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Lots of codes - need wisdom

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Unirambler, Apr 16, 2019.

  1. Unirambler

    Unirambler New Member

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    Aug 4, 2018
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    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I bought the car from a small time dealer about 3 hours away so I can't ask him how he cleaned it. Is there a recommended way to clean and prep the bus bars and nuts so they don't corrode so quickly? I still have another Prius battery to clean and get together.

    Thankfully, I won't have to re-use most of the wiring harness for this battery. Since I bought the replacement modules from newpriusbatteries.com, I only need to use the main cables and temperature sensors, I believe. I did check the orange connector though, and the connector looks fine. There is a little corrosion on one or two of the pins in the computer. I will try to get a picture of it tomorrow.

    How do I go about cleaning the pins and the negative cable before re-assembling it? Just wire brush the negative cable and hope that stops it? For the pin, I think I saw some people using 94% alcohol to clean it in the thread about battery fires. Is that still the recommended way?
     
  2. Unirambler

    Unirambler New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2018
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    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    IMG_20190425_124312819.jpg Here is a pic of the computer pins - at least the best I could get a pic - sorry it isn't higher quality. It looks like two pins with corrosion and when blown up, possibly more on the bottom of one pin. So, how do I clean it? I don't see any corrosion on the back of the connector toward the board, just the front.

    Also, I have cleaned the bus bars for another battery using the vinegar + salt method, so they are clean. I will wire brush them a little more to get them nice and shiney. Then what? Can I just put some dielectric grease on them before putting back together to keep them from corroding so fast?
     
  3. ericbecky

    ericbecky Hybrid Battery Hero

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    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    I would open up the computer and check the pins inside the case as well as the board. They can start a nasty fire if badly corroded.
     
  4. Unirambler

    Unirambler New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2018
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    Location:
    Louisville, KY
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    @ericbecky Thanks. I did open it and check the board out. There is just very slight corrosion on one of the pins that can be seen from the back. I tried cleaning the pins using the recommended alcohol and hopefully that will help. The car has over 200k already, so I'm not thinking it will last long enough for an issue to develop to the point of starting a fire (from what I have seen of the post-mortem pics on the thread about the fires).

    Also, as I was checking out the modules, it appears that a few of them may have had some leakage of electrolyte. I think this is what led to the corrosion on the bus bars and negative cable. I just don't understand why they would have been leaking so much. I thought the computer kept them from getting charged too much, which should keep them from leaking. Also, in testing them, they still seem to be good (ie, voltage is good, capacity is good - not like new but good for an older pack).