Repeated EV Battery Pack Problems... What is causing it?

welcome!
i think it's the battery packs he's using. there is no method for refurbing battery packs that is guaranteed to last. so the purchase is only as good as the warranty.
if you intend to keep the car, you may want to consider a new pack.
if not, and he won't keep replacing them, you may want to look at alternative vendors.
all the best!

 

You need to find another indy shop that knows more about rebuilding a battery pack. This shop seems to do youtube style module swaps and call that a legitimate repair.

What you're describing is normal for amateurs doing module swaps

 

Welcome to the forum, Steve. I agree with Bisco & JC. Also, it looks like you might have multiple issues with the engine idling roughly. It would be nice to know the specifics of what, if anything, the shop is doing to condition the replacement batteries.

 

Here's an analogy:

The remote control for your living room TV runs out of batteries. You grab the remote from your bedroom and take out its batteries to replace the living room remote. When it runs out of battery a short time later, you grab the remote from the guest bedroom TV and use its batteries. When the battery fails a 3rd time, do you blame your living room remote for always running out of battery?

Or do you think maybe the source of your battery replacement isn't so good?

Or maybe an even better question, how many times are you going to do this before buying a new battery?

 

You can buy a new battery from Toyota for approx. $2200 (lowest I've seen) plus $1350 core charge. You get the core charge back when you return your old battery. Standard 1 year warranty. If the dealer installs that pack, you'll get a 3 year warranty. I'm not sure but I'd think you wouldn't have to pay the core charge if doing the latter.

There have been a few reports that Toyota has gotten into the rebuilt game too. IIRC, those batteries, which are cheaper, have a part number that ends with a "-84" suffix.

 

If you want to be done with it for a good long while, I agree that your best bet is a new one from Toyota. If you want to take another crack at a fixer-upper, or maybe even salvaging the battery you have, it's not that far to Home - Tampa Hybrids Inc.. Todd is a stand up guy who specializes in Gen 2 Prius. After he works on the battery, he grid charges it to get all the cells equal which gives the battery its best chance of holding up longer. Not sure if your guy does that or not. It does greatly extend the life of the battery. He answers some FAQ's here. Hope it's helpful.
[Edited. Hope I got all the typos this time. ]

 

agree with jerry, if you don't go new, maybe todd can help, or point you in the right direction.

 

New battery pack from Toyota is the best option for long term.
If you can get the car to Tampa Hybrids, his price is much less than the dealer.
Less than $3,000.

A failing battery pack is like a severely corroded bike chain: Replacing one link in the chain will make the chain whole again, but it is likely that a different link in the chain will fail next. If you replace that link, then a different link fails. Repeat the same scenario over and over.ut
Paying someone to do this work can get expensive quickly.

On the other hand ,if you are do the work yourself, can be without your car for periods of time, don't mind the car being unreliable, and are enjoying yourself it is fine. But that does not apply to most people.

 

No truth. If it was bad, it would not last a day

 

Transaxle has it's own codes.
A proper diagnostic service with reading codes and running through the symptoms would confirm the actual problem.

 

Wow! I don't think I've ever seen so much consensus on PC in one thread. This place rocks.

 

plenty of good advise, no easy solution.

 

First replacing single modules in an older HV pack with success either takes alot of skill or alot of luck (remember gambling is an expensive hobby), you choose. I probably sound like a broken record now but everyone having trouble with their battery should be getting themselves setup with a mini VCI that allows them to run the same Techstream software the dealer uses. This way you can see exactly what the issue is and stop wasting your time and money on wild goose chases thrown out there by independent garages in above their head. When you buy used battery packs you should always buy them from a cold climate (heat is the enemy) so getting them from a Florida bone yard is a very bad idea (unless they allow you to fully test the battery, which they usually don't). Once you have the mini VCI check for codes then take a few screenshots of the battery under hard acceleration and at idle and then post them up and we should be able to tell you what's wrong with the Prius quite easily.