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DIY hybrid battery rebuild, I did it all and it worked for 20 minutes

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Driver Ed Joe, Mar 9, 2017.

  1. Driver Ed Joe

    Driver Ed Joe New Member

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    Hello,
    My Prius hybrid battery went bad. The dealer said I needed a new hybrid battery. I took it out myself and then checked all the cells and one was bad. My multimeter read 6.8 volts so I replaced that one bad cell. All the other cells were between 7.8-8.2 volts. I finally got it back in and at first the red exclamation point still came up. Also, the car would not allow me to shift into gear. It would just go into neutral. I kinda fiddled with the wires in the battery a bit to see if that would help. After a few more tries all the lights on the dash went away and the car ran great for about 20 minutes. However it ended up coming back on unfortunately. Is it common that a connection goes bad or something? Does the ecu cause these issues possibly? Another issue the car had before the battery went bad was that the dash lights, where the gas/gear/speedometer is, would occasionally not come on. It seemed fairly random but it may have been on more cold days where this issue took place. Do you have advice for me? I like to do things myself as much as I can but I don't have a ton of experience with this stuff. I own a driver ed school and we have 4 priuses so I'm trying to learn as much as I can about them.
    Thanks a million
     
    #1 Driver Ed Joe, Mar 9, 2017
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  2. Abdulaziz_Barham

    Abdulaziz_Barham Junior Member

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    You can make balance for all cells so the read will be all the same . Try to ask where they do it ?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #2 Abdulaziz_Barham, Mar 9, 2017
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!
    sorry, you didn't 'do it all'. it's a long tedious process, if you want to try to do it right, read the many threads here on battery rebuilding.
    all the best!(y)
     
    #3 bisco, Mar 9, 2017
  4. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    This is a separate issue, and a known one where the Combination Meter becomes faulty. Contact Texas Hybrid Batteries (member here) and he can repair, or offer a swap refurb, to fix this problem. It is easily DIY to remove and replace the CM, but a time consuming job. His price is good too.
     
    #4 dolj, Mar 9, 2017
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2017
  5. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    If you're not going to balance the pack, it's best you find 2 matching modules and replace the entire block. That is the best way to go
     
    #5 JC91006, Mar 9, 2017
  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    When those lights come on, it means there are specific codes that have been logged to tell you what the trouble is. It could be related to the work you just did, or it could even be something unrelated, that was detected around the same time. Until you read the codes, you just don't know ... you're throwing darts blind at a board with several hundred squares.

    -Chap
     
    #6 ChapmanF, Mar 9, 2017
  7. Driver Ed Joe

    Driver Ed Joe New Member

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    So I ended up buying a redone battery from napa auto parts. $1400 with a three year warranty. Put it in myself and it's been running great.
    I then went on eBay and purchased a redone combination meter $145. I just finished installing that and it's working great too. Hopefully things will remains working well. I have 4 priuses for my driving school. Hopefully no more hybrid batteries go bad for a whille. The new combo meter has 30,000 less miles than my car actually has on it. Is there another way to tell how many miles I have on the car besides adding the 30,000 to what the meter says.
     
    #7 Driver Ed Joe, Mar 13, 2017
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  8. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Congratulations, I hope your Napa battery will last a good long while. To keep the knowledge base of recon batteries growing, would you mind posting, from time to time, updates with how it's going?

    If you contact Hybrid Texas Batteries (member here), he can advise you on what he requires to program your CM with the correct mileage. There are no other options, AFAIK. It will involve removing and sending to him, or swapping for one he has reconditioned and preset with your mileage. There is a cost for this service.
     
    #8 dolj, Mar 13, 2017
  9. Driver Ed Joe

    Driver Ed Joe New Member

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    I sure can. Its been a week and its still running great! Knock on wood.
     
    #9 Driver Ed Joe, Mar 18, 2017
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  10. Chris Wolfgram

    Chris Wolfgram Active Member

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    I don't think I'd ever try to rebuild a battery myself.... But I would totally consider one of the aftermarket refurbished batteries with warranty. I saw those for Gen 3's for only like $1600. Seemed like a bargain to me. Hopefully they wont be much more than that, for Gen 4's by the time I might need one.
     
    #10 Chris Wolfgram, Nov 30, 2019
  11. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I think in 2019 US "LE" is the base? That level maybe still has Nickel-Metal Hydride battery? Which is more repairable? The Lithium batteries (introduced in 2016, on all but base level) are much less so, almost disposable. The university guy did a deep-dive on the latter, had to drill something out to release the end clamping, and then had a heck of a time getting it back together.
     
    #11 Mendel Leisk, Nov 30, 2019
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