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$300 intact 1st gen Prius .. what now?!

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by brumit, Mar 17, 2018.

  1. brumit

    brumit New Member

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    ----USA----
    heyhey!!

    ok .. I bought a fully intact $300 Prius yesterday. dumb! and exciting! apparently I'm not risk averse! but honestly i like challenges, learning, and am open to failure .. such is the way of the true to life starving artist. onward!

    p.o. delivers it tomorrow on a trailer .. battery lost charge from 2 yrs of sitting so .. no start. apparently dash lights up and car can be moved into neutral when the aux (trunk) battery's hooked up. everything's there and intact, fairly surprisingly clean actually.

    anyway I'm sure it has some bad cells / modules and needs new fluids etc but was apparently well maintained and running until it got parked two years ago. high miles maybe 180k? which would suggest a certain amount of repairs in its past. no records - lost. also it's hard to demand service records when you're only paying $300 right?

    so! just wondering what else should I look for check inspect replace clean etc? any pointers judgements (jokes about my excellent and or terrible judgement as well) .. all welcomed! just want to learn and hopefully get it going buuuut also have a lot of WHAT IFs and other doubts!! so .. limited budget .. limited expectations!

    thanks in advance!!
    brumit
     

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  2. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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  3. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    Great, this is going to be fun.
    1. Read all posts concerning this model on Priuschat
    2 Go to our experts, one is Patrick Wong at Arizona
    3 Follow all the advice they give on HV battery, testing, testing equipment
    4 Find the emergency disconnect, orange handle ( if it has one ) and disconnect the HV
    You will need a new 12V battery, probably a HV battery too but it depends on the amount of corrosion on the cells, eventually you will have to take the all the battery blocks out and test them anyway.
    You’ll need a garage and a bench and good lighting. Have Fun
    Stay on line with us every step of the way and keep records.
    Welcome to Priuschat.
     
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  4. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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  5. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    Have fun with your new hobby, you bought a hobby maybe you can make it into a car.....
     
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  6. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    It's so adorable! Love that color <3 congratulations on the Prius
     
  7. brumit

    brumit New Member

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    2002 Prius
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    ----USA----
    ha!!
    yalll r fun!!

    thanks for the info pointers & razzing and such!!

    to be completely honest I wanted a trailer .. but ended up with a Prius!! so if it continues to roll and carry my stuff back across the country then .. total success!! but the fun is the hybrid surprise in the middle of the tootsie pop so .. some testing when I can .. some research .. pointers from yalll .. and BOOM! a tiny working 50mpg car experiment! yes! i am nauseatingly positive!

    worst case scenario is a broken car .. with plenty of parts to help folks who need to keep their functional 1st gens working!!

    take delivery today .. will dismantle the orange safety battery disconnect plug & start voltage testing the modules .. ok!

    more sooooon & thx again
     
  8. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    Your positivity is truly contagious! Cheers
     
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  9. brumit

    brumit New Member

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    2002 Prius
    Model:
    ----USA----
    halOo!

    ok .. battery out .. modules disconnected .. voltages checked .. yikes!!

    hey but first just let me exits my deepest and most problematic appreciation for apprentice having bought a $300 snoop dogg cd wrapped in a 1st gen Prius .. so fancy!! semi-adequate bass response .. at the very least!!!

    ok anyway looks like I've got everything from 0.00 to 7.39 .. and only 9 modules above 7v .. whoa!! Terrible! well .. only terrible if you don't have enough for just a whole new or rebuilt pack. appears to have the recall goo on the module o-rings so .. seems like the car was reasonably cared for .. to whatever extent beyond an oil drip

    anyway so .. shopping junkyards for recent wrecks with tested packs and have a line on a tested warranted pack for $700 and that sounds pretty solid given everything I've read and all my own research / calling / eBay etc so far.

    so I keep looking for other issues or problems to check on worry about address etc on various threads here and beyond the possible 1st gen partial trans failure at maybe 230,000 miles .. and occasional cooling pump failures .. but i'm not sure what else to add in / weigh in with .. towards committing to a $700 battery purchase (for an otherwise intact and surprisingly clean 1st gen with a tiny oil drip down below ..) ?!?

    so right now I could use it to haul my crap back across the country, no problem, trailers are helpful. And / Or then sell it as a parts donor car for the $300 I have in it .. or add a battery now from my source, have $1000 into it .. and then discover some other issues!!? honestly I'd rather have a Prius than my $300 back but wondering if yalll have pointers .. specifically what else I should really be prepared to repair or replace before this thing is road ready!!?

    any pointers on —or nearly on— topic are welcomed! ;)

    thx in advance!
    and if there are specific threads I've missed our should read please share exact search terms of links if you would .. there's an incredible wealth of information I just need to make sure I'm reading the proper stuff!! thx!!

    this is almost fun!!
     
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  10. RCO

    RCO Senior Member

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    Truly admire your enthusiasm @brumit ... Welcome to Prius Chat from this UK poster.
     
  11. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    Yeah Bill is an interesting guy. Met him at a racing school I attended a while back.
     
  12. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    Look
    Almost any subject is covered on PC search.
     
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  13. a_gray_prius

    a_gray_prius Rare Non-Old-Blowhard Priuschat Member

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    I seem to have missed this part last time I replied. Want to try and pool our money to buy that only-one-exists Wu-Tang album?