Battery keeps going orange and I get car with ! displayed.

Don't you have the famous 8 years warranty on the hybrid system like Toyota is offering in Belgium and most other countries? Check out your warranty. I would not be willing to pay anything for the batteries after two years.

 

the battery itself shouldn't cost more than US$3000 from what i understand, and labor shouldn't be that bad... are there scrap yards you could buy a battery from near you? shipping a heavy battery overseas would probably be just as expensive as what they quote you.

they shouldn't be just swapping out parts blindly anyway, if there's a battery problem there should be a diagnostic indicator of that before they move ahead with the repair.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(PriusUK @ May 11 2006, 04:50 PM) [snapback]253360[/snapback]</div>

Your model should be the NHW10.

That is the Hybrid System Warning Light, Master Warning Light and HV Battery Warning Light respectively.

If the battery can be charged in park, which means ICE->MG1->Battery should be OK. Not sure why they suspect the gears though.

I agree with galaxee that they should at least pull out the DTC instead of swapping blindly.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ May 11 2006, 09:04 PM) [snapback]253404[/snapback]</div>

Doc, you can enter the pound symbol, £, by holding down [Alt] and type 156 on the Numeric Key Pad (not the numbers above the qwert) then release [Alt].

 

>> I live in the UK and have had a Prius for over 2 years. I have never had a problem until now.
>>It was registered in December 98 and has been imported into the UK from Japan.

>>If I pull the car over put it in park the battery charges and everything seems fine again. After a while
>>the error disappears. Then maybe 10 miles later ding! red trianlge low battery charge (ie. orange on
>>display).

Sounds like the battery to me, not that I'm a hybrid-certified mechanic or anything.

>>They garage say that they have swapped out everything they can think of. They sell second hand
>>Prius cars and have been hot swapping bits in an attempt to solve the problems with no luck. They
>>now tell me they think it is down to 1 of 2 things.

Doesn't sound like much of a technician. They should be able to narrow it down better than that if they understood the electronics.

>>1.) The gears which aparrently somehow charge the battery.
Unlikely unless it's somehow always draining the battery when you're moving. But I think that would be a result of computer command, not bad gears.

>>2.) The main battery needs replacing.
My guess.

>>He says that will cost me £2,500 to do this. This has left me a little peaved as the batteris should
>>last for 150,000 miles I was told. My question is is there any other explanation for the problems
>>or am I left to pay this. and secondly is there anyway I can get a spare gears or battery from a
>>spares place in Autrailia or NEw Zealand shipped and what do you think the cost would be.

My understanding was that generally it's a few cells that need replacing, not the whole pack. They should be able to test the cells and see which ones aren't holding a charge.

The battery could die early for one of two reasons (that I know of): 1) it's a '98, which is one of the very first Prii (collector's item!), therefore they were still ironing things out and maybe some important battery improvements were made later, or 2) a previous owner ran out of gas one or more times and went on battery power only for too long, forcing it below the recommended minimum SOC. This would definitely reduce battery life.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(vtie @ May 11 2006, 08:16 AM) [snapback]253391[/snapback]</div>

He's owned the for 2 years. It's a 1998, so he purchased it used. 1998-2001 Prius only sold in Japan. Check your owner's manual (if it's in english) for battery warranty. Why isn't everything in Japanese? Prius history info is from http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-history.htm. Gears along do not generate electricity. The planetary gear or power-split device splits the engine power between mechanical power to drive the wheels and mechanical power to drive MG1 which generates electricity to charge HV battery which is used to drive the wheels thru MG2. The problem sounds like it is in the electrical drive train which includes the battery, power electronics, MG1 and MG2. The dealer should be able to determine which major componet is at fault. Car being 8 years old, cabling could also be the problem. If its the battery, a 04-06 HV battery in the junk yard is $800.00. I don't know if the 98 battery is the same as th 04-06 battery. Hope this helps.

 

Stuart,

I suggest you join the Yahoo! group Mk1_Prius. There are some UK-based people with expertise on the Japanese NHW10 model there who may be able to advise.

 

Hi Stuart,

There is one owner in the MK1_Prius group which seems to have the same symptom as yours. You can read msg# 512.

A good suggestion was posted msg# 525.

As confirmed by the owner on msg# 532, he tried the suggestion and it works.

Hope this also helps in your case.