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2006 Prius Hybrid battery fail ?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by veeru612, May 19, 2021.

  1. veeru612

    veeru612 New Member

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    2006 Prius
    Model:
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    I would like to know your suggestions on my next step.

    Story:
    One evening, I forgot to close the left rear door properly and didn't touch the car for 2 weeks straight. I tried to open the door but it refused to open, car wouldn't turn ON. I thought the 12V battery died, so tried jumping but the latch was broken. I called AAA and got the car towed to their certified mechanic shop.
    The guy at the shop replaced the 12V battery, latch was working - charged me 450$ (battery cost and 1.5 hr labor for diagnostics and battery change) and he recommended things that I should have done before (recently had a new born, I was super busy) - tune up, brakes and oil change. I know I was due for an oil as I drove 6000 miles after the last oil change and it was well over a year ago.
    He did his customary test drive and asked me to pick it up this afternoon.
    I picked up the car, drove 0.5 miles and the car died on me, when I started the car no error codes but when the car died on me, it had big warning light, hybrid battery symbol and brake symbol. I noticed the hybrid battery was never getting charged, I called AAA and got it towed it back to the mechanic.
    Mechanic after evaluating for 1 more hour (150$) says that hybrid battery is dead and quoted me the price of the battery and 6 hours of labor for replacing it or take the car back. I called AAA and got it towed back home. In all I paid 600$ and the car is now dead, don't know what my next step...
    Mechanic also mentioned that the error code is P3190 and that could be a lot of things.

    Car right now turns ON but wouldn't go to drive gear but stays at neutral.

    Kindly suggest my next step - should I get this car to a dealer or any other mechanic for a second opinion or just send it a junkyard (it has brand new 12V battery). I feel frustrated.

    Thanks,
    Veeru
     
  2. veeru612

    veeru612 New Member

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    Car details: Bought in 2017 when the car had just under 100K miles, current odometer reading is 131K. According to carfax, the previous owner had the hybrid changed in 2012 when the car had 70K miles.

    Mechanic quoted 3300$ for the battery and 900$ for labor.
     
    #2 veeru612, May 19, 2021
    Last edited: May 19, 2021
  3. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    I think the AAA mechanic is likely unexperienced with a Gen 2 Prius. Your best bet would be to find a more Hybrid kind of guy or bite the bullet and find a good dealer. A P3190 has nothing to do with the HV battery. It's poor engine power, which means the engine is having an air, fuel or spark problem. Are you certain he actually did a test drive? Maybe I'd go through all the 12v battery connections and verify he actually installed it correctly. Then, I would probably clean the throttle body and MAF sensor. Sometimes these cause problems after the 12v system is lost and then restored. this is due to the ecu setpoints getting set back to default when 12v power is lost. Throttle body position is a 'learned' value that adjusts over time/miles and sometimes if the default value is too differrent from what the actual is, the engine doesn't want to start very well. A good cleaning will usually get it back closer to the default value. Hopefully, if the engine wasn't running, you didn't deplete the battery too much if you had to continue driving it. Disconnecting the 12v battery will reset all the codes and allow you to try to start the car again, as long as the HV battery is strong enough.

    This is one of those times that a tech with Prius experience is priceless.
     
    #3 TMR-JWAP, May 20, 2021
    Last edited: May 20, 2021
  4. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Which device or App are you currently using to retrieve the OBD2 codes? (DTCs).
    Confirm the HV battery replacement by entering the VIN at : Track Your Service Records with Your Toyota Owners Account
    You can source a new OEM or a new aftermarket battery for much less, and likely find someone to install for 200-400.
     
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  5. veeru612

    veeru612 New Member

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    Thank you so much for your detailed reply. It wasn't AAA mechanic but AAA certified shop. Is there any good prius indy in north jersey?
    I would call the local toyota dealer and see what they recommend but I doubt they would be cheaper than buying a new one...

    I created an account on toyota and verified that the hybrid battery was indeed replaced by them around 70000 miles in 2012. I didn't know that you could track all the records, it was nice to see. I usually do my oil and filter changes with them and I see all the records in addition to my account on the local dealer website.

    Do you recommend any OBD device to check the codes myself?

    Thank you so much again for taking time and replying to my post. It is really frustrating, I don't think the AAA certified shop was trying to con me or anything, I am just frustrated that without any warning signs, how could the hybrid battery die? This shop has been active for 26+ years and it was the owner of the shop who worked on it, so can't doubt him.
     
