2005 Prius: red triangle, VSC, (!) lights, C2318, P3000, P0A81 after Prolong charge - help!

With the battery fan low voltage code, I have some additional questions :

• Is this the first time you have hooked the harness up?
• Did you check the electrical connection for the fan to ensure it is tight?
• Did you hear the fan running during the reconditioning process?

The 12 volt battery also appears low, so I’d charge that up to ensure you are not getting codes due to a low 12 volt battery.

Keep us posted .

 

Have you looked at the hv fan to see if the connection is good or if it is running? If it is not running, you’ll get a notification in the dash and a code.

There have been some cases where the fan has failed. With Techstream, you can vary the 6 speeds of the fan.

I’d look there and see what you find. While investigating the fan, might also want to check its cleanliness. You might be surprised with what you find.

Keep us posted .

 

Yeah the Prolong fan is separate from the cars, and while I’ve not heard it vary much, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t. I have the Intelligent Discharger and I set the equipment up and then don’t have to worry.

The fan in the Prius during Prolong operation runs at setting 6 or full blast.

If you plug in the Prolong charger and you hear the Prius fan, that’s good.

Keep us posted .

 

For under $75 you can purchase the needed diagnostic hardware and software that will privpro helpful data so you can reduce the amount if guesswork.

- Android phone/tablet (under $45)
- Torque Pro app (under $10)
- Elm 327 Bluetooth OBDII adaptor (under $20)

This will provide you voltage data for HV Battery, voltage data for the modules, 12v battery data, HV battery state of charge, etc all in one screen.

Until then we will just be guessing at the problem.

 

Best? Well it won't be the under $20 one.
Best one is more like $50: OBDLINK LX.

But many of the cheap, under $20 are adequate.
Heck even with some of the $5 ones you could just buy a couple and toss the unusable ones in the trash.
The names and links change/vary, but they look something like the attached pic.

 

I use a kiwi2 for the normal codes that I carry in our Prius (have not had any hybrid codes displayed so not sure if it works for that, but doubt it), then have a j2534 Mini vci cable I got off of amazon that allows for the use of Techstream .

In order to use Techstream, you’ll need an old laptop, but those are prevalent .

But this setup works well.

 

Thanks for the post your the first one that’s mentioned the fan speed going up and down during charge.
Mine does the same. I have the original style charger only with light bulb discharger.
I was thinking the fan controller was bad and was getting hesitant to use the prolong.

 

Ok mine does that too lol. Was hoping that you were talking about the cars battery fan. Both my fans go up and down. i notice if I smack the charger base unit the charger fan stops doing it for a while but the car battery fan does not stop doing it. I have already taken the charger case off and its a home made looking thing.

 

In order to hear the CARS battery fan over the charger fan ruckus you have to listen to the fan at where it dumps out above the 12 volt battery. The prolong battery charger base unit fan issue made me worried the car's battery fan may be doing it too and it is. It consistently goes up and down. It revs up then revs down. My car fan is very clean and I oiled it too. I have good airflow out also.
I bet alot of units are doing it just nobody ever noticed except suspicious me.

 

If your getting 53 mpgs your battery is probably ok. I misread the discharging instructions and did a very abbreviated discharge the first and only time and it came out really good. Its been more than a year and my battery acts like its brand new. Consistent 50 mpgs. I know I'm just staving off the inevitable but an abbreviated first charge may actually be the thing to do.

When mine poops out again I will do the full 3 day discharge/charge/discharge/charge/discharge...lol...

 

Your battery modules themselves may be ok but you probably have some corroded terminals issue based on the age of it.
If I received those codes about the battery I would pull it out and take the cover off it and take a peek at the battery. Take alot of pictures of it. Look for green corrosion on any of the terminals. They must be cleaned. Duke your girl friends son to help you pull it out and fix it. Once he learns he can make some good money doing it on the million other dying Prius's out there.

Hundreds and hundreds of pictures and posts about this.

And you need a new 12 volt battery. A healthy Prius battery should be at 12.6 volts. My bought new Yellowtop lasted exactly 2 years 350 days. I got Autozone to prorate me another. Free!

 

You can remove the 12v and have it load tested at an auto parts store that offers such service. If it passes then......

You can stress test the HV battery in your driveway by force charging (car in D, parking brake on, brake pedal pressed, and floor gas pedal till battery SOC goes full blue bars), then force discharge by putting car in N, high beams on, and full a/c (LO temp, high fan) till SOC drops to purple bars. Time each process. Rinse, lather, repeat, 3-4 times and see if codes come back and/or get big variations in time intervals.