Just joined the forum. I've had my Gen I for about 5 years. It's got 150k on it and the battery is starting to give me trouble. It's been a great car. This and the rear hubs are the only problems that I've had with it. Found this forum while doing my research on what I need to do to rebuild the battery. Looking forward to learning a lot more about my car.
I think you'll find this forum to be really helpful. I started on it after Googling some stereo info and now am hooked. So many cool and helpful people. I've heard the batteries are good for about 6 years. Now it sounds true :-( Looking forward to hearing how it all works out
Check out the You Tube video - search on You Tube look for Toyota Prius battery removal and repair - 9:38 mins in length.
The battery rebuild is complete. The main problem seemed to be either the corrosion on the terminals or the min/max module voltage. I cleaned up the connections and shuffled the modules so the module pairs all have the same voltage. They really weren't that far off from each other so I thought matching them up would keep the computer from flagging an error. Interesting thing was the modules in the center had a slightly lower no-load voltage than those on the ends. My guess is the center is slightly warmer so the degradation is worst there. It's raining right now so I'll have to wait for better weather before trying the whole thing. Something about working with 300v in wet conditions makes me nervous even with the safety plug pulled.
While the repair itself is straightforward enough, and the person who made the video puts very good caveats in there, it cannot be emphasized enough that working with several hundred volts DC at the kind of current that battery can deliver is probably NOT for people who lack the proper background.
Put the car back together and it works just fine. I ran it hard and never saw a problem at all. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts. I'll keep ya posted.
Good job Sparky. Thanks for keeping us posted. I love to hear success stories like this. I just hope you continue to have success.