    #5 veeru612, May 20, 2021
    Last edited by a moderator: May 21, 2021
  6. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    Just reading the chain of events (replace 12V battery, now has problem with low engine performance code) I would GUESS that the shop didn't use a 12V source to maintain power to the car when they replaced the battery.

    The engine ecu makes adjustments to the throttle angle and fuel trim over time to compensate for normal "wear"- ie, carbon goo buildup on the MAF sensor and in the throttle body. Losing all 12V power will erase those adjustments and the ecu will revert to "factory new" settings. Unless the MAF and TB were cleaned then the engine might not start or could stall at idle- giving the code.

    The problem is if you continued to drive the car (or attempted to start it several times) then the HV battery can be discharged.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  7. veeru612

    veeru612 New Member

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    Thank you for your comment and very nice explanation of what could have happened.
    Mechanic said he drove on the high way for about 10 -15 mins and asked me to pick it up, I picked up the car and car engine died on me within half a mile from the shop and it seems we have driven the car on the hybrid battery. Now the car wouldn't go into drive mode and the mechanic said the hybrid battery died and I wondered how it could die without showing any symptoms. I got 55 MPG in April. Is the battery completely dead now ? When the car died, it showed hybrid battery symbol and the triangle of death. Does this mean the HV battery died completely?
     
  8. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    The least expensive, and best in class would be a 'mini-vci' cable (usd 20+) and techstream (dealer technician diagnostic software) installed on a windows device, or emulated.

    Some will use a OBD2 blue tooth adapter (research here) and an App like Dr Prius, Torque (learning curve), or Hybrid Assistant.
    Having a discharged or depleted HV battery doesn't mean that you have to purchase a new replacement. You can likely charge it up. There are a couple of commercial products that can do this; Hybrid Automotive 'Prolong' (usd 409++), and Maxxvolts (usd 155++). You could also use a HV led power supply, or a HV electrophoresis power supply, either needs to output around 250VDC. Prices start around 50 usd.

    Best to find a toyota hybrid compatible OBD2 code (DTC) reader and post the retrieved codes in this thread for further guidance.

    FYI : your posts are being moderated until you've posted 5 times.
     
    #8 SFO, May 21, 2021
    Last edited: May 21, 2021
  9. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    It is likely that when the engine failed to start, (which should have given an immediate CEL) the car continued driving on battery power. If driven far enough, the car may have drained the HV battery. HV batteries can be recharged but will take a special charger at a dealer or a prolong style charger if DIY. Depending on the actual state of charge, the car can be fooled into thinking the battery is ok. I would clean the MAF and TB, then disconnect the 12v battery for a few minutes. Reconnect it and all the values in the ecu go to default, including the HV battery, which will default to about 60%. If the battery truly has enough juice, it will try to start he car again when you power up. If the cleaning solved the problem, the car could very well fire up with no further issues.
     
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  10. veeru612

    veeru612 New Member

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    Thank you SFO, TMR-JWAP, mr_guy_mann for taking time to reply to my queries.

    The car starts without any problem but doesn't go to drive mode. The hybrid battery is at 1 bar and I noticed that when I was driving from the shop, hybrid battery wasn't charging at all and when it died, it showed the red triangle and hybrid battery failure symbol. It very well could be that mechanic (AAA recommended shop) didn't know what to do when he saw the car wouldn't start, he just replaced it with a brand new 12V battery and thought everything else falls into place automatically.
    He told me the error code was P3190 (he mentioned it on the invoice of my 600$ payment). I am getting the car towed to the local dealer on Monday and hopefully the diagnosis is not the failure of hybrid battery.

    I will keep you guys posted. Thank you so much again. Have a good weekend.
     
    Samuel Williams Jr likes this.
  11. veeru612

    veeru612 New Member

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    Update: Dealer checked that the hybrid battery was completely drained but nothing wrong with the battery itself. Car is now revived, no codes and everything seems to work fine. Dealer charged 272$ plus tax for charging up the hybrid battery and reset the system.
    I also had requested a tuneup, oil change and fuel injector cleaning and throttle body cleaning. Dealer checked hybrid battery system and found no issues either but cautioned me to never let the prius sit idle for more than a week.
    Thank you so much guys :), I am glad, I didn't junk the car and went to the dealer.
     
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  12. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    It's always good to hear a positive result. Sounds like you escaped the situation at a pretty reasonable price also!
     
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