Bought a dead 07...so many questions

It doesn't sound like you have any Prius experience. There are plenty of people here that will help you but I am not one of them.


Welcome to Prius Chat.

 

Welcome to Prius Chat .

Some questions:

• Where in the great state of KS are you located?
• Do you have a multimeter?
• Are you the DIY type?
• How many miles on your Prius?
• Do you have a code reader?
• What about an old laptop so you could load Techstream?

Good luck with your project and keep us posted .

 

Soundo like you have the 12 volt getting close to ready the car.

But do not perform this act too many times as the hv battery will drain each time you do this.

Some additional questions:

• Do you plan on fixing this to keep it?
• Is your plan to fix it up to the point of selling it?
• Would this be a daily driver if you keep it?
• Would it go to a family member as their daily driver?

Since you are the DIY type and you bought a Prius with issues, what I would if I were keeping it would be is purchase the Prolong equipment from Hybrid Automotive as you will be dealing with battery issues eventually and this makes battery maintenance easy. Since the battery in its current state is comprised, you’ll need to charge it up, and the Prolong Charger gives you that tool that otherwise you’d have to pay a dealer for.

If fixing it up for a family member and they would have it some distance away from you, this might not be the best option and a new hv battery from Olathe Toyota would be best.

But these are some of the options and things to think about.

We used to live in Wichita and would visit Lawrence occasionally. We live in Wichita when the Shox were in the Final Four and 34-0, so an exciting time .

Keep us posted .

 

Additionally you'll want som basic diagnostic tools.
For example android tablet/phone, ELM Bluetooth OBDII reader, Torque Pro app.

Also consider VX Diag Nano.
This will give you the ability to run Toyota Techstream software.

All this will cost you less than $150.
That is about the cost of one trip to the dealer for a single diagnosis.

 

In summary, all the symptoms you've pointed out, tells you've got some clandestine issues with your HV pack.

If you can't afford the prologue system, you could use a homemade gridcharger, if you can, and charge the pack.

I'm currently in the process of getting a Nissan Infiniti with a bad motor to fix. So, you've got lots of thinking to do, as @Raytheeagle has suggested. Weigh all your options.

Hey! You forgot to state the mileage on her.

 

From the looks of things, you'll need to spend some money on this thing

1. Possibly a new engine
2. Possibly a new hv battery
3. Possibly a new 12v battery

So you'll have to decide if it's worthwhile to address those issues as all those combined will total more than double what the car's worth

 

If you have an old laptop, you can pick up a mini vci J2534 cord off of Amazon for ~$20. Then load Techstream and you’ll be able to do more than just read codes.

If charging modules individually, be prepared for a significant time investment as it will take the better part of 3 weeks, depending on how many chargers you have.

That’s the beauty of the Prolong equipment as the process can be completed in around 4 days.

Good luck with your project .

 

Chances are, a battery 11 years old with near 300k miles would probably not work properly even if you charge and recondition them. So think about your options carefully before you throw money at this project car.

 

Yeah, you could use the 24V charger, but you got to be careful of what amperage you're using to charge em. Being safe, would be something say, 1A. That's what I use. If your charger isn't rated 1A, use the one you've got, but ensure you got a fan close buy, blowing across them to reduce potential damage to the modules because of temperature buildup.
Discharge first, before charging the modules.

 

While all the ideas presented are very likely to be the areas of concern I am in the camp of getting a decent diagnostic done by getting techstream or at least an ELM327/Torque Pro set-up. Get the codes and report back. I am far from an expert as I am new to the Prius environment but I have done work on all my vehicles and getting data is what is needed here. Then, with that in hand you can make an informed decision on how to proceed.

Paul.

 

I know I'm straying a little from the topic. But are there any Vo-Tech teachers here reading this topic or on Prius Chat? I'm curious if a project like this would be valuable for an auto-shop class or is it too involved for a school setting? I would think projects like this would be great but maybe consume too much time on the school day?