My 2004 Prius is not switching to electric motor, engine revving

welcome!
you need a new hybrid battery. @2k1Toaster $1,600.

all the best!

 

Or if your even a little bit mechanically inclined it’s not hard to pull the battery apart and replace a module or two (about $40 each). Lots of DIYs on here.

Ian


iPhone ?

 

You can't know if it's the traction battery without reading the codes. It could also be the inverter pump, for example. Get the codes read by a Prius literate code reader. It's vastly quicker and cheaper than guessing.

 

Probably not?

Tough to really answer without getting that first round of diagnostic info out of the car. And once the warning lights are on for one problem, you have no way of knowing if a second problem hits you unless you notice driveability symptoms.

Usually people get away with limping it to a garage etc. Once you know what went wrong, you can make a more informed decision on whether more limping is possible, or if it needs to be parked until fixed.

 

It depends on the problem. If it's the inverter pump and you run it too long it can get hot and cook itself even though it's supposed to protect itself from over heating. If it's a bad cell or cells in the traction battery, one could burst and fire is a possibility. Odds of something that bad happening are low, but the penalty if it does is mighty high. I would not chance it except to get it to the dealer if the dealers is within about 5 miles or so on low speed roads.

You can read the codes yourself with a smart phone and one of the apps available for the purpose if you a willing to order an OBDII adaptor and wait for it to arrive.

Also, @ericbecky is in Madison and he's a real pro. Perhaps he has some advice.

 

@freedomteam
I'd be happy to help you out. Give me a call and we can chat through some ideas. 608-728-4082

Sounds like you car is already trying to protect itself from damage. I'd try not to use it if possible.

You might be fine, bit it could be quite costly if you are not fine and something else gets damaged.

 

You can get cells on eBay. Looked for tested and 7.9v.

I don’t think the balanced battery is that big a deal, you can bet the guy offering to do the replacement for you isn’t going to do the balancing.


iPhone ?

 

Chances of another cell failing in less than a year are probably only about 99.9%. But balancing the battery after repair gives the best chance for a longer time before failure. Eric knows what he's talking about. There's more to the cells than just voltage. Although that is a big deal, lots of other stuff can cause a battery failure and you want to address those issues as well.

Balancing is a huge deal when a battery is that old, but you're right that the guy probably won't do it, which is a major factor in the quick failure of rebuilt batteries.

 

Arrrghhhhh

That was the incorrect phone number and of course Priuschat does not let me go back and fix it in the original post.
So I corrected it in my quote here.

608-729-4082