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

Orange HV Cables & Bolts with 'Ball End'

Discussion in 'Generation 1 Prius Discussion' started by sickofit, Sep 14, 2014.

  1. sickofit

    sickofit Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2014
    8
    1
    0
    Location:
    Montevallo, AL
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    One
    I know anyone that has taken apart an HV battery several times knows what I am talking about. It's the 2 cables that go from the battery to the inverter. I have 2 questions.
    1.) Does anyone know the parts number on the 'special bolts with the ball end' that holds the 2 cables to the battery?

    I broke one of theses bolts off in the battery when I was taking it apart (for the 3rd time). Sooooo, second question.
    2.) What would be the 'safest' way to get it out? I know we have some good ones on this chat & I will need them on this.
     
  2. robert mencl

    robert mencl Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2014
    173
    49
    0
    Location:
    hartland me
    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Model:
    I
    Please check voltage first, then drill and use an easyout, like any other bolt. There is no burning need to use ball ended bolts. One trip to your local hardware store will getcha a drill bit, easyout, and bolt for 5 bucks. Please consider using a torque wrench. Good luck, Robert
     
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2008
    23,064
    14,970
    0
    Location:
    Indiana, USA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Nope, it's more like an ionizing need. Remember we're not dealing with grandpa's 12 volts here. The ends of the bolts are rounded because they end up near enough to another metal surface that the field gradient would be strong enough to create an ionized-air conductive path if the ends had edges.

    There is a post in this forum somewhere from another poster who did, in a pinch, substitute ordinary bolts. I'm not sure how long it will take to find that thread - I can't remember whether the first thing noticed was a sound, or ozone smell.

    -Chap
     
  4. robert mencl

    robert mencl Member

    Joined:
    Jun 27, 2014
    173
    49
    0
    Location:
    hartland me
    Vehicle:
    2002 Prius
    Model:
    I
     
  5. sickofit

    sickofit Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2014
    8
    1
    0
    Location:
    Montevallo, AL
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Thanks ChapmanF
    That's the reason I asked for the 'safest' way & I know it's going to be hard to find the round end bolts without a parts # , except maybe at a junk yard. I guess I'm the only crazy person that has broken a bolt off into a 'High Voltage' battery.
     
  6. sickofit

    sickofit Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2014
    8
    1
    0
    Location:
    Montevallo, AL
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    One
    Even with checking the voltage, I wanted some other opionions before drilling into a HV battery. Thanks
     
  7. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2005
    27,066
    15,372
    0
    Location:
    Huntsville AL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Plus
    I suspect one could grind the end of the bolt to be a smooth hemishere and then put an insulating coating of epoxy on the tip, it would work 'good enough.' Just make sure the threads are identical in length.

    Bob Wilson
     
    robert mencl likes this.
  8. Jeff F

    Jeff F Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2012
    111
    37
    0
    Location:
    London, Ontario
    Vehicle:
    2001 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I broke one of these guys off a couple of months ago, and went back through some old discussions here and elewhere, and decided to stick with the OEM bolt on the replacement. I couln't really see what was on the back, i.e. what the bolt actually screwed into, and the discussions and knowlege that I saw seemed largely speculative on the consequences of using a standard bolt, but it wasn't hard to get th oem replacements from my local Toyota dealer. They weren't that hard to identify on their screen, though we did have to go through a few different diagrams to find them. About $3, and they had them in from California in a couple of days. So far so good.

    The problem came when I went to extract the broken bolt - when drilling into the bolt to use the extractor the bolt got hot enough to melt the plastic holding the threaded female fitting,and the whole thing popped out. Bad news. I wish now I had taken some pictures. So be very careful with heat when drilling- if the bolt starts to get hot take a break.

    What I discovered after that was that there is really nothing of consequence on the back - if there is any concern about conductive paths it looked to me that it would entirely be between the two bolts, and nothing else. It's essentially a plastic lined air cavity on the back, and a plastic block with the threaded inserts recieving the screws.

    I thought about replacing the part, but it looked like it was part of a big assembly, and I'm nowhere near any good salvage supplier, so I ended up partially disassembling enough to get in behind and putting a nut on the back then torquing the (standard) bolt enough to draw the nut most of the way into the plastic block.

    I'm not advocating this as a prudent or safe repair - in fact after I did it I decided that Iwouldn't consider selling the car to anyone other than as a parts/salvage car, but I haven't had any indications of problems since then.
     
    robert mencl likes this.
  9. sickofit

    sickofit Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2014
    8
    1
    0
    Location:
    Montevallo, AL
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    One
    found out from:
    3prongpaul6
    The part number for the Gen1 HV cable to battery assembly "nipple bolt" is 90119-06889.
    List price is $0.89
     
  10. sickofit

    sickofit Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 13, 2014
    8
    1
    0
    Location:
    Montevallo, AL
    Vehicle:
    2003 Prius
    Model:
    One