A very long story made short: 2001 Toyota Prius, 154,000 miles. Codes P3006, P3000, P3011, P3014, P3013 were present, pointing to a failing hybrid battery. I had a Toyota dealer diagnose the problem, they found the hybrid battery needed replacing. Before replacing the battery, no warning lights were on, or the check engine light. I replaced the hybrid battery with a remanufactured Dorman (ReInVolt) battery. After installing the new battery, I started up Prius. The hybrid warning light and orange triangle light were both on (no check engine light, nor any other lights). I inspected the connections to the battery and the HV plug, everything appeared together. I tried restarting Prius several times to see if that would reset the warning lights. I tried unplugging the 12V battery for 30 seconds. Nothing would remove the codes. A few times when I tried restarting, Prius didn't start. Then, I would have to turn the key off and try again. Then it would start. Also, when I first tried turning Prius on, it didn't start on the first turn of the key. It did start after turning key to off and trying again. The same thing happened after I unplugged the 12V battery. The voltage in the 12V battery was 12.20V. I was able to charge it up to 12.40v; then my charger indicated there was a problem. The 12V battery was replaced in December with a East-Penn Deka Mazda Miata AGM battery. To get the 12V battery SOC to 12.80V, is it fine to use a charger that charges at 12 amps? Or will this voltage fry the battery? The charger is a trickle charger that I have used for charging 12V deep cycle batteries, it has automatic and manual settings. I did drive the Prius down the road a few miles and it drove well, everything seemed to be working normally. I had low end torque and plenty of takeoff. Is it ok to drive with the lights on? I would like to drive about 150 miles with it today if doing so is unlikely to damage anything. Any thoughts as to what might be causing the presence of the hybrid warning light and orange triangle light? Might the 12V battery be causing problems? Does the Prius computer need to be reset so it will accept the new battery? Thanks in advance for any input!
The biggest problem we hear about after changing HV battery is not locking the HV plug after rotating 90 degrees. After rotating the plug you have to slide it horizontally to lock in place. Double check your HV plug.
Does this method also apply to the first Gen Prius? I'll check the plug again. When I put the plug in, I pushed it straight in, then flipped the lever up.
