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Traction battery at 50%

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013.

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  1. Mrpcar

    Mrpcar Active Member

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    Just got my car back from the dealer's initial 5000 miles service, basically just oil change I think.

    When I dropped the car off my traction batter was at 80%, now the traction battery is at 50%.

    How in the world did they ran the battery down that low? Of the whole time I owned the car I've never got the battery down that low before, what exactly did the dealer do?
     
    #1 Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013
  2. Mrpcar

    Mrpcar Active Member

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    Just looked at the service receipt, one of the test item was "Perform battery test". I wonder if that has to do with this.
     
    #2 Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013
  3. Paradox

    Paradox Prius Enthusiast / Moderator
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    Could be so many things like leaving it in accessory a while, moving it around without kicking the engine on, having it on with the fan running... Even if it went down all the way, it'd just start the engine so its no big deal.
     
    #3 Paradox, Mar 25, 2013
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  4. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    What is it?
     
    #4 Former Member 68813, Mar 25, 2013
  5. phoenixgreg

    phoenixgreg Senior member

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    The bigger question is an oil change at 5000 miles?! Hope you didn't have to pay for that. It should be 10k intervals.
     
    #5 phoenixgreg, Mar 25, 2013
  6. Les_PL

    Les_PL Active Member

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    I think the initial (first oil change) in new car can be shorter.
     
    #6 Les_PL, Mar 25, 2013
  7. rekniht01

    rekniht01 Junior Member

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    ToyotaCare calls for a service at 5k, but it doesn't include an oil change. Just an inspection and maybe the aforementioned battery test. I didn't notice anything with the battery after ours.
     
    #7 rekniht01, Mar 25, 2013
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  8. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    5K service is just a routine check of the fluid levels, inspection of sorts and tire rotation. As for the traction battery being in a reduced rate of charge...who knows? As one poster indicated, running it around the shop without ICE start up is a probability.
     
    #8 BZzap!, Mar 25, 2013
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Geesh, I have the battery flirting with 2 bars most everytime I taxi around in a parking lot, for a few minutes. Or driving at around-town speeds on level roads.

    They likely drove it around the lot a bit, and it was warmed up enough to do it in EV mode.

    And the battery check was likely the 12 volt.
     
    #9 Mendel Leisk, Mar 25, 2013
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  10. Mrpcar

    Mrpcar Active Member

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    The dealer where I bought the car from provides free service I think up to two years when you purchase a car from them. So I got the oil change for free. Invoice said $38 which hardly will break anyone's bank if one need to pay for it. Oil change is cheap insurance. I change them at 5000-7000 miles for all of my cars. However this 5000 mile oil change was call for by the dealer.
     
    #10 Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013
  11. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    hope the used synthetic oil...
     
    #11 spiderman, Mar 25, 2013
  12. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    They probably put it in "N" so they could push it around the shop as required. Not to worry. You can get it down to about 30% in some situations in "normal" operation. It'll be back at 60-80% in a few minutes of driving. It's not a high capacity battery compared to the energy that can be drawn from it. It's 6.8 A-Hrs (at 200 V).

    Not sure how you are measuring the percent though, as it displays bars. Zero bars is 40% and full bars is 80%. So if you are counting four bars as 80% it's actually 60%, the level the car tries to run at.

    I've seen full bars during mountain descents and once in a while in city driving and one bar once (can't remember what I did to get that). And I never use "N" as it brings up too many lights and warnings. ;)
     
    #12 David Beale, Mar 25, 2013
  13. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    My first oil change was at 10K and the 5K service was just a routine inspection and tire rotation. The dealer is changing your oil at 5K intervals ??? If they are, it's their own dollar. Toyota will only pay for 10K oil changes for 2 years.
     
    #13 BZzap!, Mar 25, 2013
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  14. Mrpcar

    Mrpcar Active Member

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    I didn't realize there isn't a total of 10 bars, I assume it had 10 bars like the gas level. So to me two bar down is 80% :p
     
    #14 Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013
  15. Mrpcar

    Mrpcar Active Member

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    It is on their own dollar. That's why the invoice said $38, but the balance said $0. So I guess the service department bill the sales department? Part of their sales pitch, free service for 2 years... And prior I just thought it was a packaged deal from Toyota, now I know...
     
    #15 Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013
  16. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    Actually, that bar graph is just an "Idiot Graph". No insult intended. I have a ScanGauge on my car and the real world SOC (state of charge) rarely gets over 70%.
     
    #16 BZzap!, Mar 25, 2013
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  17. BZzap!

    BZzap! Senior Member

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    That's good. I'm going to suck up the expense of doing an oil change in between the free 10k from now on. It's just cheap insurance. I don't care what they say.
     
    #17 BZzap!, Mar 25, 2013
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  18. Mrpcar

    Mrpcar Active Member

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    I agree! When I took the engine apart at 100K miles from my 911 to do a top end refresh there were no signs of any ware. All the worn parts were plastic parts, like the timing chain guides etc. I've always changed oil (Mobil 1 0W40) between 5000-7000 miles.
     
    #18 Mrpcar, Mar 25, 2013
  19. 32kcolors

    32kcolors Senior Member

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    I always get a major drop in battery whenever I took my car in for service. This is normal.

    Unless free, take it in every 10K from now on (i.e. 15K, 25K, 35K) and do your own service in between. That way, you'll avoid the pricey 30K service.
     
    #19 32kcolors, Mar 25, 2013
  20. OceanEyes

    OceanEyes Active Member

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    Same here... and no loss of the traction battery - just a momentary adjustment from the tire rotation which disappeared three trips after the service.

    The only time I took mine below 50% was a long conversation with my youngest son on the Bluetooth while parked... had the moment of "Oh ****, what have I done?!" Two trips later and we were topped off and "back to normal.":)
     
    #20 OceanEyes, Mar 25, 2013
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