2001 Prius battery problem...replace cells?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lutung @ Jul 27 2007, 10:38 AM) [snapback]485867[/snapback]</div>

IMHO, I don't think so.
Regarding to my experience about NiMH and NiCd battery, they are connected in series and should have matched characteristics, such as manufacturing lot, ages, internal resistance and so on.
http://www.tjcells.co.uk/prod.htm

Ken@Japan

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lutung @ Jul 26 2007, 08:38 PM) [snapback]485867[/snapback]</div>

Ken is pretty accurate about the battery and trying to replace individual modules. This is not an 'off the shelf' item. Now if you have an engineering friend handy with the right set of tools, it might be possible to rebuild a battery pack but it would be pretty expensive labor.

BTW, I saw an Ebay vendor with a battery pack for shipping for about $1.4k earlier this week, which might be another alternative. Of course you'd have a hard time getting the local Toyota dealer to install it.

I snagged a battery from a salvage but I plan to do my 'electrical engineering' tricks and make sure the cells are in good shape. Nothing gets changed until I test them all but then, this is my fun and not a business. Just something I like to do.

Bob Wilson

 

Obviously, sooner or later someone is going to combine cells from different HV batteries and post the results.
Unfortunately, too much will be made out of the success or failure forthcoming. A couple of notes:

Submarine battery experience (and there is a lot of that) show that individual cells wear out at different rates due to location in the pack (the edge cells are cooler than the middle cells). At low SOC, the higher performing cells in the pack start "charging" the lower performing cells all the time. To prevent problems, these cells are jumpered out individually till it is time to replace the entire pack. The HV batteries in the Prius are very long lasting, but they do wear out at some point, and one of the mechanisms will be increasing differences in the cell capacities. So I forsee the following:

1) Someone combines cells and is absolutely dogged by SOC variations and constant TOD failures or,
2) Someone gets lucky and has a combination that works (at least till they post).

Submarines do replace individual cells, but after matching for similar ages in other cells. So this can be done with the right equipment and knowledge. (i.e. It is better than recycling if only a few cells are very bad). Otherwise just randomly combining cells is assured of having quite a few problems.

 

Dealer just told us our 2001 had one bad cell and wants $3000 for new battery. Wish there was a cheaper option.

 

eBay

 

I have just replaced the whole pack for my 2001 Prius, cost me $4400 after tax and labour, owch! My old battery had one malfunctioning cell I have the whole pack with me and willing to sell it unit by unit, if you know someone who needs a cell let me know, Thanks,

 

I believe it is CAD price.
The USD price is $2,299 without labor.
Toyota Vehicles : Toyota Announces Price Reduction On Prius Hybrid Batteries / Toyota

Ken@Japan

 

Could you contact me about the battery cells you have? thanks

 

Hi I am sorry that I was not online foe a while. Tell me what you want to know about the old battery pack that I have.
I have left it in a box at my mechanic's. Cell number 4 was reported to be malfunctioning the rest are fine.
I am located in Toronto Canada my e-mail address is [email protected]
If you still haven't solve your problem , drop me a line now.

Thanks,
m@

 

Sorry for the delay... I did not visit this site for a while.
The battery pack is located in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
It is very heavy. I am willing to sell the whole cell at once. The price is $600, however I have no idea how much it cost to ship it to your location.
My mobile is (416)388-9644 I live in Toronto Canada (Eastern Time) If you need more info call me ... Thanks

 

They can be rebuilt just visit hyridbatteryrebuild dot com
They give you an in depth guide on how to do it.

 

i have just swapped cells from a few first generation prius with cells from two third generation batteries that cost just over $300 a piece. the whole process ended up costing me under a thousand dollars and i was successful every time. If you are mechanically inclined in any way i can give you a link.

 

Toyota Warehouse has them $1700.00 Cleveland Ohio.

 

Can you send the link, please. Looks like my '05 will is down 2 cells.