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Battery failure Prius gen 3 2010

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Gerelt, Aug 15, 2018.

  1. Gerelt

    Gerelt New Member

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    Greetings dear Prius owners,

    I’m new to this form, and would like to ask your experts and opinions on diagnosed to be failed battery. While driving a couple weeks ago the most dreaded light came on “check hybrid system” took it to a nearby Toyota dealer and diagnosed to be failed battery. Block 7 showed 14.52v while rest of them appears to be in the range of 15-16v. Was quoted for $3800 for a new battery. Almost passed out while hearing it.

    I took out the battery myself and multimetered each sell. They all showed 7.86-8.04v. Now, am surprised and don’t know what to do. Is this battery or something else? I’ve been driving around with the car and when the light came on I disconnected the 12v battery and reset the code and was able to drive little bit until it lights up again. I junkyard and one of them has a battery that was pulled out of wrecked Prius 2010 with 19k for $750. Need some recommendations, advice and opinions. Thanks y’all.
     
    #1 Gerelt, Aug 15, 2018
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! sorry to hear about your troubles.

    the only way to be sure is to load test the battery. if a cell fails, you can try replacing and balancing. usually a temporary solution which requires continual maintenance.

    an 8 year old battery with 19k might be dead on arrival. nimh chemistry prefers to be used, not sit.

    call around for more pricing, a new oem can be had for close to $2,000. in some places, and you will basically have a brand new car.

    how many miles on her? 2010 are subject to egr fouling and head gasket failure, which is a topic for another day.:unsure:
     
    #2 bisco, Aug 16, 2018
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  3. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Only 19k miles? Verified? It would seem to me that means it's been sitting for years unused which is not good for overall battery health.

    You might also want to consider/research trying to recondition your old pack by grid charging.
     
    #3 fotomoto, Aug 16, 2018
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  4. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    Welcome to Prius Chat (y).

    Did the dealer give you a print out of the codes?
    Have you used this dealer before?
    Can the salvage yard provide documentation of mileage or give you the vin so you could check on service history?

    I’d want the codes and documentation prior to spending $3800 as well as the vin number from the salvage pack to verify mileage;).

    Good luck and keep us posted (y).
     
    #4 Raytheeagle, Aug 16, 2018
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  5. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    You may want to try another dealer.

    I have had good purchase experiences from Miller Toyota in Manassas Va. I have not used their service, though since I am 150 miles away from them. I have worked with "Toyota" Sam Lee in sales. He is a top notch Gen 1 Prius owner. My sons & I have purchased several new vehicles from him over the years.

    Reconditioning with a grid charger is a good idea, but likely would need to replace one or more failed modules first. Hybrid Automotive sells the Prolong reconditioning system as well as good used battery modules.
     
    #5 Prodigyplace, Aug 16, 2018
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  6. Raytheeagle

    Raytheeagle Senior Member

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    If considering reconditioning, there is a member in your area that might be amicable to sharing.

    One member here reconditioned his v last year, I think it was @GotRidofSignUpMessage .
     
    #6 Raytheeagle, Aug 16, 2018
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Hello there in NoVA...sorry to hear.
    We have had very few reports of Gen3 batt fails, and very few in our area, so this is fairly unsual.

    Reportedly the new OEM batt cost has come down to about $2000, and with Toyota installation I believe some have been less than $3000. As with everything I suspose more expensive here in NoVA. I just got an outlandish quote for replacing inverter water pump in a Gen2.

    But one option popular here is to call Toyota USA for help.
    HV Battery Goodwill Warranty Listing - Toyota Prius USA | PriusChat

    What dealer did you go to? I think the big ones are probably best for this, Miller, Jack Taylor, maybe Koons.

    Did you buy this new or used? How many miles? Purchase date? for 8 yr warranty
     
    #7 wjtracy, Aug 16, 2018
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  8. Gerelt

    Gerelt New Member

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    Than you all for your invaluable inputs. My Prius gas 160k on it and I bought it last November from Sheehy ford in Springfield with 136k. I went to the dealership and told my situation but no luck. The initial warranty was 30 days 1k miles.

    I had some load test done on the battery with techometer running ac on etc, the cells do seem hold well. With the load it dropped from 7.95 to 7.81v uniformly. When I drive mpg now comes down to 39mpg used to be around 44mpg. And while driving battery charges full and down 2 bars etc. I Orders 4 cells from eBay trying to solve the low v cells but when tested at local shop the original cells performed better than the ones I had ordered from eBay (eBay tested 7.7v vs. original ones 7.86v) so we didn’t it replace them.

    Last but not least we took the copper bus bars out and cleaned them well from corrosion hoping it might help but didn’t.

    My another suspicioun would be the inverter software. While reading online Prius gen 3 has inverter software problems which causes similar symptoms that am experiencing. I pointed that out to the dealership and the technician said there was no recall on mine and they didn’t find any problem with the inverter when run the diagnos. Jack Taylor Toyota.

    The salvage yard battery, I do have its vin. I think I will run it’s hist now. Any thoughts guys...?
     
    #8 Gerelt, Aug 16, 2018
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Of course we always say a low or bad 12v can cause all sorts of probs.

    Guarantee in Maryland could possible be 10/150 depending on if the car was orig bought in MD or other CARB state. I think MD became CARB in 2011. Of course car would have to be registered in MD.
     
    #9 wjtracy, Aug 16, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2018
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Being on the outskirts of Washington DC, there's got be a few other Toyota dealerships around: call/email 'em all, see what they quote. I'm guessing you can at least get down to 3 grand out-the-door. Let the first dealership know what you're doing too: they may sharpen their pencils a bit.
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Aug 16, 2018
  11. Gerelt

    Gerelt New Member

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    UPDATE!

    Dear fellow owners. I shopped online and able to locate a 2010 Prius battery from a junkyard which had relatively low mile on it. Headed out there and installed it onsite. So far so good. Paid $700. Hope this will last little longer.

    Thoughts....

    For future reference if someone is having the battery failure.

    1. Get a brand new battery from dealership if one can afford (for peace of mind)
    2. If the above option does not work, shop around and make few calls to Junkyards to get a salvaged vehicle battery. Installing the HV battery is not too hard with proper equipment.

    To me these two seemed to be a viable options. Replacing individual cells and balancing them out etc seemed too time consuming and energy wasted tasks. Just a thought...

    Good luck and be safe out there!

    Cheers,
     
    #11 Gerelt, Aug 20, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2018
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  12. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    If you buy the Prolong system from Hybrid Automotive you can extend the life of that battery significantly.
     
    #12 Prodigyplace, Aug 21, 2018
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  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    That's pretty good outcome. The idea of getting Prius HV batt from wreck was of course very popular for Gen2's but at some point the availability of wrecks was less than the failure rate of HV batts, and it seems that option fell out. Maybe back in now. For a while Gen3 batts were in demand as they can be used in Gen2 and Gen3, and in Ca. there were Prii getting their HV batts stolen.

    Maybe the market is shifting to less need for HV batteries and wrecks are back in supply. I have in the past theorized that Prii batt fallure rates have declined substantially, but we have no data on it from Toyota. Even 2009/2008 Gen2 batts seem better than up to 2007.
     
    #13 wjtracy, Aug 21, 2018
  14. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    It could be Toyota is improving the packs. For Gen 4 they stated they use a higher grade of Nickel.
     
    #14 Prodigyplace, Aug 22, 2018
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