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2006: Conflicting Hybrid Battery Information

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Mary27609, Apr 10, 2017.

  1. Mary27609

    Mary27609 New Member

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    Hi. I have a 2006 Prius. Saturday (4/8/17) I got the Christmas tree of warning lights, but the car seemed to be running fine. I took it by Advance Auto and they hooked it up and said the hybrid battery needs to be replaced and that three cells were bad. And they have a guy who would do it. Total price = $3000.

    I bought the car (two years ago) from a guy who refurbishes Priuses (Priuii?) exclusively so I called him and he said he'd pull the cells and replace the bad ones for $125 per cell.

    The thing that was puzzling me at that point (besides the huge price variance) was that the charging display looked fine-- it would charge up through blue and green and seemed to be acting completely normal.

    SINCE then though, I've had three instances where it dropped to one purple bar and then seemed to disconnect from the charging system entirely until I stop, turn the car off, and restart it-- then it's fine again.

    I've read through old conversations here (until my head started spinning) and see a lot similar except for the charging system appearing to be normal most of the time. I researched on line and found out how to check the 12v-- it's 12.6 when the car is off and up to 14+ when the car is on, so I think that's fine, no?

    OH, the Advance Auto guys also said I could drive it for a while like it is and that if the hybrid battery disconnected it's just like driving a gas car then. Some posts here seem to contradict that.

    So what I'm really wondering about is-- How does this battery work that it could function normally part of the time and then just-- not? This happened after a few days of high winds and strong rain. My first thought when it happened was that water had gotten into the electrical system somehow. Now that the battery is failing, I know that's silly, but still...

    Sorry if I've used the wrong vocabulary here and seem naive. I AM! I've only been researching my car for three days :) Thanks for any insight you can give!
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    It is very likely that you have a hybrid battery failure, since you did buy the car from someone that did a repair on the battery previously. The price that Advance Auto quoted you for a possibly refurbished battery is INSANE. $3000 is close to the price of BRAND NEW from Toyota.

    The $125 quote for a Module Swap is pretty cheap for the service (if you needed 1 module, he would spend a lot of time to make the $125). However since you need 3 modules (not sure how 3 modules failed together), there might be other issues or the person reading the codes didn't know what he was reading (more likely the case). Also module swaps will usually not be a lasting repair as the battery is usually out of balance when this type of repair is performed. It's a cheap band-aid that usually doesn't work for long periods.

    He gave you crazy information on how the car will act like a gas driven car, even if the battery failed is just crazy. A hybrid car cannot function properly without the hybrid half working. The car must have the hybrid battery working properly to function.

    You should probably first inspect the 12v battery in the hatch area, with high winds and rain, there might be water that leaked into that area. Check to see if you have water in the 12v battery and spare tire area, if you do, you have to clean that up first. Then check the voltage on the 12v battery to make sure that a weak battery is not giving you false codes.
     
  3. Mary27609

    Mary27609 New Member

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    Thanks! I will check the hatch for water. That $3000 price included installation and probably frantic rounding up because I was losing it at that point. I think I'm going to go with the guy who sold me the car but be prepared for more.
     
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome! how long would you like to keep the car, and how many miles on her?
     
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Remember this module swapping is only a band aid repair, it will not be long term. How long do you intend to keep your car?
     
  6. wrprice

    wrprice Active Member

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    Green bars should be relatively rare, unless you have a lot of your travel going downhill. If you frequently see green bars while doing normal city or highway driving outside of steep hills, then the HV battery system is not "normal".

    (Note: this is my recollection from when I drove an '05 through 2014.)
     
  7. Mary27609

    Mary27609 New Member

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    I'd like to keep "her" :) as long as possible! She's the best car I've ever owned, by far. Just under 140K
     
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  8. Mary27609

    Mary27609 New Member

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    Interesting! I thought green bars were great. Where's the charge supposed to be going?
     
  9. Mary27609

    Mary27609 New Member

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    I'd like to keep it longer than a band aid repair implies, but if this buys me another 2 trouble-free years, I'd be delirious.
     
  10. Mary27609

    Mary27609 New Member

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    You know, I was thinking, I've always gotten green (for the 2 years I've had the car). I live in North Carolina, which can be hilly even in the city, but I'd say I've gotten green even idling. Was that signaling a problem all along??
     
  11. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    The Prius attempts to keep the battery charge at around 6 blue bars (it goes green only when it reaches the 7th and 8th bars). When it's below 6 bars it usually works the gasoline engine a bit harder to try to maintain charge, and when it's above 6 bars it usually uses the electric motive power a bit more liberally to try to use up the excess charge.

    Seeing green bars somewhat regularly is quite normal though Mary, especially if you are driving in hilly terrain. As the battery ages however, and it starts to lose capacity, you may find that the green bars come up somewhat quicker than they used to. It's not really normal for them to come up while idling (that is to change from blue to green while idling), but it may have been the result of a previous hill.
     
    #11 uart, Apr 11, 2017
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2017
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  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    long term happiness would be a new battery from toyota. shopping around might net you under $3,000.
    short term happiness would be a rebuilt battery from dorman, $1,400. plus install. 3 year warranty only covers materials.