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2008 Prius with new 12 V battery won't shift; lots of warning lights

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by SuzyGS, Aug 20, 2017.

  1. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Thanks, Bisco. We didn't buy the car from a Toyota dealer, but from a person who is a licensed car seller, a small potatoes kind of guy. He didn't even know the car had a new hybrid battery. He might not have known it had the transmission (or whatever) problem. Or then again, he might have known and just hoped he would get our money and then not worry since it would no longer be his problem.
     
  2. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Jim, my own Prius is a 2012 Plug In. My daughter's car's battery replacement was done at 97,606 miles, and on 5/6/2016. It might have been under warranty if it had an 8-year, 100K mile warranty. Its first noted service was on 5/30/08.
    Considering we have a 2012 and 2008 Prius, do you think the ScanGauge might be best for me, since it sounds like our OBD2 isn't sophisticated enough? The mini-VCI might be too complicated.
    I can't wait to check the coolant. I can hardly keep my mind on my work today. I had no idea the coolant fluid would be moving even without the engine running. My husband and daughter will attempt to pick it up in a couple hours. I'll let them know what you said about driving in the cool part of the day. I am wondering if it can make it home (13 miles). If the inverter gets too hot, will it shut down to save itself or will it shut down because it would be ruined?
    Thank you so much! I will post again.
     

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  3. WilDavis

    WilDavis Senior Member

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    Sorry I'm late arriving at the party (…so, what's new?), but I notice you have more than one Prius, that being said, once your current problem is sorted, you might consider researching into Prolong Grid Charging (Hybrid Automotive). There are many threads on PriusChat about long-term maintenance of the TractionBattery on the Prius (and other hybrids).

    The ScanGauge-II is a very useful tool (I have two, as they can be daisy-chained) with 4 X-gauges set up on each) - so I'm able to monitor RPM of the ICE (Engine), Water temp of ICE, Voltage of AuxBattery, HP (power generated by ICE when it's running); Voltage of TractionBattery, Current (+/-) in/out of TractionBattery, State_of_Charge (%) of TractionBattery, Average gas consumption for current trip. I can also read/reset DTC codes as well as perform other functions using the SG-IIs. I found the second SG-II on eBay for ~$95. - hope this helps - Wil
     
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  4. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Thanks, Beach Bummm and Wil for your advice. Wil, the more the merrier! I'm new to this forum and cannot believe the level of support provided by its members. What fantastic people (not that I would expect anything less from the type of person who would buy a Prius in the first place).
     
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  5. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    P0AA6 is usually high voltage leak to ground. The car throws master caution triangle. Usually its from corroded buss bars and interconnect corroded from leaking battery modules in the hybrid battery. The other way you have leaking high voltage to ground is from compromised motor winding's in the transaxle. Open winding coating has cracked and its exposing raw winding to the chassis and arcing.
    You can tell its not the trans because if it is leaking high voltage the car will drive really bad like somethings really wrong with the trans and throw that code very fast. A leaking hybrid battery will let the car run ok with poor power like the battery is not contributing power properly.

    High volt leak in battery is very common with age of car.
    High volt leaking from trans winding very uncommon.

    Not buying the dealer replaced the hybrid battery. I bet they cleaned up the hybrid battery enough to get it to stop throwing the ground fault
    and its rotted again.
    If I was you I would find someone who works on hybrid batterys... craigs list is full of them and have them pull the battery out and take the cover off it and look at it. If its minty fresh and has the proper date code on the case (post that here) then its a new battery and worth alot of money. Thats about $200 labor. They will come to your house and do it in your driveway.
    If its a mess with rotted interconnect you got snookered by the dealer. And the car needs a new battery.

    Always bet on snookered with these people.
     
  6. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    I had the hv leakage and it was one bad module leaking at the positive mounting screw...
    small rust spot on the case..
    hope yours is that simple, $25 fix
     
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  7. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Thanks for your posts. Ed, my brother just had his Prius' hybrid battery replaced in his driveway. I think he paid about $1,500. I could use the same person, maybe, although he is a traveling repairman from somewhere else. I wonder if he tries to get two jobs per trip? I think I could call the dealer who put the hybrid battery in and find out if it was replaced with a new battery or not. Since I'm not their customer, they have no reason to lie to me (I don't think). I would love to know if it's new or not. The local dealer said the car has a new battery, but I think they were trusting the service records we showed them from Toyota.com. Or maybe they actually checked.
    Beachbummm, how did you diagnose your bad module?
     
