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Battery pack sensor questions

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Bart47, Dec 8, 2020.

  1. Bart47

    Bart47 Junior Member

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    I’m just getting back to working on my Prius and here is some background. I bought it with slight damage in the front, and the previous owner has replaced a couple of cells. It ran well at first, then gave errors regarding battery overheating, and you could hear the fan come on almost immediately. I took the pack out and replaced a couple more cells. It continued to run very well at first, then would give the bad codes and triangle. So, I have never had a successful trip from a to b anywhere! I do have tech stream, and had recently gotten a wireless code reader to work with Dr Prius, but I bought 3, and none were recognized by my iPhone 8...Anyway, I have a 24v charger, and took the pack out to recondition the batteries. The car has basically been sitting for months, with me occasionally starting it and moving it around. Surprisingly, the pack seemed great, with one low 7.80, one weirdly at 7.90, and all the rest at 7.82, so I didn’t charge any of them. But, everything seemed very corroded and oxidized. I removed and cleaned all the original copper connectors, and got new nuts. The small sensor wires concerned me, so I replaced them with another set from another pack I had. I felt justified in doing this when one of the bolt hole “tabs” came off on the old set. I put it all back together with the anti ox grease, and had all the confidence in the world that I was going to be driving this car to work from now on. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way. Absolutely no response from the coms on this—The triangle comes up immediately. It will not go to ready, or go into gear. With tech stream, no response from that system, no errors, no codes. So, what tests can I do to see what the problem is? The things that come to mind are that there is not continuity somewhere. Whether I torqued a bolt too tight, and broke a connection, or my second set of sensor wires has the same kind of issue as the first, or something else I am not considering... I guess I need to check the pack as a whole, though I haven’t done that before...any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

    iPhone
     
  2. Albert Barbuto

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    Any chance the orange safety interlock was not pushed down all the way? ( step 3 ) Interlock.jpg
     
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  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yes, what he said above... Also, where the voltage sensing wires plug into the ECU is where the failure in that system is most common. How does that plug and socket look? Also look inside the ECU to make sure where the pins are wired to the circuit board haven't shorted out.
     
  4. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    It threw alot of codes if it failed to ready. At the least you will have the red triangle of death the RTOD and its companion obd code.

    After a rebuild its a good idea to leave the inspection plate off the battery and with safety plug in and engaged measure the pack voltage on the battery side of the relay. That tests everything all modules and correct wiring of the safety plug and its installed and ready to go.

    Be careful though 240 volts will turn your hat around like they say in the Electrical trade.
     
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  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I make it a practice to always keep it covered if the safety plug is in. Sometimes my neighbor's cats like to explore an open car and sometimes I'm a klutz too. High voltage is no joke!
     
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    welll I'm not saying leave it like that...just a good thing to look at before you try to start the car. You leave the windows open on your cars overnight when your rebuilding the battery? And if your afraid of that voltage you shouldn't be doing that.

    I checked my rebuilt new battery B+ when it was on the bench before installing it.. Then took the safety plug out and installed it.
    Or cross your fingers and hope to god its ok if not your lugging it out of the back of the car again.
     
  7. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Packs go in and out of my car and cars of others often... Not that big of a deal if you do it often.

    As for leaving windows or hatch open, that's usually when reconditioning with Prolong system. The rebuilding work takes place inside my place not my car and the pack always stays diarmed during that. That's when I use chargers for each individual module and balloons over the vent tubes to find iffy batteries that vent, as well as ensure indoor air stays as clean as possible.
     
  8. Bart47

    Bart47 Junior Member

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    The orange interlock is in place, though I snapped it in a couple of times, and there was way less resistance to locking it that I thought was usual, but it does seem to be in place properly. PriusCamper, are you saying open up the ecu to look at the condition of the board? Is it fairly straightforward how to get that opened up? It is not communicating any codes to the obd2, at least none that I can pick up with Techstream - I realize it has plenty of codes to report, it is just not able to communicate them, which should be a big clue to me, just not sure where it’s failing. Let me try testing the total voltage. Like I say, hadn’t done that before - just test fir voltage between the two main output wires? What range should I expect? Thanks very much!
     
  9. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    ^ Any opinions on this, pro or con?
     

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  10. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    The orange interlock is in place, though I snapped it in a couple of times, and there was way less resistance to locking it that I thought was usual, but it does seem to be in place properly.

    It's in your best interest to verify step 3 of the procedure in post #2.

    There are three plugs that connect to your HV battery. The smallest one actually leads to the back/bottom of the interlock switch, if the end of this wire was not plugged into the bottom of the interlock socket during assembly, the car will always think the safety disconnect is open.
     
  11. Bart47

    Bart47 Junior Member

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    The connections are all made securely, and the interlock is secure through the 3 stages of re-engagement, but I think you are still right somehow, as there is 217v on the two wires from the battery, but 0v on the two heavy wires leading to the front of the vehicle. Looks like both terminal points on each side are attached to solenoids that are not getting the signal to switch...other than checking those bolted connections themselves, how do I troubleshoot it from here? I’m leaning towards the idea that I over torqued on one of these solenoid connections, and it may have twisted off inside...sure didn’t think I had done that, but could be, as the connections are not loose...
     
  12. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Using dielectric grease (or other grease) is a great way to prevent corrosion if you're putting a brand new pack in the car and you know it will be many, many years if not a decade before you work on pack.

    But if you're just replacing modules or replacing an old pack with another old pack I can say from experience that it's a huge mess next time you take the bus bars off the pack and I having to wash my hands more than once to get that grease off my hands makes it not worth it.

    Also a light coat failed to stop return of corrosion, but a heavy coat was successful, but again that heavily greased pack I've had to take apart 3 times in past two years and it always makes the work more of a hassle and more stressful due to stuff slipping out of my hands so I don't do that anymore.
     
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  13. Bart47

    Bart47 Junior Member

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    Wow! I’ve never been more happy to look like an idiot! After a few more times of snapping the interlock into place, now I am rolling...and no warning light! Will have to check for codes, but this is awesome! Thanks very much!
     
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  14. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    You are not the first! Glad that was all (fingers crossed).
     
  15. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Most common thing that's done wrong in HV battery work...
     
  16. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    yep the lever swings up as you push the switch in. Then slide that lever straight down till it clicks.

    There's a little switch in the chassis that when you slide the lever down closes that switch that tells the ecu the safety switch is installed AND locked. No joy till that little switch is closed & happy.

    Along with the deep deep mystery's of the 12 volt battery that's the most posted also.
     
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  17. Bart47

    Bart47 Junior Member

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    Thanks again,guys. This board is awesome!