Deep trouble - Prius 2005

Greeting Oh Wise Prius Ones.

I have 4 Priuses - 2014 (fine), 2008, 2004, 2005. All are subject to a great deal of abuse. The 2014 and 2004 are kept in California. The 2008 and 2005 are kept in Kauai, in a VERY rainy area, mostly outside. Needless to say all the earlier models have a number of issues. I have a Techstream knock-off so I can read fault codes, and there are quite a few.

For a few months the Kauai cars would reluctantly start, after disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V battery. The ICE would keep running, the main battery would charge and I could use them.

Now the 2005 will not start. I have charged the 12V battery, and jumped the battery terminals with another known good battery. All the expected dash lights come on, and eventually if I hold the Power button long enough, various relays "click", and the Ready light flickers on, but goes out immediately without the ICE starting. The MFD shows 2 or 3 bars left in the charge of the Main battery.

I'm sure there is corrosion everywhere but would welcome any insights from those smarter than me.

I'd also like to know if there is a way to "jump" the Main battery from the Main battery in the 2008.

Obviously I would prefer to not swap Main batteries between the 2 cars, but I will if I have to.

There is absolutely no practical or economically feasible way for me to take these cars to the on island Toyota dealer, so whatever fix I do will be my own "shade tree, DIY work", hopefully with some guidance from those of you on here with more experience.

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi SFO and others asking about codes: Thanks for the welcome . I appreciate you all taking the time to respond.

These are the codes I read from the 2008 (which now starts, but requires that I disconnect and reconnect the 12V bat each time. The ICE engine runs without shutting off, no matter how far I drive. I would be happy to get the 2005 in the same status. I had planned on replacing parts as necessary to clear all these codes, but presently just getting the 2005 started is my priority.

HV Bat:
*PO AFA - Hybrid battery system voltage low
*PO ACO - Hybrid battery current sensor circuit

above both current and in history

PO AF7 - Hybrid battery pack detector pending
P3012 - Battery block 2 becomes weak
P3013 - Battery block 3

Power Source Control:
No diagnostic codes

Hybrid Controls:
*PO AID - Hybrid powertrain control module

*P3000 - Battery control system (shown both in current and history)

Engine and ECT:
No diagnostic codes

ABS/VSC/Traction:
C1259 - HV system regeneration malfunction
*C1300 - ABS ECU malfunction
*C1310 - Hybrid system malfunction
(the above 3 all current)

Transmission Control:
No diagnostic codes

Cruise control:
No diagnostic codes

I'm pretty confident that these all indicate some significant problems with the various systems in this 2008, but because these are old cars I can live with them running like this for a while - which is why I hesitated to post these codes. Thanks again.

 

Thanks Aaron, Yes I thoroughly cleaned the connections and have a known good battery. And other known good, well charged batteries I have tried attaching. Whatever battery I use makes no difference.

Thanks edthefox5, I have a good voltmeter. 12V circuit appears ok.

Thanks ChapmanF, Appreciate the focus on codes. I'll do that with the 2005 asap.

Thanks chronon, I'll post codes from the 2005 asap. I much appreciate that I received so many replies. It's highly motivating ;-)

Thanks mr_guy_mann, You're right. Thanks for the reply. I'll get on this asap. Much appreciate the response.

 

Hi SFO,

Thanks a million. A lot of excellent insights.

Yes, as issues started arising with the 2008 I knew from my California 2004 Prius that the fixes were not going to be easy, so planning accordingly involved buying a Honda Civic from an owner who had the wherewithal and incentive to have kept up with all maintenance. Well, the starter on the Honda died and got me a lot of attention from airport security, and I bought the tools to do what one youTuber describes as the hardest job he's ever done on a car! hahaha

But your point is well taken, thanks. My budget is fine - I'm ok buying tools and parts if they'll get the job done and make sense. The car(s) are of limited value for sure so I'm unlikely to throw a $3500 HV battery at one. My DIY persistence exceeds my knowledge and abilities, but I don't give up easily so more likely I will learn about these HV batteries and what it takes to get more life out of them. Clearly looking for a local good battery from an otherwise totaled car is a good idea.

The 2005:

I will post all current codes below in my posting following this one.

When powering up the 12V system I attach a known good, fully charged 12V battery to the positive terminal of the installed 12V battery, disconnect the negative terminal of the installed battery from the battery, and attach the ground strap to the new battery. I have not checked the voltage at the front jump points, but I will. Thanks for that. I'm confident however that I'm getting good 12V+ power to the car, just as if I had an almost new 12V battery installed.

It is very possible I have run the HV battery down as you suggest, and it's also possible that when I did previously drive the car the HV battery was only partially charging.

Jumping (!!) right to your suggestion of a $30 LED power supply. I like that idea a LOT. I'll get right on getting one of those. Any specs or suggestions very welcome - charging voltage, (even a link to one), etc. Thanks. I was hoping there was a way to charge the HV battery other than trying to charge it off the other car!

