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all blue bars drop to one purple bar within 3 blocks

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Beachbummm, May 19, 2015.

  1. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    my neighbor stopped me this morning saying her 2005 prius was acting up.
    when we started off the MFD was showing all blue bars, ac lights radio all turned off.
    drove less then 3 blocks and it dropped to one purple bar and had hesitation on acceleration.
    went around the neighborhood about 3 miles and it was showing full charge green..parked and restarted, it dropped to all blue bars showing

    I assume the traction battery is on the way out but wanted to see if anyone had other opinions, no error lights on the dash or codes stored in the memory

    she also mentioned the AC was not as cold as it used to be and the blower seems slower then my prius when set on high.
     
    #1 Beachbummm, May 19, 2015
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This happens when the engine is first started in the morning. The battery does work harder. It's different when it's warmed up.

    The hesitation is not normal, it shouldn't do that.
     
    #2 JC91006, May 19, 2015
  3. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    mine has a rebuilt battery and has never gone below two purple.. I figured the hez was from trying to charge an almost dead batt while running the car..she said both problems started at the same time..
     
    #3 Beachbummm, May 19, 2015
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    There should be codes if there's a failure
     
    #4 JC91006, May 19, 2015
  5. valde3

    valde3 Senior Member

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    If battery capacity is low it can cause those problems but still give no fault codes.
     
    #5 valde3, May 19, 2015
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    agreed, the battery probably has some faltering cells, but not outside the parameters yet. how many miles on her?
     
    #6 bisco, May 19, 2015
  7. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    im not sure, ill say over 150,000 she only talks to me when she has an issue..im not going to work on it for her just trying to point her in the right direction...my money is on a weak cell also

    I agree so Ill tell her to take it in for repair when the big red triangle come on..
     
    #7 Beachbummm, May 19, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: May 19, 2015
  8. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Hey she's using you!! I would hope she's at least cute? :)
     
    #8 JC91006, May 19, 2015
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    The A/C pulls a lot of power I feel. If she can start up without A/C and let car warm up a few minutes until engine goes off it may help
     
    #9 wjtracy, May 19, 2015
  10. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    no, not at all just an older neighbor who saw I have two Prii and thinks because I work on the basics myself I can fix hers..I never work on others peoples stuff. I told her what I thought was wrong with it last night and if she decides not to fix it let me know I might buy it..I will have to stack them on top of each other in the garage but I can always play with a new project
     
    #10 Beachbummm, May 20, 2015
  11. uart

    uart Senior Member

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    It definitely sounds like the battery is on the way out.

    Tell her to try letting the engine warm (transmission in "P") for about 50 seconds before driving and see how much improvement that makes. It might at least buy her a bit of time, but yeah it sounds like a new battery is definitely on the cards.
     
    #11 uart, May 20, 2015
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