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

Really Bad Battery Repairs

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by strawbrad, Jan 11, 2019.

  1. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
    6,058
    5,783
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Howa boutcha @strawbrad

    I thought you might like this recent gem I found Sunday...it's going to be right in my top 10 finds. And delivered to my door. Looking forward to checking it out. Was advertised as a 2012, because, well, it was removed from a salvaged 370k mile 2012 Prius....it even includes a key fob, just in case I want to drive the battery somewhere...

    tmr
    1.jpg 2.jpg
     
    #21 TMR-JWAP, Jul 15, 2019
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2019
    landspeed and strawbrad like this.
  2. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I can't make out a date code from the serial number. :confused: Have you checked the date of the modules? Hopefully this battery did not get too many of the 370K miles.
     
  3. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    This pack appears to be a junkyard replacement of the original battery. Junkyards tend to be really rough on the batteries and throw them around, stack them to high, and bend them up. On this pack the socket for the orange safety disconnect got mangled. The electric tape shows someone tried and failed at repair. One cable was not fully seated in the housing resulting in high voltage arcing. This arcing burned a hole in the case.

    Guy's, be careful.

    burn0.jpg burn1.jpg burn2.jpg burn3.jpg burn4.jpg burn5.jpg burn6.jpg
     
    landspeed and Raytheeagle like this.
  4. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
    6,058
    5,783
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Nice..and you're 100% spot on about salvage yards. I had a pallet of cores arrive once that looked like someone beat it with a sledgehammer to make everything fit "tetris" style. Even had a couple melted module lugs where the plastic protectors were missing and the case was mashed into the terminals. Your photos are the first I've ever seen with holes blown in the case. It reminds me of some weld jobs I've seen at work, lol. Sometimes makes you wonder how close a vehicle/truck was to being a fireball.
     
  5. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Time for an update. At first I thought this did not qualify as really bad battery work. This battery came out of a car fire. The battery did not start the fire but was damaged by the fire. The poor workmanship is how the junk yards handled this battery. It was stored inside and transported in this condition. Thankfully no one was hurt and nothing was burnt down.

    The burnt up battery is from a Camry. The orange plug shown is not from this battery.
    PXL_20211104_204650811.jpg

    PXL_20211104_212045383.jpg

    PXL_20211104_212049784.jpg

    PXL_20211104_212054367.jpg


    I pried open just one side of the cover to get to the bus bars.
    PXL_20211104_212522458.jpg


    This shows the high voltage disabled. Many of the modules still measured over seven volts.
    PXL_20211104_214025994.jpg
     
  6. landspeed

    landspeed Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2007
    351
    198
    0
    Will you test and check these modules? It would be interesting to see if the capacity is still there. I'd keep the working ones, in case of supply chain failure!
     
    strawbrad likes this.
  7. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Time for an update. Today's battery was "repaired" by a small neighborhood garage. It lasted less than a day. My customers managed to get a refund for the shoddy work performed.
    PXL_20220504_131503273.jpg PXL_20220504_131330563.jpg
     
    nancytheprius likes this.
  8. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2020
    3,206
    1,339
    0
    Location:
    NJ-USA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    strawbrad and dolj like this.
  9. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,448
    3,751
    0
    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Famous last words:

    "I don't use a torque wrench, I go by what feels right."

    :):D:p:LOL::ROFLMAO:
     
    nancytheprius likes this.
  10. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    High voltage batteries are not forgiving of shoddy work. Proper torque is necessary and I have seen battery fires caused by loose connections.

    What did this battery in were the very dirty connections.
     
  11. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Here's a little brain teaser. Who can spot the big problem with this battery? There are kinda two big errors. This is what I saw after removing the cover. More pictures to follow.
    Dorman Gen1.jpg
     
  12. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2009
    1,130
    505
    0
    Location:
    Saskatchewan, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    ?
     
    #32 alftoy, May 20, 2022
    Last edited: May 20, 2022
  13. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
    6,058
    5,783
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    With a quick glance I see some things, lol. I love it!! But I'll wait.
    Going by the base plate and stickers it's a Dorman?
    A hint for one biggie...Most people pay for this modification to go the other way
     
    #33 TMR-JWAP, May 20, 2022
    Last edited: May 20, 2022
    strawbrad likes this.
  14. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    +1
     
  15. nemebean

    nemebean Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 1, 2021
    42
    26
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Temperature sensors are in the wrong place? Usually you want to put those toward the middle of the pack where it gets hottest, it looks like this one had them mounted toward the edge.

    If I'm wrong, blame it on the fact that I haven't yet had to do any work on my battery. ;)
     
  16. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    The temp sensors were hot glued in place. At first I thought this was just a bunch of junk modules thrown together for a core. The glued in temp sensors show it was built to be used.

    One of the serious problems was someone removed the bus bars and plastic covers and then put the metal top back on. That leaves about 1/4" between the open battery terminals and bare metal. Without the bus bars there is only 7.5 volts available but if just one module shorted out it would get your attention.

    Anyone else see what TMR-JWAP does?

    Here are a couple more pictures. PXL_20220520_161625408.jpg PXL_20220520_161632614.MP.jpg
     
  17. ColoradoCrow

    ColoradoCrow Active Member

    Joined:
    Sep 2, 2019
    909
    368
    1
    Location:
    Leawood, KS
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    I
    well the last picture has individual cell expansion and corrosion. Swelling of the battery housing is in the same category as "crossing the streams". Lots of cleaning needed on that unit. Battery ECU has 3 stickers????? Wth?
    And cell #1 is on the end of the battery furthest away from the Battery ECU? Isn't that backwards?
     
  18. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
    6,058
    5,783
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    The big one that jumped out to me in the first photo is that it's a Gen 2 HV battery (case, lol) with Gen 1 modules. The color scheme of the base plate is Dorman. The clamp bars and end caps, rubber vent tubes and intake air temp sensor (green wires) & mount give away the gen 2 part. The orientation on the retainer clips on top give away the Gen 1 module. Gen 1 has the clips oriented towards the sides of the module. Gen 2 and above, the retainer clips are oriented with the clips toward the ends of the module.
    The white wires going to the temp sensor that's glued to a module is a "wth". Gen 2 has the temp sensors mounted to the bottom of the modules, since that's the 'outflow' of cooling air after it passes through the modules. Gen 1 has them on top, since cooling air on a Gen 1 enters from the bottom. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish by gluing a temp sensor to the top of a module, although it looks like the actual 'retainer' portion of the thermistor has been broken off and they just jammed it down into the sensor hole and glued it in place. That sensor will effectively only show whatever intake air temp is, unless the battery gets extremely hot. Maybe they just thought since it was a gen 1 module, that the temp sensor has to be mounted on top, instead of utilizing brainpower to understand why the sensors are mounted where they are in the different gen batteries. Had to break off the retainer clip ends to get it to fit in the hole, lol.

    Most big rebuilders remove the OEM stickers from the ECU. Since there were several part codes reflecting updates over the years, I guess they don't want you to be upset if you see a 2004 ecu in a battery going into a 2009 or something.
     
    strawbrad likes this.
  19. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Not really. It all went in the recycling bin.;)
     
    ColoradoCrow likes this.
  20. strawbrad

    strawbrad http://minnesotahybridbatteries.com

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2011
    953
    993
    0
    Location:
    Minnesota
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Oh my! What a can of worms that has been over the years. For a Gen 2 prius (2004 to 2009) the module count does start on the side opposite from the battery computer. Toyota has not been consistent in the order of the count and orientation of modules across different models. Do not assume that any particular model and year will match the convention of any other model.
     
    ColoradoCrow likes this.