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

Have dealer replace HV battery?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Timbert, Apr 18, 2019.

  1. Timbert

    Timbert New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2019
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Hawaii
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    I'm currently on the fence on spending the coin to replace the HV battery in our beloved Prius.

    One night we had the Master Caution, VSC, brake warning all illuminate. Next morning when taking it to dealer it completely died (blown AM2 fuse) so it looks like are inverter pump is fried.

    But the tech said codes P0A80 and P3022 are also set and wants to replace the HV battery as well. Total estimate of $7846. Seems a bit much to put into a twelve year old car. But I also expected my car to last longer than 12 years before the junk heap.

    A few things in the quote also caught my eye. They left the $1350 core charge on there. I got them to admit that was a mistake but they also show $1000 for the computer assy for the battery. Is it normal to replace the computer and battery at the same time and not just move the computer to the new battery?

    Also for the work on the inverter pump they included replacing both integrations relays, adding another $300 parts but the write up didn't indicate a failure with either only a shorted pump. Are these normally replaced during a inverter pump change?

    That might drop the bottom line to $5K and I'm still not sure that will be worth it. Although thinking of junking a 'green' car with less than 100K milles just doesn't seem right either.

    I thought about just fixing the inverter pump as we had noticed reduce performance on the batteries but there were no lights just before this happened. Also BTW, I'm electrical engineer so tearing into the HV system doesn't completely scare me (of course the wife is convinced the car is going to strand her now).

    Any advice? Thanks.
     
    #1 Timbert, Apr 18, 2019
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,796
    48,995
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    wow, a lot to unpack there.

    i don't think the car is worth a 7k investment. the cost of living in paradise?

    can you get other quotes, or are the the only game in town?

    i would start with the 12v health, then check the inverter fluid reservoir for movement, then replace as necessary.
    if you do need a battery, can you import one from the mainland for $1,600. plus freight?

    not sure about the ecu, i thought it was a swap as well.

    as far you're wife, i can't comment, i'm married too.:cool:

    maybe fix it up, and trade it in?
     
    #2 bisco, Apr 18, 2019
    SFO likes this.
  3. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

    Joined:
    Aug 12, 2016
    6,102
    5,812
    0
    Location:
    Columbia, SC
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Timbert,

    You are getting shanked. That dealer is totally full of SH*T.

    You can get a new inverter cooling pump online for about 65 bucks and can swap it yourself in under an hour merely by removing the driverside headlight and using hose clamping tools to prevent fluid loss. Less than 20 bucks for the tools. Tons of you tube videos on this.

    When a battery is replaced by the dealer, the electronics section of the 'used' battery is removed and installed on the new battery, because the new battery only has the 'module' section with the baseplate, modules, wire harnesses and cover.

    Your codes indicate block 12 has become weak. That means either module 23 or 24 from the non-ecu side is failing. MANY people just purchase one or two good modules and replace the obvious bad one or two. That can be done for less than a hundred dollars. There are better ways, like purchasing a HV battery from a late model wreck and using those modules to rebuild your pack. That's what I do.

    Look at posts 13 and 14 in the below thread. This was a dealer fresh Gen 3 HV battery. A new gen 2 would be similar. The parts that are missing (ecu/relays/etc) are switched from the original battery to the new one. That is standard procedure, NOT purchasing all new items.

    For Sale - Gen 2 HV battery built with Gen 4 modules | PriusChat
     
    #3 TMR-JWAP, Apr 18, 2019
    Last edited: Apr 18, 2019
    Skibob and SFO like this.
  4. Timbert

    Timbert New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2019
    2
    0
    0
    Location:
    Hawaii
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Thanks for the replies. Yeap, everything is more expensive here and there is essentially one Toyota dealer for all the islands (different dealerships--same owner). So, if you want to have a dealer do the fix they are the only game in town. I didn't expect that a fix would be cheap but replacing components in bundles because the may have failed may save them time, it sure ends up costing the consumer a lot more.

    I got the Prius home and the wife will be happy as she got a new car. But now I have time to dig into it and see if I can get it back on the road comparatively inexpensively, either to keep as an extra vehicle or to sell. I've got a lead on garage that has recently starting rebuilding battery packs or heck may even try tackling that project myself. Found a couple of used batteries for sale as well. Thanks again.
     
    #4 Timbert, Apr 23, 2019
  5. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 14, 2018
    2,912
    1,496
    0
    Location:
    Northern California
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    #5 Skibob, Apr 24, 2019
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)