Possible New Prius Owner

If it was replaced last year, I would not worry about the battery (yes, its called the traction or HV battery). The best test (I know of) for the rack and pinion is to go to an empty parking lot, drive slowly and turn the wheel from steering stop to steering stop 4 or 5 times. If it has a problem, you will lose power steering (very hard to turn). If you speed up and go straight for a short period, pwr steering will be restored. I would not be afraid to buy most any Prius. Hopefully you can get it for a good price.

 

Doesn't the steerig wobble or vibrate (nothing to do with wheels off balance) if the steering is on its way out - something to do with the sensors failing? I understand some have removed the relays as a temporary cure, but losing the power part of the power steering.

 

The $4000 battery replacement can give you piece of mind, but remember that there are other things that can go wrong. As far as value added, it makes the car worth just another $500-$1000 more than one in the same condition with the original battery.

 

According to the letter they sent me, the problem reported is losing power steering when going from lock to lock w/ the steering wheel several times w/in a short period. I have seen this happen to my '01 when I was teaching my son how to parallel park for his driving test.

I have read something about vibration or wobble in the steering but I don't know how much thats related to the recall.

 

Yes, you'll know you have the issue if every now and then, when you are driving slowly and turning, the steering wheel shakes in your hands like a wet dog. No way you'd ever mistake it for unbalanced wheels.

You can reduce the incidence by just keeping a good two-hand grip on the wheel. Just an ordinary grip: you're not wrestling the wheel into submission; you don't have to because the shudder simply happens less that way. My guess is that the extra mass of being linked to your hands and arms takes the resonant frequency of the whole system out of the range where the flaky sensor/assist feedback occurs. My guess on why it works could be wrong, but it observably works.

In my car the problem seems to have long remissions and relapses. It happened some shortly after I got the car, then I never noticed it for a year or so. Came back and was happening once or twice a day about a year ago (I think; right about when the letter offering to fix it arrived from Toyota) but I didn't get around to taking it in, and right now I haven't noticed any for months.

I generally don't notice the the power assist shuts off. A shake usually lasts for a second or two and stops, and the system doesn't shut off or log any codes. I have had it shut off twice, both on long (more than 8 hour) drives. I'm guessing the ECU counts sensor glitches during a single powered-up period, and shuts off and logs codes if the count hits a certain limit. That would explain why it takes a long drive before mine shuts off. Turning the key off and on brings it back.

The glitches are usually noticeable only at low speed but that's only because the steering ECU is designed to give less assist at higher speeds, not because the sensors glitch less. So the ECU can be counting glitches all through a long cruise, even though you're not feeling any, and it can eventually log codes and shut off.

When mine shuts off, it does not show the PS error icon on the MFD, it just shuts off. But if I pull codes it will have the codes for sensor error, just as you'd expect.

-Chap

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I would agree that a 10 year old battery sitting on the shelf is probably not going to last as long as a brand new battery, being that it doesn't have any mileage on it, I would be willing to bet at least 5 years of trouble free operation, maybe even more depending on how it is cared for. Truth be told, I'm not sure when Toyota produced the last HV battery that is compatible with the 2001-2003 Prius, but I'm willing to bet they have not produced any in quite some time and it is probably impossible to buy a "new" HV battery for that model.

 

I'd be concerned by the 12v being allowed to go flat when she was away. Once a 12v has gone flat it can cause permanent internal damage to it meaning it will never hold a full charge again. You might get away with no damage the first or second time you ran it flat, but keep doing it and it'll be scrap.

A replacement 12v isn't that expensive and there are a few alternative options available too. Either knock $200 off the price or just get a new 12v when you've bought the car (soon as you can) and you should be good.

Fail to replace the 12v and the car might let you down that one time you need it urgently. A failing 12v also causes weird electrical gremlins.

 

The main battery disconnects every time the car is turned off. On a Prius, even Gen 1, it is not clear whether or not long periods of sitting are detrimental to the main battery -- for sure it is a problem with older Hondas.

The 12V battery need to be replaced.

 

I have a 2002 with 134K on it and my rack was replaced at no charge by the dealer after taking it back for the steering nut replacement recall. I wouldn't hesitate buying another one since I have not had any problems as of yet.