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Battery issues

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Raenstoirm, Aug 31, 2004.

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  1. Raenstoirm

    Raenstoirm New Member

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    I got my car in April and minus a bad CD player (which I had replaced) have not had any problems till last month. A few weeks ago I was leaving work and noticed my car was driving terribly. I mean really really bad. I hit my info button and realized I had only one red bar on my battery screen. Within minutes the bar was back up to blue/green and there was no problem. I put it as a fluke and forgot about it. Well in the last few days I have seen that single red bar about every other day. I have tried to recreate the same parking situation whenever I park my car, but I have yet to see a pattern. I park the car with blue bars and I turn it back on to a red one. I only got the CD player swaped a few weeks ago. Could they had dislogged something that would cause this drainage? It seems like the battery cannot hold a charge.
    I will be taking it back to the dealer soon, but I wanted some input.
     
    #1 Raenstoirm, Aug 31, 2004
  2. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    wow that is scary... definitely sounds like something is draining your big battery. i would take it in ASAP!! you are talking about an expensive repair if that battery pack goes. plus the draining could dramatically shorten the life of the battery and the effects may not show up for years.
     
    #2 DaveinOlyWA, Aug 31, 2004
  3. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    please inform us of the code they pull from the computer and have them explain what they found. This sounds like a stuck relay or some thing that's not breaking the HV battery from the inverter/converter or some thing like that. Could even be a A/C problem OR anything like a thousand other problems. Scan of the computers will reveal the problem.
     
    #3 Frank Hudon, Aug 31, 2004
  4. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    You're not somehow leaving the car in Ready mode are you??? I would think that would be pretty unlikely but could cause the problem.

    But, I'm with the others, something is causing that problem. Lemme ask this, is it happening every time you leave it parked for a prolonged period?

    The only other thing I can think of is if you're only at say 3 bars each day when you get to work, then at start-up you need to use the HV for a power source and it's draining it down a bit into the red. But clearly it shouldn't do that all the time.

    I'm with the others thinking there's a problem and it needs to be checked ASAP.
     
    #4 efusco, Aug 31, 2004
  5. Wolfpack

    Wolfpack New Member

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    The same thing is happening with our Prius. My wife has been driving it to work every day for the last couple of weeks and it has happened at least twice. Apparently, when she arrives at work in the morning the battery is green (7 bars?). When she leaves later that day the battery reports only 2 bars and drives very rough! She says it is very "clunky" and frustrating to drive when it does this. She also noticed that for the first 5 min. the car gets like 10 mpg. Once she gets on the Hwy the battery slowly builds back up. The last time it happened I took a picture of the mpg info to show that the first five minutes had around 10 mpg. Needless to say we will be taking it in soon to get it checked out.
     
    #5 Wolfpack, Aug 31, 2004
  6. Raenstoirm

    Raenstoirm New Member

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    clunky is a good way to describe it. I thought at first it was the heat, as the battery was only dead like that when I got out of work and it has been hot and muggy lately and I park the car outside during work. At home I live in the woods so it is a lot cooler. I dont think anythign is on in the car as it turns off and locks with no problem. All of the lights go out. I am going to try and get it into the shop next week, but the problem is is that I need my NAv for work and the loaners dont have it.
     
    #6 Raenstoirm, Aug 31, 2004
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    yep you definitely have something shorted to ground and its draining your battery. i would take your Prius in at the EARLIEST opportunity.
     
    #7 DaveinOlyWA, Aug 31, 2004
  8. Raenstoirm

    Raenstoirm New Member

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    Just called my dealer. There is a recall on some of the batteries and the needed parts are on back order. Guess I am not the only one with the problem then.
     
    #8 Raenstoirm, Aug 31, 2004
  9. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    recall?

    oh oh... what part numbers and how would we know if we maybe having problems soon?
     
    #9 DaveinOlyWA, Aug 31, 2004
  10. Raenstoirm

    Raenstoirm New Member

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    She didnt tell me what VINs/batteries were effected. I guess you can call your dealer and ask. SO far it hasnt caused a big problem for me, so if you are nto having the problem I wouldnt worry about it.
     
    #10 Raenstoirm, Aug 31, 2004
  11. jchu

    jchu New Member

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    Just talked with my Service department. (They are needing to replace one of the computers and do the 40E recall.)

