Newbie. Bought an '05 & promptly killed it.

HV fan is howling. After Donner Pass + 600 miles to Ensenada it now runs constantly when the vehicle's ignition is on. I'll search threads for it's filter info.

And I'll pick-up a bluetooth obd (Go newfangled yout' technology! Sorry; "Youths").

Thank you all for your advice and education re these beasts. I'm going MIA for a few months abroad (Biz&not) and will securely fasten all of these hybrid hemp knots on return.

Tertiary: this Prius purchase just absorbed a sideways added-value impact:
I flew into Reno and bought it (Sac) to transport some AV gear from NV to MX. Pre-prius in Reno, I also clist-sourced a nice 2-piece leather carry-on set for my pending trip abroad. I just did a thorough inspection of the luggage... JAMMED INTO THE BOTTOM OF AN INTERIOR POCKET WAS A SINGLE, LIVE 9MM ROUND!
On a carry-on!

THAT would have slightly agitated TSA.
Just slightly.
Yes; I subsequently extended my heartfelt "Thanks!" to the clist seller.
Track your ammo, people!

So, while this Prius may have sacrificed its HVB for the roadtrip it spared me an unforeseeable nightmare at airport security.
And, excepting the stress of whether the car would survive, it was a lovely drive down 395.
And 48mpg's!

I will make mechanical mends on the rebound and report.
Cheers.

 

This weekend I'm buying/installing a $750 2-year warrantied HV from a Socal vendor.
We shall see...

Related, are there any tertiary maintenance procedures that are recommended when replacing the HV?

I was pleased to experience how easy the HV removal procedure is! Great web guides abound. Hopefully, the replacement will mirror that pleasure.

Weak link; I can see how the tin plate that fits between the HV and the upper/lower vent ducts could malign and cause an airflow snafu.

There were a couple of interior trim bolts missing so it's obvious that the PO was messing with the HV. Fan looks new, so maybe they replaced that in order to limp it out the door with a spent HV to a sucker like me.

If all is well post-op, I may be off on yet another North American transcontinental roadtrip.
The stock seats are insufferable. Any threads on high-comfort, low-fatigue replacements requiring minimal mounting bracket modification?

Cheers

 

I rendez-vous'd with the HV vendor from LA in SD Friday. Snuck the HV over the border without getting dinged by the Doana, and installed Saturday morning.

Success!
For five minutes of post--op idle and a half-block of travel, all Triangles and CELs silent.

Then, not so much. So... I'm not going to belabor the details but:
- Delayed arrival of replacement CreditCard =
VX diag cable/program online-purchase delayed;
- No Toyota Stealership in Ensenada = no techstream pinpoint. TJ Toy dealer @ 90 klicks and a few hills of 5mph-prius climbs = highly unappealling;
- The only local indie shop with known hybrid diagnostics was gone north for a week.
- I was impatient and wanted this corrected now, so I flipped for the HV without prior diagnostic confirmation. Dag-blasted caffeine!

For road-test, although I did reconnect all wiring and fan-ducts (duh), I did NOT re-install all peripheral trim and rear seatbacks. Is there any reason that crap would impact the road-test results?
Didn't think so.

Asking the right questions... :
- Symptomatically, is it a diagnostic "tell" that if the codes are cleared it can be driven normally for (maybe) 30 seconds before reverting to "limp"?
Or can that be a symptom of anything from the HV battery to "Danger: Skunk in Road!"
- This morning the "(hybrid) diagnostic guy" was back in town. I rode with him while he used a tablet reader to monitor real-time readings/values.
He declared a bad HV battery. I wasn't able to see what he was viewing on the screen, and with the language barrier (in their country=my fault, but improving) I couldn't ask detailed questions.
On the "trust scale" I give his opinion a 6. Nothing personal, but without being certain whether he has techstream (subscription? Update vintage?) installed on his tablet I can't feel confident in the accuracy of his data. $17 charge, little lost.
- There's another guy here with a reputation for advanced diagnostics. Tonight, I'll burrow deeper into 'Hybrid Systems Espanol' and be better prepared to get a more detailed response tomorrow.

