Prius Plus/V 178K miles things to change

I am just beginning my Internet search for my 100k mi. maintenance project items. This entire thread helped a lot, thanks to you all!

I was curious, your Original Post (OP) listed the inverter. What did you see that prompted that, and did you change your mind on it? I don't currently have any intention to fiddle with it. Inverter coolant - of course.

What I would add from my perspective, is to crack the metal housing on the HV traction battery for inspection and cleaning of module terminal posts, nuts, bus bars and block sensor ring terminals. I have seen a lot of pictures on the internet of corrosion, and that extra resistance will throw off measurements of the blocks, and also cause charge/discharge imbalances and overheating of the terminals.

I think that is an important preventive maintenance item on it's own without disassembling everything.
I am not, however ready to advocate swapping modules or fancy 'balancing' chargers.

I do not yet have a torque setting for re-installing the module terminal nuts.

Another aspect that I have done some initial testing with good result is a complete discharge cycle of the cells. I'll post separately as I get into that project later.

The reference material I used from Battery University is here:

• BU-203: Nickel-based Batteries - Battery University
• BU-215: Summary Table of Nickel-based Batteries - Battery University
• BU-408: Charging Nickel-metal-hydride - Battery University
• BU-807: How to Restore Nickel-based Batteries - Battery University
• BU-706: Summary of Do's and Don'ts - Battery University
• BU-410: Charging at High and Low Temperatures - Battery University
• BU-906: Testing Nickel-based Batteries - Battery University

thanks again!

 

Good.
Had me worried!

This is my first Prius and I am not even a mechanic, let alone a Hybrid technician. But it does always piss me off when I can do a better brake job than the local Toyota dealer.

I will be tackling that project when I can leave the car in a garage for several days - hopefully this summer. I will keep you posted, and try to document what I am doing the best I can.

A quick search of YouTube will show you what I am talking about. "clean prius HV battery bus bars"
But be careful.

1. You don't need any stronger acid than white vinegar. Leave the battery acid alone.
2. There is plenty of snake oil to be had.
3. there are forum posts here that I have not yet read that might be useful.

Unfortunately most everybody just focuses on making the 'bus bars' (module links) shiny. There needs to be more to it than that - just like your 12v SLI with corrosion- you don't just clean the battery cable terminal without cleaning the posts, too.

 

I had not gotten to watch this video until now. The first 50 minutes or so will show you what is involved in doing the disassembly and inspection. Mr. Kelly does not go into the details of cleaning.

Weber State University (WSU) - Department of Automotive Technology
2010-2015 Toyota Prius Ni-MH Battery
1:08 long YouTube video

At least you will know what a corroded terminal looks like, and you can decide what to do about it.

 

Mr. Kelly says 48 inch-pounds of torque, or 4 ft-lbs
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxsgD8XgzIn9cF38Ut469klFtTym2ZooJW