1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

2009 Prius Hybrid battery dead?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Daniel D, Jun 26, 2018.

  1. Daniel D

    Daniel D New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 26, 2018
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    07059
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    My 2009 has a little over 100K miles and was getting the dreaded red triangle of death. Replaced the 12 V battery and the problem persisted. I can start the car but as soon as I put it in drive and hit the gas, nothing! And the triangle. So I was getting prepared to spend $1500 for hybrid replacement when I watched a bunch of videos and thought "why not" for taking out the hybrid battery and checking the cells. I successfully removed the battery "wasn't really that hard" and was hoping to find a bad cell and replace it and be done. Nope! All my cells read 7.46V. And that's with the orange connector off. Now those little metal connectors had some pretty bad corrosion on them and I'm letting them sit in vinegar for a while. If my cells are all good then what could be the issue? Could it be just the corrosion on the connectors?
     
    #1 Daniel D, Jun 26, 2018
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,809
    49,001
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    welcome!
    corrosion can be the issue. if not, you need to load test the cells. are you in a carb state?
     
    #2 bisco, Jun 26, 2018
  3. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
    6,102
    5,813
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Daniel,

    At this point, my only recommendation would be to not jump to conclusions. There's no mention in your first post about whether you had codes read to determine the actual diagnostic trouble code. It may be in your best interest to find out what the car is telling you before you start swapping parts. More than just the battery could be causing your problem
     
    #3 TMR-JWAP, Jun 26, 2018
    Raytheeagle and ITBland like this.
  4. ITBland

    ITBland Active Member

    Joined:
    Jun 22, 2017
    433
    272
    3
    Location:
    New Orleans, La area, US
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Or, get the error codes read and see what the warning lights really mean.
    Edit: Beat me to it!
     
    #4 ITBland, Jun 26, 2018
  5. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    4,365
    3,209
    1
    Location:
    Madison, Wisconsin
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Spend ~$75 to buy diagnostic equipment
    - Android phone/tablet (~$50)
    - Elm 327 Blutooth OBDII adaptor (~$20)
    - Torque Pro app (~$5)

    Then you can see the cell data live as well as many other bits of information.
    Plus you can read and clear codes.

    Where are you located?
     
    #5 ericbecky, Jun 26, 2018
  6. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,470
    8,383
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Have you checked all your fluid levels? Low oil can give you a triangle and won't do much when you step on the gas

    7.4v is pretty low for a running car, I would think it would read 7.6v and above....unless it's been sitting for a while
     
    #6 JC91006, Jun 26, 2018
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2018
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)