Easiest way to test hybrid battery cells?

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How many miles on the vehicle, and do you know if the HV battery is the original?

It sounds like the HV battery is failing. Which part of CA are you near, as the borders cover a fairly large area.

 

have your 12v load tested, and wait for the tech stream to test the hybrid battery. no easy quick way until you have the tools.

 

Going over the 17 would be hard on that HV battery, you might go around if you're near the coast.

What are the other options, would you leave the vehicle at the friends house?

Are you thinking of a DIY fix, or might you get another HV battery assembly?

 

If you have tools and some time, you might want to clean the HV battery fan before driving again, think of it as a pre-run for module swapping.

 

Most likely the best plan, and be sure to leave the 12v connected so as not to reset/erase the stored OBD2 codes (DTCs)

 

If by the second sentence (quoted above) you mean to imply that in the past it has been common to see the top bar (green) illuminated, then this is abnormal, except in long downhill runs. Normal behavior is that the battery controller attempts to keep the car at around the 6th bar (the top blue bar) most of the time and very rarely venturing into the green bars. It likes to reserve these two bars so there is space if you do a long downhill or a lot of long highway braking.

If you are doing long downhills and not seeing the top bar filled, it is just indicative of the state of your battery.

 

I have a 2010 Lexus RX450h that keeps throwing the check hybrid system light.

First, if there is a Lexus website for dealing with hybrid batteries, please point me in the right direction.

Second, I pulled the hybrid battery and tested all of the cells. They are supposed to be about 9.6 volts each, but I'm getting 10.35 to 10.4 volts on most of the cells. There are a few cells reading at 10.2 or 10.1 volts. Before I replace the low voltage cells, I'm wondering if there is a way to test the cells under load in my garage? Or does anyone know a reputable shop in the greater LA area?

Thanks,
Mark

 

You can try the torque pro or Dr Prius with a bluetooth OBD reader. That will get you some basic info on the system and let you reset the system. May just be from getting overworked in the mountains.

 

Hello & welcome to PriusChat.

I don't know the details on the Highlander - RX hybrid system but it's similar to the Prius.

There are dozens of possible faults that can trigger a "service hybrid system" message. You should scan all of the systems on your car with a capable scantool to see what diagnostic trouble codes are present.

Most budget scantools (including many used at chain repair shops) can only talk to "some" ecu's - typically engine control, ABS, maybe airbag. They can't pull codes or data from other systems like the hybrid control.

IF there is a problem with the High Voltage battery, the "easiest" first diagnostic step is to use a scantool that can datalog (record data) to monitor battery voltages while driving the car. Problems begin to show when the battery is stressed by acceleration and deceleration (discharging & charging).

You can use the search function here (and on the web) for Dr Prius. That's an app that uses a Bluetooth adapter that connects to the car's OBD2 port. Dr Prius is designed to monitor HV battery data on Toyota hybrids. (It can also pull "some" hybrid system codes - IDK about the RX).

Google turned up "clublexus.com" , which has a subforum specifically for 2010-2015 RX450H.

Good luck.

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