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

energy monitor

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by lexidium, Feb 11, 2021.

  1. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I've noticed, just occasionally, that the blue bars disappear and the box goes yellow. Then the blue bars appear again.
    Any ideas as to what this is an indication of?
     
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2017
    5,286
    4,225
    0
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Do you have any warning lights displayed on the dash?
     
  3. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    No warning lights on the dash
     
  4. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2016
    1,057
    789
    0
    Location:
    Washington State, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Are you saying your entire screen turns yellow and then goes back to normal? It sounds like the Multi Function Display may be on its way out, or possibly you have a bad connection.
     
    SFO likes this.
  5. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2017
    5,286
    4,225
    0
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Sounds like we might need a picture of the observed problem(s), as the descriptor isn't helping much.
     
  6. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Its either the hybrid battery is doing the pre death thing showing full change then nothing then full charge thing it does before it dies.

    Or the MFD screen itself is failing.

    If your not driving it much anymore your killing both the 12 volt battery and the hybrid battery.
     
  7. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Driving it all the time.
    It's just the box with the battery bars, not the whole screen
     
  8. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    That’s not good....
     
  9. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    just in this box: [​IMG]
    I've done a complete health check in techstream and tested the blower 1 through 6. Not sure what all the info on the left means in this test but there were no codes or anything: [​IMG]
     
  10. davecook89t

    davecook89t Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 10, 2016
    1,057
    789
    0
    Location:
    Washington State, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Do you have a picture of the screen when the box turns yellow? I've never heard of or seen that before.
     
  11. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2007
    10,096
    4,795
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    me neither.

    the hybrid battery looks ok thats a good battery for prolonging. (hybridautomotive.com)

    But your 12 volt battery is shot at 11.4 replace that asap its cold out that battery will leave you. Yellow box is odd thats not how that mfd fails but....
     
  12. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I just went out and checked the battery (car's been standing in freezing cold for several hours) in the dash service menu and it said dead on 12v and when I started the car it said 14v.
    So I don't know what to think
     
  13. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,487
    3,763
    0
    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    What did it say when you pressed the Power button twice (from OFF) with your foot OFF the brake? This would put the car in IG-ON.

    14V when the car is READY is telling you the DC/DC converter is working as designed but tells you nothing about the 12V battery except maybe the 12V battery is pretty flat – which you already know.

    When you do the IG-ON test, you could also put the headlights on high beam. If the voltage plummets like a rock, and continues past 8.9V, just replace the battery and move on. If the voltage is stable above 10.5V you could try putting the 12V battery on a charger immediately.
     
    jerrymildred likes this.
  14. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Will do that but as you say, looks like battery so I'll look into getting another one shortly. May as well do it now rather than leaving it.
    Does another battery have to be registered in some way?
    Cheers
    Lex
     
    #14 lexidium, Feb 13, 2021
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2021
  15. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2012
    7,487
    3,763
    0
    Location:
    Wellington, New Zealand
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    What do you mean by that, exactly? You just take out the old battery and drop in the new battery.
     
  16. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
  17. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    there's the pic of what occasionally happens. The car runs normally with no warning lights.
    About the battery: I was looking at batteries on the net and it said the battery may need car to be registered with the box but apparently doesn't apply on this car.
     
  18. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2020
    3,243
    1,352
    0
    Location:
    NJ-USA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    OK- what you are seeing there is the battery gauge showing near "full". The gauge displays 1 to 8 bars that correspond to the State Of Charge of the HV battery (40 to 80% SOC) . At 1-2 bars the gauge is a purple/red color, from 3-6 it's blue, then 7-8 it turns a green/yellow.
    The car is designed to keep the battery at around 60% SOC - so seeing 6 or 7 bars is normal. That's what I see on my car which I use for 80 miles per day of mixed highway driving. I very rarely see 8 bars. If you drive in stop and go traffic, use the A/C a bit , drive up some steep hills, you would see the gauge drop further as the car pulls more power from the HV battery before using the ICE to recharge it.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  19. lexidium

    lexidium Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2015
    229
    106
    0
    Location:
    manchester
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I've never seen that before the last week or two and was frightened to death it was a battery fault :)
     
  20. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2020
    3,243
    1,352
    0
    Location:
    NJ-USA
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    Some cars do use a Hall effect sensor to monitor current flow into the battery and will adjust the voltage setpoint based on the battery's acceptance rate. They can also use a different charging curve based on the battery's age. So if you install a new battery, the ecm needs to know it so it can reset the charge profile.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.