My Prius Gen 1 2003 had a battery replacement with new one 1,5 years ago with 210k km, a month ago the car suddenly lost power on the road and I forced to stop, current milage is 215k km. The garage had to check and clean injectors and also check fuel pump pressure. The HV battery was low and was sent for reconditioning. When reconditioned HV battery placed back on the car it could not start, the technician found that battery voltage on many cells was dropping to a range 1v-10v when attempting to start. The opinion was that the HV battery seems to be destroyed and has to be replaced with new or replace many cells. Finaly HV battery was sent for reconditioning for second time and hope for the best. The question is whether is justified for new HV battery to collapse in 1,5 year.
There are some very “fishy” things about your situation. A bad module can get down to 1 volt but I don’t believe a good one can charge much past 8 volts. If your battery pack was indeed new then, no it shouldn’t go bad in a year and a half. If it was a “reconditioned” pack then, depending on the attention to detail, yes it may not last long. But if you got it from a reputable source it should have a warranty. Lastly it seems very fishy that a mechanic would not plug in a scan tools before attempting to fix your problem. The scan tool would notice the battery problem even if you needed injectors. If there was no battery problem before you left the car with the mechanic I would start asking a lot of questions!
t Tha Thanks for your answer , I saw the installation of new battery 1,5 years ago coming from a wooden box in TOYOTA dealer, the warranty the give is one year, the mechanic in the authorised dealer told me 'see how you can deal with it' meaning pay for reconditioning. I try to find a HV charger like maxx volts, prolong, but need to have a mechanic willing to do it. The problem they put is that I move the car once a week doing 100km. I visited a HV specialist suggesting to start the engine every day for a while will keep the HV battery alive? He also told me that if I can keep charging the 12v battery in a closed parking from main will maintain the HV battery ?? I wait to see the cost for reconditioning .. Do you know any charger for Gen1 ? I read that Gen0 had a built in charger , using a 12v battery to recharge the HV battery
Unless your circumstances change so you can drive the car more regularly, you should consider selling it and just replace it with a cheap, economical petrol car. The hybrid vehicle battery does not fare well with the usage you describe. Having said that, I find it hard to believe the battery failed after 1,5 years. It makes me think you were scammed, or didn't understand that the battery was a reconditioned one, not a factory-new one.
Thanks for your answer, yes I consider replacing if things can get better. I paid 2500 euro hoping the battery was new! Any idea of a good working charger?
You can buy a charger (Hybrid Automotive Prolong, Maxx Volts, or Venice Hybrid Tech, for example, if you can import from the USA) or build your own for less than $100.
