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2004 Prius, Possible Bad Battery, need input!!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Acha3, Sep 24, 2014.

  1. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    Ok, this is my first post on this forum, I have a 2004 Prius, it have 142,000 and few days ago I got the death triangle with the check engine light and the hybrid system warning light. The a/c was working and it was in no limp mode, I can drive the car but i see that it run almost every moment in the gas engine or batt/engine but not batt only. I took it to the Toyota dealer, they do a quick test and tell me that a P3000 code was found, they reset the light, I have been driving the car about 30 miles and still the lights wont came back. I do notice that the bars in the screens are sometimes 7 to 8 bars then in a while came back to only 2 bars, before this I was getting about 48 to 52 mpg, in this last 30 miles I am getting 40 mpg. I dont heard the battery fan on, also the 12V aux battery is 12.1 without load, car on is 13.8.
    The reading in the diagnostic report are
    Battery Block Vol Internal Resitance
    #1 - 17.02 .026
    #2 - 17.05 .026
    #3 - 17.23 .026
    #4 - 17.29 .026
    #5 - 17.42 .026
    #6 - 17.16 .026
    #7 - 17.10 .026
    #8 - 17.23 .026
    #9 - 17.20 .025
    #10 - 17.11 .026
    #11 - 17.18 .026
    #12 - 17.11 .026
    #13 - 17.06 .026
    #14 - 17.02 .026

    Battery state of charge 49.5 %
    Temp of Bat TB1 107.2 F
    TB2 109.2 F
    TB3 106.5 F

    My question is, if the battery is going bad or already bad? should I keep driving the car? Please any input would be great before I start taking stuff apart. Thanks in advance
     
    #1 Acha3, Sep 24, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2014
  2. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    None of the cells look to bad. Are most of your miles city, or highway miles?
    It might be worth a try to use a grid charger on this battery. Just a thought
     
  3. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    You may be in the initial stages of needing a hybrid battery repair. You might try a grid charger as mentioned above. Click on "SHOP" for details.
     
  4. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    They are combined miles, also there are a lots of hills and heat in Puerto Rico. I will see shop for your recommendation, Thanks, i will post if I find anything.
     
  5. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    Have anyone here have use the grid charger? please can you comment on your results with this unit, thanks in advance
     
  6. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I'm hoping to buy a rid charger for my prius next week. My traction battery isn't as "perky" as it should be. Lol, but @ 231,500 I don't expect it to at its milage either.
    I have been searching all over the Internet to people that have used the grid charger for the prius, trying to see if they had good results. I guess I'll just have to order one any way
     
  7. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    I think I am going to check every module to see that there is no mayor difference between them ( already have taking stuff apart), if all are in good condition, I am going with the grid charger, let you know tomorrow the results. Thanks for your input on this.
     
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    there is an extensive grid charger thread, you may find some helpful info in it. all the best!(y)
     
  9. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    cool, I will check that thread, thanks
     
  10. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    You can contact PC user ericbecky or Eric Powers and ask him any questions about it. He will shoot straight with you.
     
  11. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    I would have thought there was more than just a generic P3000 code present. Usually that then points to the battery ECU for more info/codes.
    Is there any way to possibly have them double check?

    The blocks all look good in the snapshot you provided, but I wonder how they are they when driving/under load?
    Also does the report show the delta SOC (fluctuation of state-of-charge)?

    Simply checking voltage at rest is interesting and may catch some issues, but it also misses other issues.

    I think you are smart to consider a hybrid battery charger balancer for ongoing preventive maintenance.
     
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  12. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

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    Hi guys. Thanks for the kind words. There are a few threads on the forum from people who have used our chargers and had great results. If the battery is imbalanced and not performing as well as it used to but not yet displaying a fault indication, or failed due to cell imbalance, then cycling and rebalancing with our charger will work great to restore the cell balance and rejuvenate the battery.

    If the pack has a hard failure such as in internal short or high IR cells, then our charger cannot help with this. Unfortunately there is no way to know for sure which failure a person is experiencing without tearing down the battery. For this reason, we encourage the use of the product as preventative maintenance, to keep the battery healthy long before failure of any type occurs. :)
     
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  13. MTL_hihy

    MTL_hihy Active Member

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    The initial snapshot from your OBD code really doesn't tell you anything. A mini VCI setup with Techstream would be alot more helpful and you can view the battery blocks while driving (watch min/max block voltages under load, if you see one block always holding the min spot under acceleration then swinging back to the max spot when you let off the pedal, you have likely found your issue. Personally I think your time would be much better spent pulling the pack out as you mention and verifying the modules individually (both capacity and load test). Then use the grid charger later as a preventive measure to help prolong the life of your battery.
     
  14. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    Thanks guys for all the help, the delta SOC is 33.0
    I am going to check later today each module and let you know.
     
  15. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    Ok, I check the volt of every module, I start from the module opposite to the ECU side.
    1. Pass side
    2.
    3.
    4.
    5.
    6.
    7.
    8.
    9.
    10.
    11.
    12.
    13.
    14.
    15.
    16.
    17.
    18.
    19.
    20.
    21.
    22.
    23.
    24.
    25.
    26.
    27.
    28. Drive side

    What do you think? Thanks in advance. New test today, the battery in the tester was bad!!!
     
    #15 Acha3, Sep 25, 2014
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2014
  16. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Unloaded voltage looks fine.
     
  17. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    Oh shoot, i see today in the morning that my battery in the tester was bad, so the reading are not correct, I will post the correct reading today.
     
  18. Acha3

    Acha3 Junior Member

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    does the SOC is good?? 33.0
     
  19. usnavystgc

    usnavystgc Die Hard DIYer and Ebike enthusiast.

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    No, it should never go below 40%
     
  20. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    US Navy, he means the delta SOC.
    Not actual SOC.
    For delta SOC, lower is better.
     
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