I have an 08 with about 270,000 miles. I replaced the original battery with a Nexcell lithium a year or two ago and let my son use it while away to college. It came back home and threw a code for the inverter pump. I replaced that. The next issue was Dr Prius showing a low module. Nexcell sent me 1 new one under warranty because there weren't many miles on the set. Nexcell was coming out with a new version and the lithium version was obsolete. Nexcell included a balancing harness which I used. I never got it completely back together and running for anything but short trips. Next it threw a code for the battery controller circuit. I forgot what code is (P3000?) but there are 3 variations of the code and youtube university says it's most likely corrosion in one of the connectors. I got side tracked and the car has sat for 6-8 months with the safety plug out, the wiring harness that connects to the copper busses off and the 12v battery disconnected. I now want to get it going but it threw a code P0321 which is for module 11. Attached are some Dr Prius screenshots taken close together. What is a methodical way to go about straightening this out?
Main battery cover is still off but the car doesn't accelerate and throws the P0321 code. I would like to have everything straight before I put the cover on and reinstall the interior.
There is a reason why the lithium version is obsolete. It had problems and was not reliable. Your best path to resolve the problem is to replace the lithium version with a standard Toyota NiMH hybrid battery. Cheapest option is a refurbished hybrid battery. The most reliable option is a new Toyota OEM hybrid battery from a dealership, but you need an OEM core to get your $1350 core charge back (so you are screwed unless you still have the original battery). Another option is to buy the hybrid battery from a junk yard in your area or from eBay. You are one of many NexPower lithium battery customers who got screwed. Live and learn from the experience. FYI, the first version of the NexPower Sodium-Ion battery that replaced the lithium version also had problems and is obsolete.
I have the original battery pack in boxes in the shop. There really wasn't any good option to sell or even get rid of them so they are just sitting. That said, I'm having a hard time deciding to put another $2-3k into this car. I originally decided on the Nextcell battery because there weren't any public negatives when I bought it. The local dealer wanted about $1,000 more than people said the OE battery should cost. Given everything I knew at the time, it was worth fixing if I would have a reliable vehicle good for local driving. It looks like it is now a project money pit. @Brian1954, how do you know that the 13 blocks are bad? Is it possible that they only need charging and refurbishing? I think the only thing that's affected by not having the cover on is the fan isn't blowing where it should be. Is there anything else in the area that could be having an effect? The screenshots were taken within 3 minutes of each other. I can replumb the fan and let the car run if that would give any more useful information.
You should not be running the car with the battery cover off. Cooling for the modules is vital, especially these lithium modules.
For testing shouldn't be huge issue . If cars same as was before lith battery still worth to fix with real battery if some sort . Clean up the red or black labelled controller in front of case.
I'll reinstall the case and fan piping after cleaning the fan and checking the various connectors for corrosion. Will try running the car and look for other issues. @Tombuk2, agreed, if car is the same, it's worth fixing. The Nexcell clusterfk is what my long ago econ professor called a sunk cost. Forget it since I can't recover it and move on to the next step without considering what wouldn't have been spent if the outcome had been known beforehand.
