Swapped out 2 bad cells in HV pack, strange behavior afterwards?

Buy a Mini VCI cable on Ebay or Amazon. You will need a Windows laptop to run Toyota's Teachsream software with the Mini VCI cable. Then you will be able to see all the codes. But if there is no check engine light I think a code has not been set. You can use a 12 volt battery charger to level off the replacement modules. Set at 2 amps my car starting charger will put 30 amps through the lower voltage Prius modules. Limit the charging to 10 second bursts. To match 7.77 volts you need to over shoot the charge to about 7.9X volts. The voltage will drop back down in a few minutes.

I recommend washing first Gen modules when rebuilding a pack. Soap and water will not hurt individual modules. Rinse and dry in the sun. Just minute amounts of electrolyte and dirt can cause leakage problems.

Brad

 

Exactly. It is guaranteed that DTC exist given the presence of the warning icons on the MFD. Of the three, find the one which is lit up and that will give you a general idea of the problem area.

The reason that the check engine light is not on is because the problem is not related to the engine and the engine ECU has not logged a DTC. However the problem could be with the hybrid vehicle ECU, the traction battery ECU, even the power steering ECU.

 

A Mini VCI cable sells for as little as $17.55 on ebay. And you would have to borrow back your own computer! You could try not putting any more gas in the car and see how that works for you. Cars cost money, and time. Walking is always an option.

 

Since you are self-described as not technically adept, you may not understand that it is extremely useful to operate from a position of knowledge rather than guessing. Instead of relying upon what you have described as POS, we have suggested that you obtain a tool that will give you the same information as available to a Toyota dealer tech. But you turn that down on the basis that you do not have a Windows XP or Windows 7 laptop.

Thus you are condemned to continue to guess what is wrong with your car and waste time accordingly.

 

If there's a university near you, you might check whether it has a salvage outlet where many things, including old computers, are sold off. You can often find something for pretty cheap. You don't need anything recent or powerful.

-Chap

 

Or for that matter, eBay. That is available to everyone regardless of whether you live in a major college town or in the middle of nowhere.

 

sadly, many people who own 12 year old cars do so for a reason. they are in no financial position to do anything else. when the car breaks, it's a financial hardship. with prius, you get it in spades.

 

That means the hybrid vehicle ECU has logged a fault code. The problem could be with the traction battery, inverter, or transaxle.

 

You are taking a chance driving this car in it's current condition. It could stop running at any time. Pay attention to the routes you drive. Make sure that you have an out where the car can be parked on a moments notice. Freeways are out. You can not afford to have your car towed to an impound lot. Keep your current code reader and tools to disconnect the 12 volt battery in the car at all times. You might continue to get lucky and be able to clear disabling codes. It takes time to get a Mini VCI cable. The problem is likely in the HV battery. This is based on the HV ecu logging a code and that you were just messing around inside the battery. Without a proper code reader you can not be sure. There are things you could try to do with the battery while waiting for a code reader.

Start with using reverse to discharge the battery. Car on and warmed up, set parking brake, transmission in reverse, foot on the brake, give it a little gas but not so much as to turn on the gas engine. The car will sit still and discharge the battery. Try to get the display down to just two bars. Running the battery down will increase the differences of the module voltages. Then take the battery apart again. Wash all the modules to spotlessly clean. Use any 9 to 12 volt charger to bring the lower voltage modules in line with the others. You have to over shoot the desired voltage as the modules will drop after the charger is removed. Use just short bursts of 10 seconds when using a dump over voltage charger.
This is the hard way to do things and guessing is involved. It would be easier to wait for the cable.

Brad

 

I would remove and charge the 12 volt battery and clear the code as soon as you put it back in..it might be going bad causing the issue...if that fails sell it..a gen 1 with 250000 miles has little value running..i see them locally for around $2000 with less miles, with issues under $1000

 

I bought two miniVCI. The first one only worked in our NHW11 (2003) but came with the firmware updater . . . that did not work. The Xhorse site had been taken down. Still, I had this ZVW30 (2010) Prius and needed to maintain both.

So I asked Mr Google for "xhorse miniVCI price" and found a site, $15 more, for another and it works with both cars. I just tried the same search and it came back $15.20 + shipping.

A couple of years ago, someone came who needed a miniVCI on a Pacific Island. I sent the first one to him but never heard if he ever used it. The alternative was the trash can and I know he never writes.

Bob Wilson

 

Are you also removing the top center duct that the right side duct attaches to? This makes the job much easier.

 

Unloaded voltage is not always indicative on how the modules perform under load.
Without knowing the code it is kind of a guessing game.

Check for any hairline cracks in the sensing wires

Also, since you say it doesn't come on for a minute, sometimes that can be indicative of a transaxle or inverter issue.
Again, the code would help clue you in.

As far as computers, it's easy to get a sub-$100 xp netbook/notebook from craigslist.(If you have the money.)

If it is at all driveable, it may be worth it to have the dealer diagnose it for you.