Hi all! I'm a Prius enthusiast and owner since 2006 of a 2005 Prius. Unfortunately, after 20 years, my Prius decided to start giving some troubles in the last months... below what happened. Nov XX After starting my Prius, all of a sudden I get multiple warning lights on dashboard. Toyota repair shop says it needs HEV battery replacement. Although it's a gamble for such an old car, I'm not ready to leave my Prius behind and decide to give it a try (very expensive). The car goes into protection / limited to ~ 40 km/h while driving it to the shop. Dec 22 Toyota repair shop returns "fixed" car after replacing the whole HEV battery (took a while, apparently it's hard to find a new battery for such an old Prius, plus 1 out of 4 "connectors(?)" not found so using an old one? Not transparent communication). Dec 22-27 Car works. Dec 27 As in the beginning: multiple warning lights on dashboard after starting the car, which stay on. Following error codes from Car Scanner (didn't check in the beginning as I just bought an OBD dongle). The fan in the rear seats (I think associated to the HEV battery actively hearable). Dec 29 I'm going to bring the car back to the Toyota shop as it has still the warranty of their intervention. But I start to lose faith. I'm asking you guys if anyone has any insight on whether the car is still fixable, what the culprit could be given that the battery is supposedly "new" and what to tell Toyota mechanics to check to make sure this doesn't happen again. Thanks a lot!
It could be corrosion on the battery modules voltage sensing wires or corrosion on the orange plug that connects into the hybrid battery ECU. This is a very common problem on old Gen 2 Prius when water gets into the rear hatch area. Do you have water inside the back where the spare tire is located or down underneath where the 12v battery is located?
What sort of battery did the shop put in? New OEM modules or a rebuild/refurb? If the latter, you may be experiencing why new OEM modules are by far the safest bet. In addition to brand new modules, bus bars, and nuts, you also get new wires that connect the modules to the logic part of the battery.
Thanks Brian, this sounds reasonable, I'll forward your suggestions to the mechanics! I haven't seen any water inside, but definitely the car was exposed for years to humidity being parked outside in a very rainy country. I also found a website (on torquenews, cannot link it) saying it might be the connector of the HV cooling system, what do you think? Also, if a fix wil be found, do you think I can bet on such car to be still usable for some years given that it has 160k kms?
Thanks Pasadena_commut, this is a good point: not sure if it's new or refurbished but at this point I suspect it's refurbished. Also, do you think a new battery is still available and purchasable after 20 years? Finally, a question I asked to Brian as well: if a fix wil be found, do you think I can bet on such car to be still usable for some years given that it has 160k kms?
Toyota still sells NiMH packs in the USA, presumably anywhere in the world. Note it is not a complete pack - the electronics from the old battery will be transferred to the new one. It also has all new bus bars, nuts, and wires from the modules to the electronics. Also some foam rubber bits that control airflow. Many of us have installed these ourselves, but of course the dealer will be happy to do it for you, for a pretty significant amount of $. (Or I guess Euros in your case.) Corrosion in the little computer in the electronics section is a common problem. If that is the issue, a new pack will not be sufficient, a replacement computer will also be needed. Search in this forum for more info on that.