Looking at the HV bars today it looks like there are barely 2.

Yeah, you get it! It's just me and my tools - and a lot of very, very valuable help from highly knowledgeable people like you!

This is Kauai north shore. It rains every day. Both cars have leaks into the back, and had them before I got them. No way to sugar coat this!

Now you're getting to the details I hoped for - HV battery ECU and location! Thank you. Yes, there will be corrosion. Keeping a car here is a little like taking your Dell laptop out on top of your windsurfer in San Francisco Bay, and then leaving it on the beach in salt spray, and then trying to boot it up~! My guess is that once I get access to the HV bat ECU and the HV bat, I'll be taking them out to clean them up fully.

Yes, I'll clean the bus bars, and see how the voltage sense harness looks. For sure I'd be interested to know how to most simply charge the HV batteries (of both cars) with the LED power supply. That won't solve all the problems for sure, but having an immobile vehicle here compounds any problems. Again, thank you so much.

 

These are the codes from my 2008 Prius which I read off TechStream. If PriusChat permits me to I will attach the printouts also.

I checked all systems with 12V battery power selected on. The car will not start so the ICE engine was not running and the Ready light did not come on. I have not listed the systems which DTC codes showed as "none". I ran the checks twice, and noted which showed addition codes on the second check.

Hybrid Control:
P3000 - battery control system

HV Battery:
P3030 - disconnection between battery and ECU
On 2nd check also:
POA7F - Hybrid battery pack deteriorating

ABS/VSC/TRAC:
calls for car to be idling - unable to start, so no idling possible
C1241 - low battery positive voltage or abnormal high battery positive voltage
C1242 - open circuit in IG1/IG2 power source circuit
C1259 - HV system regenerative malfunction
C1300 - ABS ECU malfunction
C1310 - HV system malfunction
C1377 - capacitor

Air Conditioner:
B1421 - solar sensor circuit
B1423 - open in pressure sensor circuit/abnormal refrigerant pressure

Gateway:
B1248 - AVC-LAN communication impossible (in history only)
B1260 - transmission control ECU communication stop (in history only)
B1271 - combination meter ECU (in current and history)
on second check all 3 were only in history

I did the following when checking the codes:
Left the 12V battery disconnected overnight
Connected a good, known fully charged 12V battery
plugged in the TechStream OBDII plug
with foot on the brake selected Power on
For the first check there was no driver's display of any sort
I conducted all the TechStream checks
Again with foot on the brake I pushed and held Power on
At this time the driver's displays returned to normal
But still no Ready light
After completing the second round of checks I again pushed and held the Power on button
The Ready light goes on and off on a cycle with "turn signal - like" double clicks from the back of the car

I cleared all DTC codes with TechStream.
This made no difference as far as being able to start the car.

There you have it, oh wise ones! Thanks for reading all this.

 

Hi SFO,

Thank you SO much. Your help is worth it's weight in gold. While I was waiting for any replies I started reading up on combination meter fixes on Gen 2 Priuses on PriusChat. I also noticed that there is a very long thread on HV battery maintenance. My thanks again to you for not simply telling me to read that!

Yes, my mistake, these codes are from the 2005.

No, I don't know how to find the INFs or sub codes. I'll try to dig around with Techstream hooked up again asap. And I'd welcome of course any insight.

Yes, to both. The combination meter/ turn off/on/ready is problematic on all my Priuses, except the 2014 ;-) And, because "a man's gotta know his limitations" I can probably remove the combination meter without breaking too much plastic but definitely do not have the skills, tools, or experience to work on circuit boards myself, so I'll get replacements.

Regarding the "HV bat bars" I meant the level of charge shown on the MFD is barely 2 bars. I haven't opened up the battery yet to view corrosion.

Thanks for all the links. Really, really helpful.

I hope I can reciprocate in some way, some time.

I'll keep you posted on what I find.

I did get my junk farm/dump run truck - 2000 Ford Ranger - to start - by hot wiring the starter solenoid power terminal to a heavy wire I touch on the positive battery terminal. The corrosion on vehicles unavoidably left outside in this climate has to be seen to be believed!

Have a great weekend

John

PS Eventually I'll get better using this chat board and learn how to quote the specific question to which I'm responding ;-)

 

Got it, thanks a million.

jp

 

Hi chronom, I much appreciate your insight. At this point I have a number of 12V batteries available to me, which I use as required. These are fully charged with bench chargers, so I'm confident that I have at very least an adequate 12V battery in place to power up the various circuits and processors at start up. Undoubtedly the 12V system(s) on my Prii have issues and if/when I get the HV batteries issues resolved I'll look into these more deeply. Thanks again.

 

So I finally got a couple of Meanwell power supplies delivered to me here in third world Kauai ;-)

They look like well made units. I have not yet torn my Prius battery apart to investigate further, but in the interests of being prepared can anyone who has used these Meanwell units tell me how they attached them the the Prius HV battery?

Thanks

John