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Can incorrecting working (charging) the A/C system ruin the traction battery?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Cody Gilmore, Apr 4, 2017.

  1. Cody Gilmore

    Cody Gilmore Junior Member

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    Hello, I took my car to the shop a few weeks back for the A/C and they said they were seeing lots of errors. When I went to go see every light on my dash was on and eventually I learned the traction battery was bad.

    I chalked it up to bad luck and bad timing and had it replaced. A few weeks went by and yesterday (4/3/17) I took it back to the same shop and watched them work on my car. They did not disconnect ANYTHING and just went ahead and charged the system and looked for leaks. This morning when I went to go to work every light on my dash was lit up again. Same sign of a bad traction battery.

    It's a 2005 with 230,000 miles.
     
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    1. Did you expect something to be disconnected?
    2. What type of traction battery was installed: new from a Toyota dealer, used from a salvage yard, or "re manufactured"?
     
  3. Cody Gilmore

    Cody Gilmore Junior Member

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    1. No I was not, it was just something I noticed.
    2. Re-manufactured from a company.

    Yes there is a chance that taking it it to the same shop twice that the traction battery just happened to fail twice directly after they did the same thing.

    I am aware that it could be VERY bad luck and VERY bad timing. But thats why i'm asking if incorrectly working on the A/C could cause a messed up battery. Giving the timing I thought I should ask if this is a possibility or not.
     
  4. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    ...
    Out of curiosity, how did you eventually learn the traction battery was bad, and what was the same sign you saw later?

    It is very, very difficult to make any guesses about your situation—even how likely or unlikely it is to be coincidence—without knowing the trouble codes that are behind the lights you are seeing.

    -Chap
     
  5. Cody Gilmore

    Cody Gilmore Junior Member

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    2006 Prius
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    II
    Sorry, P0A80 both times.

    Both times all the lights indicating that issue lit up and the car would not go over 35MPH. Took it to O'Rielly's for a scan both times.

    Had a company out of Houston replace the battery with a refurbished one.

    Just so it is clear. I have not contacted the car shop that worked on my A/C nor the company I bought my current battery from (which does have a warranty). I would like to educate myself first.