Gen 2 Traction Battery ECU board connector replacement

Well, in general terms, you are going to need to measure the distance between the pins and the size of the pins. If there are two rows you need that geometry info too. Also the length of each part of the "L". Then go to Digikey and use their tools to narrow down the enormous list of options. It will put up a sort of spreadsheet display and in general there is a filter available for every column.

Since you have the board in hand, get out a magnifying glass and look closely all around that connector for identifying marks. Finding a brand name or model number may let you find a replacement more easily.

 

Do you have the link, or could you please share the mentioned fleabay posting?

Vaguely remember one of the members here had found the connector and or made a bulk purchase, but I can't find the thread again. Finished up some heavy researching/legwork and came up with what appears to be the orange hv ecu connector : TOKAI RIKA Connectors

 

Was it here?

The battery fires at ECU sense connector thread | PriusChat

I started that thread in the Gen 1 forum, but it became less generation-specific as time went by.

 

Here you go. I bought one about a month ago just to check it out. The title of the auction is poor and it says it's a used item, but all evidence I have shows that it is new.

2004-2009 Toyota Prius Hybrid Battery DC/DC Converter | eBay

 

The connector at this link is so close that it hurts!!!
The dimensions of the OEM Gen 2 are 33.8mm wide, 16.9 mm high, 29 mm from front face to back of pins. 22 pin is correct.
It also looks to be missing the part where it captures the male plug.

I'll have to check to see if it matches a Gen 3 or anything else.

 

I second the statement about this being a tougher job than you think. Unless you have circuit board experience and a solder sucker to take itout this will be a mess. Even then the opportunity for disaster is high. Best approach is to cut the connector off then remove the legs one at a time. But then the holes have to be clean so the new one goes in.
I would suggest taking one of the bad ones to a computer repair shop and asking them to give you a quote. If they know how to do soldering they know where to find a new connector and how to do it right. They might also like an opportunity to start a new revenue stream!

 

$3 each at
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003640084268.html

 

Aren't the original pins gold plated (on both the socket and plug)?

The ali express link connector looks like it might just be tin. Gold plated connectors resist corrosion better. It isn't a good idea to mate tin plated with gold plated, see:

https://experience.molex.com/gold-or-tin-versus-gold-and-tin/

For this application I would have guessed that the "mating" side of the pins was gold plated and the solder side was tin coated, to reduce corrosion at the interface and to improve soldering at the other end. If not that, then entirely gold plated. (I vaguely remember that soldering onto gold plated pins dissolves some or all of the gold into the solder. Still OK for corrosion purposes because the solder itself keeps moisture away from the connector metal.)

 

Except those are not exact matches either, not to mention the 2 month lead time. That connector does not have the PCB mounting pads nor the correct pins. If you just want to have a new connector and are OK with it hanging loose with wires crimped to the pins and the other end of the wire soldered to the PCB, then it would work fine. Maybe epoxy it to the board instead of attaching with screws?

I'm actually debating about whether it would be worth just eliminating the connector altogether, if needed. It wouldn't be difficult to just make your own wires/tabs and have them long enough that the ecu end just solders to the PCB. You could even clip the old pins in such a way that you could solder the wires to them and slide heat shrink over them to help prevent the "whisker" issue. The only potential problem is this makes the ECU and harness "one piece", but for anyone who works on these frequently, it's no big deal. Rebuild it well that one time and never mess with it again. Harness would likely be reusable anyway. Just make sure you map the pins correctly.

 

Running wires straight into the board is going to be a tough soldering job, and there might not be enough slack in the cable to pull it off. Also, major PITA if the circuit on the PCB ever fails.

How about replacing both the plug and the socket on the PCB? The only things that have to match are the pin geometry on the part that goes into the PCB and the size of wire accepted by the pins in the plug. Perhaps Amphenol, Molex, etc. have a socket/plug pair that fit this bill? If there is enough slack on the plug the wires could be clipped off right at the base of the pins in the plug, inserted into new pins and crimped, and then those pins inserted into the new plug.

Here is such a socket (to illustrate the possibilities) from TE's catalog of automotive components (maybe not the right geometry for the board, but it does have a latch):

2MM-HSP-D11-HT-02-M-TR : AMPMODU Automotive Headers | TE Connectivity

and here is the matching plug

2MM-RCP-D11-BX : | TE Connectivity

Note, none of their distributors report having these in stock.

 

Most of the pins look to be in perfect condition. I would replace just the burnt/corroded pins. It will be faster than replacing the entire plug. I speak from experience. Pm me if you want to take me up on this. I would be glad to help.

 

I do not have a bad ecu board. I do have a bad Samsung tv board on hand. I easily removed three pins from the plug/socket. They pulled right out.

 

Back in the day there plugs/sockets which just had wire accepting barrels on the back, and the stripped wires would be inserted into the barrels and soldered in place. These might still exist, but I wouldn't expect to find one in a car, because a solder only connection of that type is prone to failure in a high vibration, wide temperature range, environment. Those pins were not removable, they were permanently embedded into the connector. Most of the pins today will be crimped onto the wire and then inserted into the connector. Some might also be soldered after the crimp before insertion, but that is more common on something like coaxial cable. These are generally removable with one of the sorts of specialized tools from a kit like this one:

(Rats, forum is eating Amazon links again. Start at amazon.com and search for "Alltooetools 23-piece Universal Terminal Release Kit".)

Many types of plugs/sockets use pins which have built in retaining barbs - same idea as a molly bolt, but much smaller. To remove those from a connector a special tool, which is usually just a metal cylinder of exactly the right size, must be placed over the pin to be released. Then, and only then, can the pin be pulled out of the plug/socket. There are a lot of different sizes, and there are other retaining mechanisms, which is why kits like this have so many different tools.

This link is of a Molex pin:

https://www.molex.com/molex/products/part-detail/crimp_terminals/0002062101

working from the tip to the base you will find first the barbs, then the "stop" which limits how far into the connector it can be inserted, and finally at the base, in this design, 4 flaps (2 pairs of 2 flaps) which is where the wire is crimped on.

 

Before doing surgery to the connector and board get some small cleaning tools and chemicals and clean up what you have. Harbor freight sells a dental p ick set cheap, grinding the ends off a couple to scrape the area clean may be the easiest solution. SInce this area is accessed to clean the battery cooling fan you can keep an eye on it in the future.

 

Cleaning connectors can help in some instances, but it isn't likely to help long term once the connectors are very corroded or burned. Once there are holes through the gold plating the underlying metal will be very prone to further damage. On the other hand, I have had some success "just" cleaning connectors when they have become fouled by spilled fluids or had gunk sticking to them from the atmosphere (like a coating from tiny oil drops and dirt).