw out 2 more error codes but disappeared after I nudged the battery a bit. I saved $5000, spent $50 on a new battery cell, $24 on a multi-meter, and $50 on OBD II reader.
     
    #32 hydride, Jul 17, 2013
    SteveLee, uart and nh7o like this.
  13. SteveLee

    SteveLee Active Member

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    That nut was missing all along?? You replaced a cell? Could you state your process used to replace the cell? How did it measure up in volts to the other cells? Glad you're back up and running.
     
    #33 SteveLee, Jul 17, 2013
  14. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    Yes that nut was missing all along.

    In the beginning the faulty cell was the first issue. I then used a voltage meter (multi-meter) to check each individual cell to see which one had the low voltage. Luckily there was only one faulty one which read around 6.4v instead of the default 8.2v.

    There's a three-part video on YouTube about the disassembly of the battery from the car. I wish I could redo what I did and and record it but it takes way too long.

    I hope that helps.
     
    #34 hydride, Jul 17, 2013
  15. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Your photo in post #31 shows a missing nut on the far left. Is that what you were referring to? If so, I can see why your battery would not operate.

    Also, what does it mean to "nudge the battery a bit"?

    What chemical solution did you use to clean the busbars?
     
    #35 Patrick Wong, Jul 17, 2013
  16. SteveLee

    SteveLee Active Member

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    According to the picture above it looks like a main connector on the battery.
     
    #36 SteveLee, Jul 17, 2013
  17. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    That is correct. There was no nut, therefore the terminal did not have have any contact whatsoever to the battery, thus no power and dead car.
     
    #37 hydride, Jul 17, 2013
  18. SteveLee

    SteveLee Active Member

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    Was the missing nut found? How long had this been a problem? You originally stated "...so I bought a new cell to replace the broken one. " Was this nut missing at that time or was it left off during that repair? Just trying to learn more about the cause of this incident.
     
    #38 SteveLee, Jul 17, 2013
  19. hydride

    hydride Junior Member

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    It's no problem. The nut went missing during the repair and for some reason, I didn't bother to replace it. Fast-forward 2 weeks later, I realized that nut was missing and grabbed a regular nut of that size and screwed it tightly in. Voila.
     
    #39 hydride, Jul 17, 2013
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