1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Driving with no coolant = replace hybrid battery?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by jonbru13, Jul 6, 2015.

  1. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    11,627
    2,530
    8
    Location:
    Southwest Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    70k miles. By 100k miles I will have exchanged 5 gallons.
     
  2. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 12, 2013
    1,160
    392
    0
    Location:
    Florida
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    Five
    I highly doubt jiffy lube stocks the correct fluids for the prius....id redo everything ASAP
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    108,844
    49,445
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    agreed, o/p was going to dealership yesterday. i hope he reports back with good success.
     
  4. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,480
    8,397
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    you drain and refill the radiator with every other oil change?
     
  5. SageBrush

    SageBrush Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2008
    11,627
    2,530
    8
    Location:
    Southwest Colorado
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    At 50k miles I started exchanging 1 gallon every 10k miles. I thought about 2 two gallons every 20k miles but the partial exchange is so trivial to do it would not save me any time to speak of, and my one gallon jug is a perfect size to fit under the car ;)

    I am fortunate to have been able to cut down my driving to about 10k miles a year as of last year, so an annual schedule for coolant, oil and tyres works out well.
     
  6. Texas Hybrid Batteries

    Texas Hybrid Batteries Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2014
    270
    551
    3
    Location:
    Dallas -Fort Worth
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    If your engine did shut off while you were driving it could have led to the early death of your battery. I had something similar happen to a customer - He had his tires replaced and the shop mistakenly installed bigger tires on the back of his car (195's instead of 185'2) than the front. Once he got up to 60 mph the skid warning activated (front tires were turning faster than the back) which shut off the ICE. I never would have thought that it would happen but I witnessed it myself. The electric motor kept working on its own to keep the car moving and it drained the battery down to 1 purple bar in a few seconds. In his case the battery was probably getting ready to go but maybe he could have gotten another 3 or 4 months out of it if this hadn't happened. In the end Discount Tire acknowledged their mistake and paid for half of his replacement battery which impressed me. I doubt Jiffy Lube would take responsibility for what ever mistake they've made here.
     
  7. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,480
    8,397
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I didn't know there were sensors on the back wheel
     
  8. Texas Hybrid Batteries

    Texas Hybrid Batteries Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2014
    270
    551
    3
    Location:
    Dallas -Fort Worth
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Yes there are sensors in all 4 wheels and you can watch all of the speeds in real time with techstream. As the car speeds up the spread gets bigger until it triggers the skid control.
     
  9. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,480
    8,397
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    cool. I didn't know that. thanks
     
  10. grhybrid

    grhybrid Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2015
    13
    6
    0
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    More than likely cleaning won't help with the P0A80 code. This code sets when 1 or more of the individual blocks voltage and usually resistance is out of balance with the rest. Replacing hv battery is almost always the repair. Jiffy may have used the wrong transmission fluid and coolant but neither would have affected the hv battery. The transmission should only use Toyota WS, (world service) fluid and their coolant is specific too. Why the coolant is low definitely needs looking in to before there is any engine damage from overheating.
     
    uart likes this.
  11. uart

    uart Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2009
    4,215
    1,200
    0
    Location:
    Australia
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I agree. It's a good idea to clean the fan anyway, but personally I don't think it will cure this error.

    Yeah ideally it shouldn't. However we have seen several cases reported here where a somewhat old and tired battery pack has been "finished off" by a simple loss of engine power (for various different reasons) and the owner has continued to drive for as long as the battery pack will go.

    Hmm, no response from the op for over a week now. I wonder if he is going to let us know the final outcome of this situation?

    Jonbru13
    , if you're still around can you please keep us updated on the progress. Knowing all the various ways that these things can get "screwed up" is extremely useful to the Prius community here. :)