    The battery recall is titled "40G". Apparently, letter is going out to those affected (thankfully no me.). Seems to be a realitively small group. Wonder what the missing "40F" was / is about???
     
    #11 jchu, Sep 2, 2004
  12. Wolfpack

    Wolfpack New Member

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    My service department said that they "could not replicate the scenario" I described. I am going to go pick it up tonight and drop it back off next week when they get the fuel tube in from the recent TSB. I am sure that they couldn't replicate the problem I am having because it happened 2 or 3 times over a 2 week span. What else can I do? I am not sure if my VIN is within the battery recall range. To top it off, the service guy helping me is gone till Wed. He left a contact, so I called her up and she has no knowledge of my car or the situation surrounding it. Very frustrating !!

    :guns:
     
    #12 Wolfpack, Sep 2, 2004
  13. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I do not know for a fact, but I thought that the 40G recall was for '01-'03 MY Prii, and a very limited number of them at that.
     
    #13 efusco, Sep 2, 2004
  14. jchu

    jchu New Member

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    Just know that my service person felt a need to check on my "04 to see if it was part of the 40G recall
     
    #14 jchu, Sep 2, 2004
  15. inventor00

    inventor00 Active Member

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    According to my dealer, the battery recall is in process. They have to put "felt tips on the end of each battery" - this is a quote..

    We are having it done this weekend along with a July recall that somehow we never got a notice on (we did all our recalls in June- 40G). Upgrades a version of the computer from 1xx to 2xx.
     
    #15 inventor00, Sep 3, 2004
  16. TucsonDave

    TucsonDave New Member

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    I just found this post. I am having the exact same problem. It has happened 3 times. Once while driving! (see my last post for description) I am taking it in tomorrow.
     
    #16 TucsonDave, Sep 3, 2004
  17. inventor00

    inventor00 Active Member

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    Ok, Dealer checked and the battery issue was 1st Generation Prii (2001-2003) not 2004.
    They did do a Tech bulletin which takes 24 hours to upgrade the computer, since all the warning lights came on.

    This is what the invoice said:

    "REPROGRAM E.C.M AS PER BULLETIN EG027-04"

    Anyone had this Bulletin done?
    >>>>>>>>>>
    Check Orange County out at: oc.priuschat.com
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
     
    #17 inventor00, Sep 8, 2004
  18. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Take a look at this Prius Online Thread Now I'm wondering if I need the same thing done after my MIL and "limp home" incident.
     
    #18 efusco, Sep 8, 2004
  19. inventor00

    inventor00 Active Member

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    Yes that helped.
    Per bairkurt on PriusOnline.com:

    "Lo and behold, there were codes that led them to perform the EG027-04 repair. This is a reprogramming of the Engine ECU that needs to be done after or in conjunction with the SSC 40D reprogram of the Hybrid ECU and Battery ECU. The affected cars were produced prior to VIN # JTDKB2#U#40076912. My car's VIN ends with 17684 and was delivered in November 2003."

    My story:
    Same thing happened as bairkurt - all warning lights came on, battery drained, was able to get off freeway. Waited 2 hours for Toyota emergency service and gave up. Car warning lights went out, so drove home, then to dealer next day.

    Dealer did computer upgrade from verision 1xx to 2xx per
    Technical Bulletin:

    REPROGRAM E.C.M AS PER BULLETIN EG027-04
    Which they said takes 24 hours to do by the way. They then have to drive it 15 miles to test everything.

    Now "Fanny" is home.. Hope it does not die again...hard to get to work that way, especially with a 6 month old car.
    Also Vin is before VIN # JTDKB2#U#40076912 (got car in Feb 2004), so it fits.
     
    #19 inventor00, Sep 8, 2004
  20. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Well, heck. Maybe all of us should call Toyota at 1-800-468-6968 (1-80-GO TOYOTA) and ask them whether any bulletins apply to our VINs.

    I was in turn transferred to the Toyota Corporate Customer Experience Center 1-800-331-4331 x3-1-4 and was told that no campaigns apply to my VIN. So, because my VIN is earlier than those quoted above, this campaign at least must not apply to a consecutive range of VINs.

    Or maybe they don't apply until we actually suffer a breakdown, he wrote darkly.
     
    #20 richard schumacher, Sep 8, 2004
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