problem at 15,000 mile service

You mention that you had the car serviced yesterday. How far have you driven it since then ?

 

Have you driven it over your usual commute? Generally I don't see all green except for a couple of points on my commute (which is after going down a long hill). I just had my 15K done and didn't see a change like that.

 

the tech probably meant the green arrows that show on the screen when you're getting regen braking.

i rarely see any green bars unless i've just run downhill.

anything else different? because really in the big scheme of things, it's just one bar on your energy screen....

 

That's not enough time. It's not necessarily "better" to have all green bars. Ideally you want to USE your battery, and that means its charge will drop into the blue bars and even the pink from time to time. Drive to a place where you'll have a loooong downhill stretch and you'll see your green bars return.

 

deep breath, pblaidig. jbarnhart is right. it's good to use the the range of battery bars. keeping the soc near maximum is kinda against the whole point. no need to be so worried.

but you're not alone, my DH gets those kind of questions all the time at the shop.

 

what tire pressure do you usually use? i use 42/40, and after EVERY scheduled maintenance they change it back to factory specs, changing my regenerative coasting.. throwing off the usual SOC i get on my routes.

 

I just had my 5000 done and it seems like I can't it to run from just the battery on low speeds as easily as I used to. I'll drive some more before making any judgements.

I did have them set the tires 42/40. I also brought my own Mobil1 oil. He stated on the invoice that he put in 4 qts, so I'll have to check to make sure it's not overfilled.

And by bringing in my own oil... I saved a whole $4 off their quoted price.

Bill

 

:mellow: In 18 months 16,000+ miles, I have seen GREEN only once on the traction battery SOC. Usually, I run all BLUE.

Not to worry - sounds like your Prius is "normal."

 

yep....normal operation means you should have 6 bars about 90% of the time. this can be changed by large elevation changes or if you have an EV switch.

 

Now, why would you take the car to the dealer for an oil/filter change?

 

I take mine to the dealer for the oil change because they have awesome service, a time-killing waiting area, and free coffee and hot chocolate. Depending on when I go, I sometimes get freebies.

 

Its good to have a bit of headroom.. running around all the time with an almost charged battery does not really help you.

Its not like you deplete it all the time and that extra charge would give you a little more distance or anything?

The fact is that if you have some headroom, you maintain a reserve Place for regenerated energy to flow should you have the opportunity to make a bunch of it... sometimes I wish mine only ran about half....

All too often, I find in my hilly mountainous area that I regen so much coming down a hill that in no time I have the battery completly full and have to waste the rest of my regen because it has no place to go.

I would see it as a plus rather than a minus to have more battery in reserve to store extra energy into.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Charles Suitt @ Apr 1 2006, 10:45 AM) [snapback]233423[/snapback]</div>

Hard to say if the OP's car is normal, but I've seen green many times and I'm only at ~3500 miles. I've seen it get all the way down to the purple state before as well after being stuck in traffic while going up and up in a clogged parking structure.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jamarimutt @ Apr 1 2006, 06:22 PM) [snapback]233492[/snapback]</div>

Because my dealer only charges 21.95 with the coupon I know they know what they're doing.