Prius battery issue and else - does repair make sense ?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by NicoD, Oct 1, 2019.

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  1. NicoD

    NicoD New Member

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    Hey community,



    I am trying to figure out if it is worth repairing my beloved 2nd Gen 2006 Prius with 163k. Car has a salvage title after being rear ended, obviously affecting the valuation, but was driving fine after rear-end crash impact until the hybrid battery issue started about 5 weeks after the crash.



    Hope you guys can point in the right direction of what the cost of fixing is and if it makes financial sense for me to repair this, what the problem may be, what parts likely need replacements, what other diagnosis I can run, and how much labor would be involved to see if it makes sense to repair to keep driving it as my second car. I am willing to do some work myself, eg watch the YouTube video and just try myself



    See attached photo



    Symptoms:



    Issue 1 - Electric Battery and acceleration - Red Triangle

    * The red triangle is on since 4 to 6 weeks after the rear end crash when somebody hit me (not sure if related), I bought a bluetooth OBD2, and it shows that one of the battery cells has significantly lower voltage (block #9 has 14.7 volts compared to around 16v for all others).

    * Battery fan is very loud going at high rate right after starting car

    * After driving fine with red triangle for a while, Prius started to loose acceleration. When pushing gas pedal, engine would go on high RPM but not moving faster. As if you are in neutral and press down the gas pedal.

    ---> When stopping the car, turning it off, this SOLVED the problem. Right after turning it back on, they car would accelerate again, not very fast but you ould easily get it back to 65mph, just slower than usual. Sometimes the on/off maneuver lasted for 30 min, sometimes I had to stop again and turn of car after 5 min to have it accelerate



    ----> But now there is no acceleration whatsoever, electric comes on but gas engine does not come on anymore. Cannot drive at all and had to have it it towed home.





    ---> Is only the hybrid battery the problem and after an exchange all should be good, or does the above symptoms indicate problems beyond the hybrid battery ?



    What is the best and cheapest source to get a refurbished / new aftermarket battery ?





    * I used 2 different Android apps with my OBD2, here are the codes:



    OBD App 1 showed these codes: HV battery ECU error codes: P3030, CA780, CA083, P0000P0A80, P3019



    OBD App 2 showed these codes: Trouble Code P010A, C3800, P020A, B0030, Permanent DTC: C3F0A, P117F, P0A11, C3F0A



    Another app showed P0A78 (cannot see anymore on my screenshots from apps)



    Autozone scanner only showed this code: P0A80





    What is the cheapest source for a brand new OEM battery ? I am a little worried about the replacing modules myself, and the safety handling high voltage. I also wonder how long a simple module swap would last.







    Issue 2 - Airbag warning light on after minor to medium rear-end crash impact

    Had somebody rear-end me, with rear bumper badly damaged and damage to trunk lid. Airbags di NOT deploy. The warning light is on.



    ---> Are my airbags safe ? Is it just a calibration issue that can be solved with Techstream ? How would I know whether my airbags are safe if I can get them re-calibrated. How do I re-calibrate ? Any links to YouTube videos or some explanations, I ordered a older version Techstream on Amazon, not sure if it works yet









    Issue 3 - Check Engine light on

    With acceleration problem starting, now check engine light came on. Not sure if related



    Issue 4 - Brake service light on

    Brake service warning light - probably need new brake pads, But can I diagnose of the more expensive rear brakes need something ?



    Issue 5 - Trunk not opening after crash

    After rear-end crash, rear bumper is pushed in. But in addition, other car made a tennis-ball size dent right at the rear-end trunk opener. Trunk does not open. Lock is stuck. How would you fix that ? How would you attempt to open the trunk lid, and maybe replace the entire trunk door with a junkyard part ? How would you go about removing bad trunk lid hinges ? Also smaller glass underneath the spoiler was broken, which was embedded in trunk lid



    Some general history on my vehicle: Bought a 2006 Prius with 137k miles and it did around 47 or 48MPGs on average highway and city combined. Toyota dealer Techstream scan showed consistent voltage across all cells back then when I bought it. It degraded to 42 MPGs in the past 2 years with 162k ODO miles BEFORE the rear-end crash already and before the red triangle came on. Then had somebody rear-end me, with rear bumper gone and damage to trunk lid. All good after crash, the Prius was driving fine. But ~6 weeks later the red triangle come on, the acceleration issue and the battery fan thing started. I bought a bluetooth OBD2, and it shows that one of the battery cells has significantly lower voltage.



