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Stop the insanity.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Brian Marx, Apr 25, 2017.

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  1. Brian Marx

    Brian Marx New Member

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    Hey guys and girls! I bought a 2006 Prius back in January with 167,000 miles. All seemed great for the first couple weeks. I installed a Sony Bluetooth stereo and shortly after that(not knowing if it's relevant) I got the red triangle of death. Watched all the YouTube videos on rebuilding packs. So I figured why not? First repair lasted one month. After doing it twice more, I decided to buy a pack from my local junkyard. Came out of an 07 with 110,000 miles. So I put it in, and back to the red triangle again. I went straight to where I bought the pack and talked to the owner. Left the car there to let his Toyota guy look at it. I'm fed up with it! I'm wondering if putting in that aftermarket radio is causing any trouble. Any thoughts? Advice?
    Thanks much!
     
    #1 Brian Marx, Apr 25, 2017
  2. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Hi and welcome to PriusChat.

    This vehicle has the ability to log trouble codes (aka DTC and INF's) , did you have a chance to locate a code reader and pull any codes from the car yet?
     
    #2 SFO, Apr 25, 2017
  3. Brian Marx

    Brian Marx New Member

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    Thanks for looking at my thread. I did pull out my little code reader and it's saying replace the hybrid pack. So at this point, I'm going to see what the specialist at the junkyard says in the morning. With any luck, it's something stupid.
     
    #3 Brian Marx, Apr 25, 2017
  4. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Which DTC(s) did it return?

    Does this reader also give the INF (sub-code) along with the DTC?

    Some DTC(s) have 20 or more INF codes, so the main DTC is often nearly useless without the INF code.
     
    #4 SFO, Apr 25, 2017
  5. Brian Marx

    Brian Marx New Member

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    My reader doesn't dig that deep. I was just happy that the junkyard pack had a 30 day warranty. I would rather had it fail right away than after the 30 days.
     
    #5 Brian Marx, Apr 25, 2017
  6. SFO

    SFO Senior Member

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    Without the proper codes it will be hard to give advice.

    How much did the junkyard charge for this used battery?

    Did you check the date codes on the modules?

    If labor/installation isn't an issue for you, there are rebuild batteries (Dorman brand) that come with a 3 year warranty ($1200+-)
     
    #6 SFO, Apr 25, 2017
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  7. biglew8

    biglew8 Active Member

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    Where in Florida are you? I keep reading on here that Tampa Hybrids are very helpful.
     
    #7 biglew8, Apr 25, 2017
  8. 2k1Toaster

    2k1Toaster Brand New Prius Batteries

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    Replacing individual cells is a game of whack a mole as you found out. It is a short term band-aid to the problem.

    Replacing the pack with new cells, new-to-you used but balanced cells, or just a used pack is the next things to do. You replaced an 06 failure with an 07 sitting in the Florida heat junkyard which means it was hot and unbalanced for some time. I am really not surprised it didn't work either.

    You need to find a place that specializes in hybrid batteries. Not because there is anything special about it, but because they have more to choose from. This is important. The battery pack actually doesn't care how much capacity each cell has (mostly) or the cells' overall health. It just cares that all the cells are close to each-other relatively. That's called a balanced pack. They all discharge and charge at roughly the same rate and hold roughly the same juice.

    When you are replacing cells whack-a-mole style you are taking your pack with its unique characteristics and trying to find a matching cell that has about the same capacity and health as the rest of your pack but not as bad as the cell that failed. If you had access to an infinite number of cells, you would find one that matches! Yay! But you inevitably buy 1 cell on eBay and then hope it fits. Odds are that it doesn't match your pack, that would be spooky.

    A battery specialist will not have an infinite number of cells, but will probably have thousands of cells sitting around and categorized. To rebuild a pack, they just have to pick 28 from this huge stock-pile that kind-of-sort-of act the same way. Much easier than matching 1 cell to your pack.

    Make sense?
     
    #8 2k1Toaster, Apr 25, 2017
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  9. Brian Marx

    Brian Marx New Member

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    Thank you so much for all the comments guys. I have talked to Todd at Tampa Hybrids.
     
    #9 Brian Marx, Apr 25, 2017
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  10. biglew8

    biglew8 Active Member

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    Will you be getting a battery there?
     
    #10 biglew8, Apr 25, 2017
  11. Brian Marx

    Brian Marx New Member

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    Here's the thing. I already bought the pack from my local junkyard. I left the car there today to let their guy take a look at it. I've gotten Ben up on trying to fix it myself. I may be in over my head with this one.
     
    #11 Brian Marx, Apr 25, 2017
  12. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Classic whack a mole hybrid battery repair. You can slap as many packs u want into it they won't last long.
    You have to do a holistic repair put a load on every pack to test it clean all copper interconnects thoroughly and then discharge and recharge the pack to balance it and then check module voltage again.it takes time a lot of time and equipment and knowledge to do it right.
    And even then few months Down the road one module could go bad enough to throw a delta.

    And what junkyard has a Toyota hybrid pack expert? I'm in Florida where is this place please?
     
    #12 edthefox5, Apr 26, 2017
  13. Brian Marx

    Brian Marx New Member

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    Hey guys! Again thank you for reading my mess of a thread. So here's an update! I live in Sumter County FL. B S Auto salvage had the pack. Scott the manager had a friend who worked for Toyota who came down to help out. He troubleshot the pack to make sure what he sold me was good. Which it was. So after that, they were scratching their heads at it. So I mentioned the aftermarket radio and that I had the factory one. He let me put the stock radio back in, and I'll be a SumBitch if that wasn't the problem! I apparently didn't have the Sony head unit installed right and it was freaking the computer out. So, $875.00 lesson learned. Drove it quite a bit yesterday, and all seems fine.
     
    #13 Brian Marx, Apr 29, 2017
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  14. Hamptgx

    Hamptgx Member

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    What was wrong with your stereo installation? I just finished installing a Sony and now i have the triangle of death. I KNOW my pack isnt bad, everything is working. Can give me a couple tips?
     
    #14 Hamptgx, Mar 30, 2019
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  15. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    12 volt battery is dead because you left all the doors open for hours?
     
    #15 edthefox5, Mar 31, 2019
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