Presuming he has a reader setup with Techstream installed, when I stick my nose into the readings what precisely am I looking for?
Does T-stream scream "Hey, Stupid! The problem is your:
- HV Battery!
- Synergy Drive!
- Drive-Beast #1 !
- Drive-Beast #2 !
- Etc ! "
Or is it a set of codes that you have to develop in a darkroom using wolfsbane during a full-moon?
(I'm down with that, if necessary...)

Finally, what are the odds that the first diagnostic guy is correct, and that the LA vendor (knowingly?) sold me a $750 upscale anchor? Has ANYBODY ever bought a replacement HV that was DOA???

FTR, I did warn the guy that if he screwed me that I'd post his company name, personal name and cell # here on PC. He replied that he frequently visits here. Until I've definitively diagnosed the problem I won't assume the guy is a crook. Obviously, on an 05 with 251k other components could be responsible. And if he did sell me a dead HV, I'll give him a chance to 'make good'. That wouldn't forgive him for wasting my time, money and trust but it would signal at least baseline integrity. And if THAT battery lasts the declared 3-years, then all would be forgiven(ish).

All input welcome.
Actually, Cherished like a newborn.
Border Collie.

 

At purchase, Vendor and I gabbed for at least an hour. They said that if it turned out to be a non-HV problem that they also supply other major components. 12 year-old company, sell mainly on Ebay: $500 w/6-month warranty, $600 w/1-year, $750 w/2-year. He openly said that their batteries typically last 3 years. He also said that they pre-balance the modules.

I'll stop referring to the VXdiag nano as a cable & program. Been gone a few months and still powering-up back into this quackmire.
As prii go, I'm the quack.

Cheers

 

And many thanks for your speedy replies!

 

Update:
I just SPOKE with Aaron (Eron?). We walked through some basics, which I'd like to bounce off the brain-trust:
- If the display is showing "5 bars" at ICE idle, does that automatically signify a "good HV battery"?
- If, while ICE idling only, that reading increases to 6 bars, does that signify a good/bad synergy drive or possibly other components/wiring/connectors?

Anyway, he has offered to swap-in the HV I've purchased into another vehicle. If it is bad, he'll give me the HV out of his personal prius. If it's good, he'll sell me a complete replacement synergy unit for $250. He quoted $175 to install the synergy, but I'm not going to attempt driving this to LA from Ensenada. And I wrench.

How difficult is a synergy R&R?
It only took me about 40 minutes to remove the HV, including peripherals.
Next time I could drink an extra cup of joe and do it in 20. I dont know where these labor estimates in "hours" are coming from... and the HV only weighs what, 85 pounds? Some vids & posts seem to imply twice that. Granted, access is somewhat awkward but squatting under the hatchback I found it a very easy lift (Lift Smart). It beats the hell out of wrestling a C6 out from under an F350 in the dirt or snow. Yup.

I'm still procuring the VXdiag nano. Soon.

Will that DEFINITIVELY diagnose a bad Synergy?
Meaning, would I wait the additional 3 weeks for its delivery to 100% confirm a bad Synergy before dropping $250 on a replacement?
Kinda' a rhetorical question, no?

Sorry. I meant to say why "wouldN'T" I wait and confirm using VXDiag...

Anyway, any further diagnostic advice and/or counsel on Synergy R&R greatly appreciated.

 

Definitely does not involve R&Ring the ICE.

I think he intoned maybe max 3-hours total time for R&R. Are the MG1/2 and PSD all components in a single assembly? "Inverter"?

I honestly have no idea which specific component of the electric-drive the vendor is steering me towards replacing. I was under the impression that all the major components could be removed together as an assembly; now, I guess not.

Excluding the HV battery, which of the other major electric-drive components typically fail sooner and/or more frequently?

I'm having another tablet-diagnostic performed locally tomorrow. He insisted he can pinpoint the problem. We'll see.

Thanks!

 

Pending accurate diagnostics, is $250 fair for a used inverter?

Two days to R&R a PSD assembly, as in 8-hours to remove and 8-hours to replace?
Wow! Presuming pro tools and experienced mechanic, that seems like a LOT of labor for any single R&R procedure!

Thanks