Car is 2010 Prius with 207k on the clock So I got the replace hybrid battery message and accompanying dash lights last week. I checked on here and saw the Toyota service bulletin and cleaned the hybrid battery fan which was really really dirty. Fast forward 250 miles and the lights come on again and I called my mechanic friend who works on these cars for the city said it’s most likely a dying 12v battery so I swapped that to a optima yellow top. What is the usual time frame for the codes to pop back up after they are cleared. Did my fan cleaning and new 12v battery fix the problem. Should I start saving for a replacement hybrid battery or could the inverter be failing?
1. Usual timeframe is dependent on the "severity" of the problem the car had got. In some cases, of the problem was intermittent, then you get intermittent timeframe, and so on 2. Fan cleaning, is part of maintenance for your hybrid system, specifically, it helps extend the HV battery's lifespan. But note this would only be helpful, if the HV battery isn't on its way heading South. The battery swapped may have fixed the issue, if the original battery in the car was dead long time ago. 3. That's a good idea saving for battery though. But I'd say, IG you've never had issues with the battery before, then you might not bother. Knowing if its the inverter, would required you having issues related to it. Get a scantool at hand, so you can do your scanning, just in case that light pops up again.
Welcome! Time will tell, but if the traction battery is failing, the lights will be back in a few days at most. I would not have replaced the 12V unless I knew it was failing by testing it or if it was just so stinking old it deserved to be replaced just in case. Next time you get the warning lights, get the codes read by a code reader that's fluent in Prius. Most are not. That means Toyota or an independent hybrid shop. The other and cheaper option is one of the many bluetooth OBDII readers and Torque Pro on an Android Phone. There are other ways, but I don't want to repeat them all here. The main codes and sub codes will tell you pretty precisely what's wrong. And I should add that with that age and those miles, you definitely should be preparing for a traction battery replacement in the foreseeable future.
I did scan with a basic scanner and the only thing that came up was the pa080 code for the hybrid battery pack replace.
Asong as that's what you got, that code may probably, return. Try driving aggressively, and see what happens. Maybe you could simulate the problem. Driving that way, puts more load on the battery. Sobif there are any issues there, it would pop up immediately.
Try to clarify although others are more expert: Voltage checks: The computers are checking for voltage differences among the blocks of cells in the HV battery. If the voltage differences amongst the blocks exceed a fairly small threshold , the battery is flagged as failing. When you are driving so as to draw maximal current from the HV battery, those voltage differences between the best and worst cell assemblies tend to be accentuated. Overheating: the HV battery has 4 temperature sensors, and if they exceed a high limit (50 degrees Celsius?) a general shut-down of the HV battery is ordered by the computer. Whenever you get even close to that shut-down threshold, the battery cooling fan is running at its absolute highest speed, and you should be able to hear that fan sound from the back seat air intake if the radio is off, you are on smooth pavement, and you have normal hearing acuity. God luck!
Same situation but I'm on day 1 of clearing code and 100 miles! You're going on 2.5 months has it come back yet? Please update thanks!
I got 1300 miles no issues on the optima battery and then the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. Took it to a shop they weren’t sure if the inverter was bad or the battery pack so I traded it in and bought a hybrid rav 4
