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  1. Jack Bruce

    Jack Bruce New Member

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    reportcar.jpg Hello everyone I would really appreciate all your thoughts on what could be the problem here. I have a 2004 toyota prius and for the past 2 months I have barely been able to drive the car. The reason I barely drive it is because I have tried to fix it a million different times and I still get the same result no matter what. So it all started when my battery first went bad, when it did I replaced the cell that was bad and balanced all the cells thinking that would do it just like it would for most prius. But no I was wrong about that and it did not work the first time so I tried a few other times to do the same thing still no luck. At that point I was confused because that has worked just fine for other prius but not this one apparently. So my next step after that was buying a used battery off someone for $400 and after throwing that in I would still get the same lights and codes. After spending the $400 just for it to still not fix is when I decided to go all out really hoping it would fix it. What I mean by that is I bought a newer refurbished battery from the company Electron Automotive. I first received the battery and threw it in and it drove good for like 30 miles then my car popped the same lights. After the lights came up I was really fed up but at the same time wasnt too sure why all the lights were on because the engine light and triangle and that one other light was on but it gave me no codes to my ob2. Also since I bought it from a notable company I figured it couldn't of been the battery. I took it to toyota for a diagnoses and they told me that it was my battery I was like oh okay probably a mistake by the battery company so I contacted them and shipped it back and got another. (btw they are great at electron automotive none of this is their fault my car is just weird) So once I received the new one which was today I just threw it in and what do you know the light is right back there. I am so confused by this all because I keep being told its hybrid battery and I replace that and its not the issue. I Have been through several different battery packs and just don't get what it could be and why I still get lights after replacing it. My only thought is that the computer is some how messed up in the car but I am not sure. The only thing I know is something either keeps making my battery go bad or something else is broken and it makes those lights come up. Btw when all the lights come on it puts it in limp mode. Please chime in with any thoughts this car is really killing me and idk what to do. [​IMG]
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    idk anything about electron automotive, nor do i recall ever reading about them here.

    i have to assume it is a poorly rebuilt battery, and you are mistaken about others success wit replacing modules or buying rebuilt packs.
    it is very hit or miss (mostly miss) and takes a lot of expertise to get it right.

    i would consider the new pack for $1,600. from 'newpriusbatteries.com' see member @2k1Toaster
     
  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If electron guys sent you a bad battery the first time, it does not guarantee the 2nd battery they sent you is good. Unless you have the tools to read the codes and diagnose, you'll be at the mercy of professional mechanics to help you figure out what is wrong. If it end up to be the battery again, then it's safe to say it's electron automotives fault.....even though you claim it's not their fault for taking your money and giving you a bad product
     
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  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    What is the result you keep getting?

    You attached one photo of a Toyota dealer printout showing a P3024.

    Do you mean you keep getting P3024 after every fix attempt?

    Or do the codes vary?

    What are the codes?
     
  5. Jack Bruce

    Jack Bruce New Member

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    I finally pulled a code and it ended up being POA92 which means I need a new transaxle. It was very confusing at first because everyone even the dealership told me its the hybrid battery and I myself also got battery codes. This is the first time I have got a code for this. At least after putting in that new hybrid battery the codes for that went away. Anyways I looked up prices for used transaxles and they were pretty good and I am thinking of purchasing it and having someone install it. I myself can not tackle this job but if anyone on this chat is from the bay area and can do this job I would be down to meet and cash you out to do it.
     
  6. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    Have you EVER changed the 12 V battery in all of this time ?
    Or tested it and inspected and tightened it's main cable connections ??

    How about the cables and connections going to the HV battery ??

    And finally, have you considered that it REALLY is not worth all the time and trouble and $$$ that you are putting into it ???
     
  7. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Just skimmed your post we have seen hundreds of times on this site.

    1—Battery “rebuilders” are the biggest scam going. There lying there lazy they will drive you crazy.

    2- The car is throwing BATTERY HYBRID CODES a normal car code reader will not decode them you need a hybrid code capable code reader.

    There’s a few we use. All require Toyota’s dealer software called TECHSTREAM it’s a bug riddled copy.


    Use search links tab up top and search

    Techstream. or. OBD
     
  8. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Ideally, you have a way of reading the "INF" or "Detail Codes" that go with that, because there are several different ones (261, 521, 606, 607) that can go with P0A92, and for some of them, the possible causes can include the inverter or the battery current sensor, not necessarily the transaxle. It would be a drag to fix the wrong thing.

    By the way, that is a zero, not an O, in P0A92. That may seem like a small thing, but you do get better search results when you spell it right. (Even worse, the search results when you spell it wrong may be biased toward info from people who don't know what they're doing.)

    Little rule of thumb, DTCs have to start with P, C, B, or U, have 0, 1, 2, or 3 next, and the rest can be digits or A-F.

    A DTC really never tells you what you need; it tells you about something very specific a computer observed (the repair manual says what that is exactly), and then the repair manual gives steps for what to test and how, to figure out why that code came up and what would fix it.
     
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  9. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Stop and take a breath. Right now you are frustrated and throwing parts at a problem without understanding what's wrong.
    If YOU want to fix this, then YOU need to slow down and do some testing. Test, don't guess.

    What codes set the first time? How did you get those codes? Did it set the same codes the second and third time? What exactly did you install when you put in the refurbished battery? (was it just the battery modules or was it a complete assembly with all the wiring and the ecu? ) Did you, clean the orange wiring harness? Did you replace the bus bar strips and nuts? Did you torque the bus bar nuts to spec with a torque wrench? Did you remove the orange connector from the battery ecu (next to the modules) and inspect the terminals for corrosion and heat damage? Have you had the 12V battery charged and tested?

    If your "OBD2" won't read codes, then whatever it is doesn't have the capability you need to diagnose a Prius. When there is a fault with the hybrid system, the red triangle comes on, and the other lights are usually on because those systems are saying "hey there's a problem with the hybrid system- go look there." One option is to get an app like Dr Prius or Hybrid Assistant. Either of these work with SOME OBD2 bluetooth adapters (Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus) to display information and codes from the HV battery ecu. Another option is to purchase a "mini VCI cable" with techstream (a pirated copy of Toyota's diagnostic software) from amazon or ebay and install it on an old windows laptop or onto a virtual machine. Can be tricky to do but it gives you full access to all codes and data on the car.

    Now the "battery block becomes weak" code sounds as if it was written with the assumption that ANY fault with the high voltage battery would be fixed by replacing the entire assembly. If you only replaced the modules then the problem part would still be there. Don't know with out testing.You should look at the data to see what is happening. The battery is made up of 28 modules (each 7.2V module is a sealed assembly of 6 x 1.2V Ni-mh cells) arranged in blocks (each block is 2 modules). Block 1 on a Gen2 is furthest from the battery ecu while block 14 is next to it. The weak block code sets when the voltage on a block is different (above 0.3V?) from the others for too long. A "bad" block has voltage that can be higher or lower than the rest. You need to monitor the block voltages on your car, while it's sitting at "ready", while accelerating (hard), and while slowing down (regen). On a good battery those voltages are usually within 0.1 to 0.2V under most all conditions.

    OK an update- still want to get a scantool that will pull the INF codes per ChapmanF's recommendation such as Dr Prius or techstream.