Dr. Prius Results Gen 2 2005 110,000 Miles

I continue to be so thankful for this community! Thank you to everyone for your responses Overall update today is temperatures are back down to 77 degrees, observed while monitoring during two 30 minute drives today!



@dolj your confidence to button it up and drive gives me confidence! I'll continue to monitor absolutely. Thanks for your reminder on "worst" being relative when it comes to block 5 right now, I agree, it's pretty close to par. Since I did feel I ran my reconditioning process thoroughly this go around (38.5 hrs for 4th and final charge, monitoring steadiness toward it's end) I'll follow your suggestion and keep in mind a truer final 4-6 hours on final charge for next time.

@jerrymildred I did clean the fan when I had it apart, but that was 2 years ago. Maybe it is due for another look the next time I open things up. I appreciate you mentioning the air intake, that is not something I have ever serviced, I'm sure it could use a cleaning. The loud fan back there definitely has kicked on for me in desperate times, mostly before when I was in red triangle mode, or fast approaching that previously. I was concerned that it hadn't kicked on when seeing those Dr. Prius temps, but glad to be able to control that fan with the Hybrid assistant app. Like @mr_guy_mann mentioned, the computer will kick it on when it thinks it needs it, but it's nice to be able to control it manually with Hybrid Assistant for peace of mind. I think that helped bring the temps down today.

@Another thank you for your assessment of the IR and diff, always appreciate a second opinion, and in this case the reassurance that I shouldn't have to take my car and pack apart this week is definitely a relief! This is my 5th time doing the module replacement / reconditioning process. Thanks to everyone here though, I'm grateful to have learned how to do it, and know it's a journey.

@drone13 thank you for doing the research in this post and comparing the original IR to this recent one! I hadn't realized how they compared. Yes, this Dr. Prius reading was only a quick data point, I only opened it briefly, was alarmed by the temperatures, and then switched Hybrid Assistant for the majority of assessing post install. That reading may not be telling the whole story. I will do a few longer drives this week and come back with better info from Dr. Prius and report back on IR.

 

Update; Still on the road and showing all good signs of running regularly, at the right temperatures, so far as I can see.

As promised, longer trip Dr. Prius Data for IR assessment + Hybrid Assistant Trip report. Any insights on the data is much appreciated! I am not super familiar with the Hybrid Assistant app and still learning what all the information it collects means.

Thank you!

 

Hi @nancytheprius ! Yes, I'm really appreciative of everyone here on Prius Chat for helping me learn. I went the route of replacing modules myself, reconditioning the Hybrid Automotive reconditioning kit and charger, and testing things with Dr. Prius and Hybrid Automotive apps. Overall, I'm happy with this choice even though it has required a little more elbow grease - I'm still on the road and have learned a lot about my Prius.

 

Thank you for that @mr_guy_mann ! Sorry I took a while to respond back here. Fortunately, I haven't had much to report, things are running smoothly. I'll keep an eye on the Voltage Difference, seems to be good hovering around .2V and if I see it rising, I'll remember that's an indicator that I'm cruising for a code.

 

Updating for my own records and for anyone who's out there searching threads on similar projects. Got the red triangle and code P3000 CODE (BATTERY CONTROL SYSTEM MALFUNCTION) a couple of weeks ago -- Dr. Prius App can clear the code and dash lights, and the vehicle remained drivable but by now I know this is a warning that some blocks in the HV pack are on the way out so, I know the drill! After several test drives getting the codes and dash lights, running the report from Hybrid Assistant App, with a moderate level of confidence, I narrowed the weaker blocks down to blocks #3, #5, and #13.

Yesterday, I took the HV pack out and checked each module under a load. I attached my findings. In addition to using the apps, I feel better trying to expose actual weak modules and blocks to perform poorly for a visual / physical proof to go along with the app's diagnostic. To get the load testing numbers I used a 50/100W 12.8v sealed beam car headlight with gator clips attached to each of the terminals that run to positive and negative terminals of a multimeter that I then touch to either side of each module and hold there for 2 minutes, timing the start voltage and end voltage after two minutes, looking for differences in start and stop voltage.

Block 13 showed the biggest drop with this test method, confirming the hybrid assistant reading. For future, if anyone has an adjustment I should make for better exposing weak performing modules, I'd appreciate it, as this method didn't really confirm blocks #3 or #5 as being much weaker than the rest of the pack. I went ahead and replaced them anyway with new modules I had ready to go that I ordered from eBay. One assuring note from this go at identifying weak blocks, is that blocks 3 and 5 were from the oldest batch of modules preexisting in the pack, so it could be expected they'd be due for retirement. Both modules in #13 were actually from the first time that I brought in new modules to the pack when I made my first post here.

Bus bars had significant corrosion, I still have the ilsco oxide inhibitor, so I scrubbed the bus bars and coated them all with that. Currently on my first charge cycle with the Hybrid Automotive Prolong Battery Reconditioning system. Glad I invested in that originally because I fell I'm getting my money's worth out of it, this is my 6th time using it after swapping in new modules. I'm only at 150k miles on this Prius, and at this rate I'm feeling good about extending the vehicle's life. The only work it has needed outside the HV pack was a fuel pump. As always, hope any of this might be helpful, and thanks for your feedback!