    Issue 6

    Rear bumper and probably all hinges and bumper support need replacing. No damage to body parts other than trunk door and bumper.



    I am looking forward to your thoughts and comments.



    Thanks

    Nico
     

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    #1 NicoD, Oct 1, 2019
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    welcome!
    tl;dr, but here is where i would begin if i were in your shoes:

    get tech stream diagnostic software on amazon for 25 bucks, and find a compatible laptop for it.

    read up here on what to buy and how to set it up and use it.

    then you'll get the proper codes, and you can get the service manual at techinfo.toyota.com for $20. for 2 days, for code explanations and trouble shooting tree.

    it is likely the battery and you can go two routes. rebuild it yourself, cheap, but time consuming and not always reliable due to older modules continually failing, or get a new battery from 'newpriusbatteries' for $1,600. or an oem from a dealer.

    in the meantime, check the inverter fluid reservoir for movement with the car in ready and the engine off. if there is no movement, you need an inverter fluid pump.

    all the best!(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Oct 1, 2019
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Witness Leader

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    I didn't read comletely through the intial post, apologies, but just don't have the attention span. Anyway, if it hasn't been covered: could the rear-ender maybe be a factor, jarred loose some connection with the hybrid battery? Just a long shot.
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Oct 1, 2019
  4. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Of the codes you posted only P3030, P0A80, P3019 and P0A78 are actual codes, all the others are rubbish. So ditch OBD app 2.

    Do as bisco has suggested and get Techstream or a decent alternative.

    Just a note on DTCs, the format is a letter then a 4 digit number, so if the first number is 0 it is a zero, not the letter O. For example P0A80 not P0A80.
     
    #4 dolj, Oct 3, 2019
    Patrick Wong likes this.
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Further, the last four digits can be hexadecimal, hence valid digits are 0 - 9 and A - F.

    The first digit is a letter, typically P for powertrain, C for chassis, B for body, U for communications.
     
    #5 Patrick Wong, Oct 3, 2019
  6. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Good catch Patrick, being fluent in hexadecimal, I don't necessarily think to mention or highlight it. Thanks for the highlighting it.
     
    #6 dolj, Oct 3, 2019
  7. VFerdman

    VFerdman Senior Member

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    First you need to figure out if the body is repairable at a reasonable cost. Was it hit and run or do you have insurance of the other party? When the body is all fixed then it's time to think about the battery. I am thinking the battery and accident are unrelated, but the impact of the accident could have hastened the battery demise by jostling some contacts or something like that. You say your battery fan comes on high right away. This could be because it is clogged up with lint and debris from the car interior. The intake for that air cooling system is on the right side in the rear seat pillar. If there were pets in the car or people with lots of hair then the lint and stuff just gets sucked into the battery fan and accumulates on the blades of the fan. It's a squirrel cage type fan and can get pretty clogged up with lint. It's easy to clean when you have access to the trunk area (YouTube it), but since your trunk is stuck closed, you need to take care of that first. You will also need to have that done to work on the battery. That is your number one priority. Get that trunk lid sorted out. If the cost of that will push you over to the salvage cost, then you don't need to worry about the battery. If you do get to the point of deciding what to do with the battery, then you can try a replacement cell kit from newpriusbatteries.com. The owner of this outfit is a respected member here and his product seems to be working very well. He sells a kit of new aftermarket cells and everything necessary to replace them in your battery for $1,600 shipped to US. It is a very good deal as you can recover some of the cost by selling the good modules from your old battery for about $30-$40 each. You can also try and buy a new Toyota battery. Those have gone down in MSRP, but they are difficult to procure (not many dealers will sell them directly to a customer and they will not ship either) and they will want to take your old battery as a core (charging you a refundable core charge until you bring the old battery back).

    Good luck and let us know what is happening.
     
    #7 VFerdman, Oct 3, 2019
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