I never thought I'd own a Prius...

Yes, but a replacement pack would have a wrong serial number.It sounds to me like Toyota is very anal about these things.

 

If somebody purchased an OEM pack from the dealer & installed it that would not show in the owners portal.

 

It shows on mine. it was done in late 2013 at Mitchell Toyota in San Angelo Texas. I wouldn't install one myself, that only gets me a 1 year warranty. And, MOST dealers won't sell packs to customers or indy shops.

1
10/4/13

ELECTRICAL
CHECK VEH WILL NOT START-- VEH H AS BEEN SITTING FOR 8 MONTHS ~|~ ~|~


Parts

Name Part # QTY
BATTERY ASSY, HV SUP G951047020 1
PLUG ASSY, ELECTRIC G383047040 1
CABLE, MAIN BATTERY G924247020 1
CABLE, MAIN BATTERY G924247040 1
CUSTOMER PAY

 

@ericbecky purchases them quite regularly, for instance.

 

Do we have any verification on what cells they are using in new packs? Are they Gen2, Gen3 or recently manufactured Gen1?

 

Unlike the 12 volt system, where the car's body serves as the − side of the circuit, the high-voltage system is designed to have both sides completely isolated from the body metal at all times. If you open your manual to the P3009 code, you'll see that the checks of the various possible leakage suspects (power cable, cables at transaxle, inverter assembly, components inside battery case, etc.) recommend a 500 volt megger tester and a reading of at least 10 MΩ to be considered good. The exception is the inverter itself, which is good as long as you read 0.9 MΩ or more. That's still nine times higher than the threshold for reporting a P3009 code, which doesn't happen until a reading hits 100 kΩ or lower. For all the other components besides the inverter itself, normal good readings are at least a hundred times higher than what it takes to trigger the code.

In other words, this is not a code that sets on a hair trigger, but only when isolation readings have deteriorated beyond an already large designed-in safety margin. Corollary: if you have a P3009 that's kind of coming and going depending on how soggy the weather is, it doesn't mean your stuff is kind of at the borderline of ok. It's more like kind of at the borderline of 1/100th of ok.

The battery ECU monitors that isolation all the time (when IG ON or READY) by superimposing a distinctive AC waveform over the DC from the battery, and watching for how much of it can be detected relative to chassis ground. Somebody (I forget exactly who, but Bob Wilson or hobbit would be the usual suspects) got some oscilloscope shots of the test signal in action.

Right, that's not terribly surprising. There's probably a track of some electrolyte or other gunk running between a high-voltage point and some nearby metal, and it conducts better when more damp. Drying the car out some has taken the reading from just slightly under a hundredth of what it should be, to just slightly over a hundredth of what it should be.

If the only problem is leakage, a Dorman branded assembly won't be any more trouble to clean up than an official Toyota one would. (It might be easier, because it probably won't have the hideous sealant that got applied to the early Gen 1 batteries, and probably will have nickel-plated bus bits ... I think that was part of Re-inVolt's process, and if I remember right, they were the outfit Dorman bought.)

Thanks!

-Chap

 

Thanks Chap.

My plan is not to keep cars so long that I have to get my money out of them. I like the one I have now but want to move up to either an advanced hybrid plug in or an electric. My wife is my biggest drawback.

 

Maybe Not!

At the end of last year Dorman changed their warranty from 3 years to twelve months. Your battery could still be under warranty.

Brad

 

My wife also takes care of all our cars. She always washes and waxes them and everyone gives me the credit.

 

He must have realized he posted that on Valentines Day.

 

I don't have a wife, so instead I bought a subscription to the local car wash chain. Wash, hot wax, wheel and undercarriage wash, and tire shine unlimited washes for a year. Smokin' deal for $30 a year. I think if I had a wife, I'd still buy the subscriptions. I wish I dared to run my Boxster thru the car wash!