From one of the Canadian posters in Prius Technical Stuff, a link to how to rebuild an NHW11 traction battery: 2001 Toyota Prius NHW11 battery swap Bob Wilson
That looks very good. A lot of Gen1 owners will be doing this soon enough, that is unless they pay to have it done by someone else, though I wouldn't trust many shops yet with these hybrid cars either. Most won't even touch them anyway. What does that leave -the dealer.
Bob, You seem very knowledgable about the hybrid batteries. I tried to start a new thread but it seems to have disappeared. My 2001 Prius battery died in January 2009 at 192,000 miles. The replacement battery that came through the local Toyota dealer has died after 18 months and 26,000 miles. The dealer, Toyota Customer Experience Center, and Toyota North American HQ all say TS. My sister-in-law's 2001 Prius battery died in September 2009 at 127,000 miles. Based on this and what I have read on various forums it appears that the battery life is a function of time rather than miles and may explain why the Prius Hybrid warranty is 8yrs or 100,000 miles. I am trying to find out if there is a way to derermine the date of manufacture of a battery. My replacement battery arrived at my mechanic's shop almost six weeks after he placed the order at the dealer. I am wondering if the battery came from a warehouse in Japan where it had been setting for 8 years. I am posing the question to my dealer, but I don't expect an accurate or honest answer if I even get one. I believe that the onlly source of accurate information on this subject is people like you and others who provide answers on forums such as this. Thanks for your help. Bob Edwards
Great post (pictures) I've always had people ask me about "What about the Battery" My hope is that by the time a 2010 Prius battery fails There will be a lot of places that do this replacement for cheap... (My hope) And I wonder how long the Engine is going to last? forever?
I've seen your report in other threads with multiple replies. If you click on your "username", a list will come up that includes one clicking on shows your previous postings. There may be a way but I don't know it. GOOD LUCK! Bob Wilson
It would not be in a company's best financial interest to build something, even something nonperishable, and then let it sit around for eight years rather than sell it. And if for some reason Toyota had been sitting on a large stockpile, they would then have had something to ship right away. The six week wait indicates a temporary supply constraint more than it does a large stockpile.
For once, I agree with jk450. When I ordered my NHW11 battery, it was here the next day. If it took 6 months then I'd say they were out of stock. However, 18 months seems a bit odd for a failure.
I thought about it too and the OP posted their mechanic had done the battery swap. I checked the "Prius Technical Stuff" archives and there was a posting suggesting the TechStream can command a 'battery balancing' cycle. However, I've not found it described in the shop manuals. In theory, the battery controller could equalize module charges by selective discharge via the sense lines. It would be a good thing to do if after installation there were evidence of unbalanced modules. But that takes instrumentation that a local mechanic might lack. Bob Wilson
