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Traction battery needs protection put car in park

Discussion in 'Prime Plug-in Charging' started by IABoy987, Jun 5, 2022.

  1. IABoy987

    IABoy987 Member

    Joined:
    Nov 25, 2011
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    Location:
    Iowa
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    While the title is not exactly what came up on the multi display, I did find the warning in the users manual (wife has car so can't exactly quote the verbiage) but it did not say what this meant or if it is a sign the big battery is failing.
    We were driving and the cabin heater/cooler was keeping the temperature at 72*, and the car did switch to ICE after 22 miles, but there were no warnings or hiccups. When we arrived we switched off car and went to accessory so radio played. About 10 minutes later I went to park the car and as I pulled into the space, there was a beep and the message appeared and the battery icon shrunk down to just a very small bar of blue. I put car into park and let it run for 5-10 minutes with no radio and cabin heater/cooler switched off. Later when we started car the battery seemed to recover to normal blue charge level.

    This morning the system says battery charging complete and no warnings.

    So my question is this a one off abnormality, or does this suggest a dealer visit?
    Thanks
     
  2. MalachyNG

    MalachyNG Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2019
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    Location:
    Northern NY
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    XLE
    Hmm. I've seen a similar message when my 12v in my previous gen4 Prius went out: accessory battery low shift to park with all kinds of clicking and dash lights flashing.

    I only mention this because you used accessory mode for a while and that likely drained the very small 12v and when that gets low you can get wonky messages like the one you saw. In acc mode everything gets it's juice from the 12v battery and it drains pretty fast. I honestly don't know why it's an option on the Prius because it is easy to kill it that way and you're stuck needing a jump. If you took a drive and used the EVSE to recharge the traction battery then the 12v likely got recharged some too and if this was a one time thing it's probably not ruined for good from it. I'd avoid using acc mode from now on.

    But you specifically said you saw "traction battery" in the alert and that could be a more serious problem. You may need to bring it into the dealership to diagnose what happened. The system should store previous faults even if the check engine light doesn't turn on it could have left a record of it the dealer can pull from the obd port.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    you cannot listen to the radio in accessory. always leave the car in park so the engine can charge the hybrid battery when necessary.
    this has been true for all prius for 20 years
     
  4. prius16

    prius16 Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2015
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    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    The warning was likely:
    Traction battery needs to be protected

    Plenty of Google results. It seems to be more common on older Hybrids going through a pull-car-wash with the car in N, and likely the AC, heat, lights, etc are on. With some big car washes, it can take many minutes before the car gets even near the water.

    If the the Hybrid battery happened to be already low, then the hybrid battery gets drained to very low.

    As bicso mentioned, the same thing happens if the car is kept in "ACC", and the radio, AC, heat, lights, etc, etc are running.
    It's just a matter of how long the battery will last with a given load, and a given initial charge level.
     
  5. prius16

    prius16 Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2015
    462
    241
    1
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    2022 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    The warning was likely:
    Traction battery needs to be protected

    Plenty of Google results. It seems to be more common on older Hybrids going through a pull-car-wash with the car in N, and likely the AC, heat, lights, etc are on. With some big car washes, it can take many minutes before the car gets even near the water.

    If the the Hybrid battery happened to be already low, then the hybrid battery gets drained to very low.

    As bicso mentioned, the same thing happens if the car is kept in "ACC", and the radio, AC, heat, lights, etc, etc are running.
    It's just a matter of how long the battery will last with a given load, and a given initial charge level.