1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

No ICE charging at 2 bars

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Former Member 68813, Oct 19, 2016.

  1. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2010
    3,524
    981
    8
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    this is new behavior to me, while i don't see 2 bars often (i try not to discharge HV too often to prevent cycling), the ICE kicks in and takes it up to 3 bars. this is normal, right?

    yesterday i was stuck in bad traffic with AC on and i hit 2 bars and no ICE action, i waited at least a couple of minutes worried it would go down to 1 bar but it didn't, just stayed at 2. then i pressed gas pedal, ICE started and shut down as soon as we stopped again, all the time at 2 bars. that happened several times before the traffic started moving again and the battery charge slowly went up with regenerative braking to the usual level and it stayed since.

    Wth? is the HV charge meter malfunctioning, or is my HV battery flaky already (6 years and 80,000+ miles of hot climate). BTW, the battery was not hot, there was no fan action whatsoever.

    EDIT: Interesting how the auto censor changes from "What the F" to "Wth"
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    hard to be sure, did you try not hitting the pedal to see what would happen?
     
  3. Maarten28

    Maarten28 Active Member

    Joined:
    Jul 13, 2014
    414
    222
    1
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    So... your Prius behaved normal. What's the problem?
    If you're stationary at 2 bars, it does not need to recharge. Even when driving it takes a while after dropping from 3 to 2 bars before the ICE comes on. Your Prius never got to 1 bar because of your actions. It very, very likely would not have gone to 1 bar if you would have let it do its thing.
     
    Merkey and Montgomery like this.
  4. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2010
    3,524
    981
    8
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    no, because the traffic was inching up from time to time.

    no, in my experience it was not normal. in my experience, ICE starts as soon as you hit 2 bars (regardless if stationary or not) and doesn't stop until you reach 3 bars (usually it takes a long time). this was unusual to me because ICE didn't start at 2 bars and stopped before reaching 3 bars.

    i guess it's possible your car works a bit differently.

    BTW, i got lower trip MPG on that day (48, worst ever in city for me), only 50MPG next day after, and only today it's inching back to the high 50's that i usually get these days. it could be a coincidence i guess.
     
  5. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2015
    2,254
    2,233
    2
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Actually, my car has done the same thing occasionally. First time I got real nervous, as my trip was a short one and I thought my battery would be too low to drive the car. But when I returned to my car, it was at half bars. I think what the computer is doing is trying to optimize your mileage.
     
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,474
    38,106
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    That's my experience too.
     
  7. kc410

    kc410 Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 26, 2013
    261
    250
    0
    Location:
    2010 Prius IV
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    The dash battery discharge gauge is slow to respond (somewhere around every 10 sec).
    Using Torque & monitoring the traction battery SoC (State of Charge), during discharge, somewhere around 44-45% SoC the battery gauge will drop to 2 bars. It will stay at 2 bars during a continuing discharge & the engine will not start until the SoC drops _below_ 40%.
    This means that with the traction battery reporting a SoC of 40.0% the dash display will show 2 bars & the engine will not start (due to low battery). The SoC _must_ drop below 40.0% to force the engine to start (due to low battery) & recharge the traction battery.
    I have watched this action a number of times camping or resting at a rest area with the AC running.
     
    Roger T, Eastside, Kramah313 and 3 others like this.
  8. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2010
    3,524
    981
    8
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Today i noticed another anomaly. I was costing downhill with little EV used when suddenly HV meter went down to 2 bars. this time ICE started within seconds of 2 bars even though no AC or heater at this time. the ICE stopped at 3 bars. this is a second time i'm seeing HV dropping to 2 bars for no good reason. The situation above not included, because i was stopped with AC on, i'll dust my old Win XP laptop and techstream cable to check things tonight.
     
  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    are you suspecting a bad cell?
     
  10. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2014
    594
    621
    0
    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Time to start caring for your hybrid battery . . . before it's too late
    How do I know if my hybrid battery is failing? - Hybrid Automotive
     
  11. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2010
    3,524
    981
    8
    Location:
    US
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    thanks Jeff. i will do it after warranty expires in 2 years. i would hate to invalidate the warranty.
     
    jeff652 likes this.
  12. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2014
    594
    621
    0
    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Yeah, fair concern. We hear this often. Toyota will not invalidate the warranty unless the modification is determined to be the cause of the problem. Toyota took this stance several years ago when companies were doing the PHEV conversions to the Gen2 Prius.

    We are releasing a plug-and-play harness in a couple weeks that will not require any cutting/modification of the OEM wires. Would be very easy for someone to remove who wants the peace of mind of no harness when taking the vehicle to the dealer for warranty work.
     
    #12 jeff652, Oct 27, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2016
    offib, m.wynn, daiske99 and 1 other person like this.
  13. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 22, 2009
    5,596
    3,770
    0
    Location:
    So. Texas
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    WOW, that will be the deciding factor for many folks.
     
    jeff652 likes this.
  14. orlywon

    orlywon Member

    Joined:
    Jan 26, 2016
    31
    52
    1
    Location:
    Corona, CA
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    I'm going to be installing the new harness in my 2010, hopefully this weekend (Thanks Jeff!). If anyone is interested, I can upload some pics of the new harness along with the finished install.
     
  15. RyanM

    RyanM Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2005
    68
    40
    0
    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    In my 2010 I have seen it go to 2 bars many times. Never seen it go to one bar. At 2 bars it won't stay there too long because the ICE usually comes on after a few mph
     
  16. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2014
    594
    621
    0
    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    All Toyota orders are now shipping with plug-and-play Prolong Battery System Car Harnesses :)