  8. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Oh, I forgot to say this, but the reason I thought a new hybrid battery was installed is because the service history showed this:
    5/10/16

    MISC MISC
    REPLACED THE HV HYBRID BATTERY A SSY. P0AA6. ~|~ ~|~

    PARTS
    NAME
    PART # QTY
    BATTERY ASSY, HV SUP G951047031 1

    The part number is a hybrid battery. I didn't notice this before, but it says customer pay, so I guess it wasn't a warranty repair.
     
  9. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    I called that Atlanta dealer who replaced the hybrid battery. They were closing, but someone is supposed to call me tomorrow to let me know if the hybrid battery installed was brand new or just reworked.
     
  10. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Highly doubtful it was reworked.

    Not to say it can't happen at a dealer, but have only previously heard of it happening twice on this forum.
     
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  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    can the a/c compressor throw a leak to ground?
     
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  12. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    We got the car back. We checked the inverter pump liquid and there was some turbulence, so I guess that's not the problem. About this high voltage leak to ground, since the Toyota dealer did not think that was the problem, apparently, how can we independently find out if it is the problem? By the way, we were able to drive the car home easily, and so far none of the lights have come back on. Yet.
     
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  13. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Ok that's great you can drive the car. If it was a transaxle winding leak you would not be able to do that.
    If it's a hybrid battery hi volt leak it's very intermittent. After you clear the code it will drive sometimes for quite a while before it throws a ground fault nag.

    I'm with SFO I doubt it's reworked but you never know and I'm hoping it is reworked.

    Cursory battery health is if it's struggling is very poor mileage very poor power and keep an eye on the mfd
    Screen and watch how fast it goes from blue bars to one purple bar and does it recover back to blue bars in a mile or two.
    The death knell indicator is quick discharge and very quick charge.

    I highly doubt it's the transaxle.

    Open that battery case up and take a lot of pictures and post them here. We want to see the copper bars and look for any green corrosion around the nuts and bolts on the battery modules.
    Pictures....Also there's some numbers on the cover that are code for its build rate. Take a picture of that.

    Good luck I think you have a bad battery.
     
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  14. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Thanks for these instructions. I'll try to get these photos tomorrow. And we'll have to notice the screen and check how the bars behave. We haven't noticed any problems with power or mileage, though.
     
  15. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    The good news is if it is the trans I looked on ebay and there's maybe 20 of them around $300 + $150 shipping. Then its around $700 to $1000 to install it. So worst case its $1500 tops but if you have a new battery that makes all the difference in the world. The car is good for many years with a new battery. If it has a new battery its worth keeping so focus on the battery first as thats the decision maker there.

    Good Luck.

    Btw, we thank each other on this site by just hitting the like button if you were helped. Its the bottom in the bottom right corner of the post box.
     
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  16. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    You've been so kind. I can't thank you enough. I guess I have some likes to click. After I get home from work today I'm going to tackle the photos task and post them.
     
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  17. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Mini vci is the right tool for the job. Since your local dealer service is less than stellar and the car is out of warranty it is going to be up to you to do the diagnostics and you'll need the data that you'll be able to read through mini vci. The ScanGauge is good at what it does but it won't read every DTC and it won't report any sub codes.
    --
    The inverter will shut down to save itself but I wouldn't make a habit of it. At least you know your inverter coolant pump is working.
     
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  18. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    Well, I found out I really don't know what I'm doing. As you all know, we haven't been Prius owners very long. The battery is enclosed in a big metal case. Am I supposed to try to remove the case to view what's underneath? Will I be electrocuted?! Or are all the clues on the outside? I'm posting some photos that might show the code that reveals the age of the battery. Or maybe they show just random codes on the case...
     

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  19. SuzyGS

    SuzyGS Member

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    I looked at the mini vc on Amazon and read the reviews. Someone said you need an activation code but it's not provided. Someone else said you can get a limited number of uses without the code. More people said something about a malware situation or virus on the CD, and others said the CD doesn't work. I'd like to buy this thing, but I feel so unsure about being able to use it properly. Has anyone else had any trouble with this item? Or is it easy to use? The reviews are really scary.
     
  20. johnjohnchu

    johnjohnchu Active Member

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    Buy any mini vci J2534 on Amazon, ebay, or AliExpress. Should cost around $15 shipped. There is no need to use the enclosed CD at all. Download the very latest Toyota TechStream (12.00.127) from web (may need to look around a little bit). No activation code required whatsoever. TechStream works only on 32-bit Windows OS.. You probably need to, at least, allocate part of the laptop hard drive for 32-bit Windows OS. 32-bit Windows 10 will automatically recognize the mini vci device.

    I have only used TechStream to look around my car's conditions. It seems to be pretty easy to use. The hardest part may be establishing communication between the car and the laptop. However, if you use 32-bit Windows, it should be pretty straight forward and automatic.
     
    #60 johnjohnchu, Aug 25, 2017
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2017
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