Purple Battery on Startup

More than likely you traded your HV battery for another that was probably not much better. The only HV battery that is worthwhile these days is a genuine new one from Toyota. You just need to shop around the dealers and get the best price.

 

Refurbs can only do well if they are meticulously built.. Takes time and testing and retesting and picking matched cells.... This is barely worth the effort to do it right so many vendors are tempted to cut corners.

Consider warranty offered and don't expect much life beyond that and your ok.

Going new is worth the peace of mind & warranty.

Once upon a time the price difference between refurbished and new was so great it was worth considering. But now new is competitive and worth seriously considering.

 

Agreed that's a sign you have a weak HV battery. Time to check on the warranty for that rebuilt pack.

 

Did you purchase the refurb pack? Most have some sort of warranty; the minimum is typically 90 days but some of the more expensive options are out to 3 years. Yes, the Toyota warranty is long gone.

 

Car doesn't matter, the refurb battery should have some sort of warranty, if not, that explains a lot!

 

We've seen reports here of folks have 2-3 returns on these refurbs. You're not alone.

 

Obviously you'll need to wait for the car to throw a code/trouble light and verify.

 

I see you are in florida as am I... where did you find this life time warrantee and who is supplying the batteries?

 

turn off your AC when starting off, don't move the car until the gas motor shuts off.. odds are the battery is low when parked and the AC draw is bringing it down even more.. also don't set the ac all the way down, try 75 to 77 Im in florida as well a good temp , the AC runs off the battery not the motor as in a normal car. the more you run the ac the faster the battery drains and the more the gas motor runs.

 

I think this may be a bit of overreaction from some of the posters. It tends to be a little too gloom and doomy around here.

My car regularly starts the day in the purple. It has for years. It's fine.

While I do agree that it is not a GOOD sign that your car is doing this, it doesn't mean your battery is going to fail tomorrow and all hope is lost.

 

No one said it would (hence wait for the codes to pop) but you do realize he's already on his second (used) battery don't you? That he's going from purple up to green just driving around is a sign of a weak pack. BTDT

You, OTOH, are having a great run considering its an 05 in AZ.

 

I think my luck may be running out, unfortunately. I am replacing the water pump in my 07 today, the brake actuators went bad in both (one of them before the warranty replacement, and I was too lazy to write into Toyota to see if they would refund me, the other I pre-emptively replaced before the code because when the first one went out, it took a miracle for me to avoid an accident because the brakes just completely disappeared right when I needed them at a sudden stop. wasn't going to risk that again when the second actuator started showing the symptoms). A few other things here and there, plus both original batteries approaching the dreaded 200k mark, and I am thinking it may be time for a couple of upgrades.

I see you had a Volt. They are dirt cheap around here on the used market. Is there a good reason for that? Or did you like yours?

 

Yeah I like mine but after purchase I had a lifestyle change and just needed more cabin room for up to 5 passengers; hence the CMax. I would give the Volt a big thumbs up for AZ drivers as it uses liquid cooling for the battery pack and will even run the cooling system while charging. They are having really, really good battery longevity reports. Generally speaking, most PHEV's have low resell because, I think, the general public is scared of them (the unknown).

 

Humidity causes corrosion on the battery bus bars, voltage sense harness and Battery ECU(orange plug).
If the corrosion is bad enough in the B ECU connector, it will affect the voltage readings and not charge the
HV battery properly. At some point it will just throw replace HV battery and stay in limp mode. If it gets really
bad, the B ECU connector shorts out (no current limiting on the sense wires) and can cause a fire. Just dealt
with this corrosion on my 05.....Messing with the HV battery, be careful. Lots of youtube vids on how to
disassemble HV pack.

I'm looking for the part number for the AMP pins used in the orange plug (V sense harness)
that plugs into the B ECU. If anyone knows the AMP/Tyco number (not toyota!) give a shout, thanks.

 

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You were able to keep at it for years like that? Did you ever ask the dealership what they recommended and what was the outcome? thanks.