Decisions, decisions

Found out Dorman jacked the price of their replacement batteries to almost $2000 (I paid around $1500 for the one Chris Murphy put in my original Gen 1. I've always had in the back of my mind that I could get one of their batteries, but that higher price combined with these cars being even older, less value now, that's a lot of money to invest in these cars. They also lowered the warranty to 1 year from the 3 year warranty I got on that other one.

However, I see rebuilt batteries from Best Hybrid Batteries that use Gen 2 cells and have a 3-year warranty for $1400 - has anyone used them? There are others available from Greentec for about $1200, but only a 1-year warranty, and Chris tells me the failure rates are pretty high - they're just replacing bad cells with used cells.

A local company here, Houston Hybrids, has offered to test my batteries to see if one good one can be built from modules pulled out of these bad ones. Depending, it might cost $500-$700 labor, with me removing/installing.

Or, I can do that myself, but I'd need to learn how to test them and then buy a charger, and of course do the labor.

Looking at a pic I saw on Ebay, it looks like I can test the voltage with a meter by attaching a lead to each end of the module? (again, I'm an idiot about electrical stuff) Is that all the shop does to determine whether any module is good? Of course, visually inspecting for leakage as well.

If so, how much voltage am I looking for - 7V?

If I find 38 good modules, then I'd need a charger to balance them out? If it's a less expensive single cell charger, that's going to take a long time, right? Maybe 1 day per cell?

Add the cost of new buss bars if cleaning them wouldn't be sufficient?

I apologize - I know these questions are redundant and have probably been answered before here, but the discussions are so technical for my feeble brain. I'm trying to simplify at this point just to decide which way to go. I have at least three cars that are worth spending some money on, but not $2000.

 

Well, actually there are both companies here. Hometown Hybrid didn't want to work on Gen 1s. The guy at Houston Hybrids offered to test and assemble a good battery from my bad ones.

So, I went a bought a multimeter - never found mine. Took the covers off both those batteries. The one that wouldn't start Car 2 only had maybe 5 modules that tested over 6v and only 2 that were over 7. On the one that was starting the cars, every module tested 7.9x volts, most were 7.97, a few were as low as 7.94, and couple may have been 7.92. But, on the trunk side, one of the two cables going to the middle two modules was very corroded at that connection. Everything else looks clean. BTW, has different labels. I thought it was an aftermarket rebuild because I saw a web address - hv-recycle.jp, but now I see Toyota Canada on the main label.

I'm thinking I can clean up that connection, replace that cable if need be, and it'll be good. The other one is scrap, unless I can pull 30+ modules out of the flood car batteries, which I seriously doubt.

 

Should I be worried about putting a ratchet on that corroded cable without gloves? Electricity is scary. Does that part of the buss bar come off separately or do I have to take the whole buss bar off to clean it up?

 

UPDATE: Took the buss bar off that has all the sensor wires. Couldn't find anything wrong with it. All the sensor wires seem intact, no breaks. Looked at the other side, didn't see any problem there except the corrosion on one of those middle cables. So, I started checking the torque on the nuts and found 3-4 that would tighten a bit more. Then, I screwed up. I was comparing the number of threads coming out of those nuts to spot any others that might not be tight. Saw one, turned it a little, and a little more, and a little more. It was just spinning.

So, I guess I have to replace that module, even though it's got a good charge, balanced with the others? If so, there were a couple of modules in the bad battery I have that were still over 7v. If I put that one in, do I need to charge it first, or will the car bring it up to speed with the others?

 

UPDATE: It was suggested from a contributor to the Yahoo Group that it might not be the module stud that is spinning; it could just be the nut stripped out. Stupid me didn't even think about that and my socket covered it so I couldn't see it. So, back out with that battery to check the nut.

On Car 4, I found the wires I had disconnected while trying to remove the wrecked parts. Got my spare battery charged up and it started right up. The HV battery was low, but as I let it run, it charged up and is now full. Did notice that this car runs a little hotter - it's at 190 coolant temp after several minutes, maybe 10, of idling. Car 2 did a weird thing where it heated all the way to 204 before coming back down and settling at 182, which is where Car 1 runs, although I've never monitored its temps closely to know if it went higher first. I've asked before with no answers - where does the thermostat open on these cars? And how hot do y'alls cars typically run?

Also, on Car 4, I'm not getting any DTCs with my ScanGauge, yet the triangle is still on. I can clear codes, even though there aren't any, and it goes out, but then comes back on. At first, it took several seconds to come back on, but after several attempts to clear, it comes on instantly now. I guess the SG doesn't pull all the codes like I'd hoped, so I'll have to have someone else try. I also have a couple of Android apps and a bluetooth reader I can try.

 

I also pulled the trigger on a rebuilt battery. Considered a Toyota battery - the price I saw on their site was around $2200 with a great warranty (someone else claimed

 

I ordered a new buss bar harness for the original battery from Car 1, the one that keeps giving me a 3030 code, even though I couldn't see a problem with the old one. And sure enough, it made no difference. Installed it today and still have the 3030.

Question: this is the battery I swapped a module into because a terminal nut stripped out and wouldn't tighten down. That module was only at 7.0v whereas the rest of the modules were 7.9v. Is there a slight chance that the new harness actually fixed the original problem and my 3030 would be gone, except that the low module is mimicing the same problem, throwing the same 3030 code, making me think nothing has been fixed? If so, am I right to assume that low module will charge up and balance out as I drive the car a few miles, such that maybe the CEL/Triangle would go out? I can clear the code with my scanner, but the dash lights and code come back within 10 seconds.

The HV battery was low according to the dash gauge, and as I let it idle in my driveway, it charged back up Not sure if that means the replacement module is balanced though.

I wonder if it means anything that the first time I cleared the code, it took several minutes for the code and CELs to return. I thought it was fixed. Then it came back, and each successive attempt to clear the lights, it came back faster.

 

Well, I thought Car 4 was running fine after getting it from the body shop. It has the orange triangle but no codes pull up on my scanner. The triangle went out about a day after getting it, then came back on a day after that. I had cleared it while idling in the driveway and it instantly comes back on.

So, anyway, I cleared it today while driving, and I could feel an effect on the engine - I think it upshifted, like it is in "disabled" mode with the triangle lit. Of, something could be dragging down the engine - I can hear the rpms go down. A few seconds later, the triangle sets again, engine regains rpm.