My Prius is dead and too hi-tech for a newbie ... where to start? Is there a checklist?

This may be ok on a new battery, but it is a really poor practice on an older one. There is never a situation where the user should force charge their battery beyond 60% soc. One of the reasons that batteries fail earlier for mountain drivers is that they may park the car with 8 green bars, and the battery subsequently overheats with the car and HV battery fan off.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...potential-gen-2-prius-issues.html#post1396372

 

I presume you are speaking of temperatures around or in excess of 100 degrees F, and, car parked outside in sun?

 

I have a relatively older (2004) Prius and since reading the thread linked in the post above I am now driving the car on EV mode for the last bit of my commute, as I usually end up with a 7 or 8 bar in the green battery when I get to work, and when I get home.

My regular commute is 60km, 18km stop and go at up to 40-80km/h, and 42 freeway at 100km/h. It takes about an hour one way, and 70-80 minutes the other way. I have noticed that on the way to work, I get off the freeway within 1 km of my office and park the car with 7 or 8 bars in the sun (mainly from the regen from slowing down off the freeway coming down a small hill) for most of the day. I'm now hitting the EV button when I get off the Freeway so that I can park the car with 5-6 blue bars, probably a better state to leave it in, especially in the Harsh Australian Sun.

 

First time it happened to me was 1.5 years ago, on a rainy day with temps in the 50s. Parked the car with 8 green bars, came out an hour later, turned it on, and the HV battery fan kicked up to high. I've had the fan come on at the highest setting several times since then, always after parking the car at high SoC and getting back in within an hour or two. The problem is that SoC error is larger on an older battery, and fully charged NiMH produces heat due to oxygen reabsorption well after the charging current has been removed. I have all the tell-tale signs of impending battery failure.

 

Interesting, I will have to keep an eye on mine.

 

Interesting... When I was living in WA, I almost always had to go down a long hill to get home and frequently, SoC (per Scangauge) would get to above 75% and sometimes a tad over 80%. MFD would show full green bars, all the way to the top. The ICE would even kick (sometimes to 3000+ rpm) on while descending at <41 mph due the fullness.

Unfortunately, I didn't have that much of a drive after the descent before parking. But, fortunately, WA is a relatively cold climate.

 

The main indication of a problem is hearing the fan kick on to high as soon as you start the car, after it has sat for 30 mins - 2 hours when parked at 80%. I'm not saying that it happens to every battery in every car, but an older, higher mileage car, where mileage isn't quite what it once was, where the SoC tends to rise and fall faster than it used to, is definitely at risk.

 

I really liked to see the post end up on a positive note. I wonder what ever happened.

 

I'm looking to reach 5 also! Here's to five! Also, it's interesting to see how a poster's tone weighs in the tone of the replies.