Hybrid battery reconditioning help

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Stefanovich, Jun 23, 2023.

  1. Stefanovich

    Stefanovich Junior Member

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    I took my Gen 2 2006 Prius on a 500 mile round trip a few days back, and I noticed I was only averaging 42 MPG at 75 mph. Decided it was time to check the Dr. Prius app and the results were alarming. The internal resistance of all the cells were at least 31 milli ohms, with the highest being 35-36 milli-ohms. This is worryingly high for a traction battery that is only 3 years old. It looks like I will need to recondition the battery.

    So... Does anyone by chance live in or near the Portland, OR area that would be willing to let me rent their Prolong system? It would beat paying $700 for a new one. Or maybe help me with a block charger. Whatever helps.

    I got the replacement through newpriusbatteries if anyone is wondering. Maybe I should have stuck with OEM, but I'm here now.
     

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    #1 Stefanovich, Jun 23, 2023
  2. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    I'm less than two hours North of Portland and could retrieve my Prolong that I loaned out to loan to you? Or you could borrow/buy the one @fach built here: Build Hybrid Battery Maintenance Gear For Under $100 | PriusChat
     
    #2 PriusCamper, Jun 23, 2023
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  3. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    This battery that was sold was never really tested for long periods, just got on the market and everyone decided to jump on the bandwagon and say how good this product is compared to OEM. I guess everyone is learning how awful these things really are after 3 years.

    I'm not even sure if the prolong system will do anything to help these inferior battery packs, but you can certainly try and post your results.
     
    #3 JC91006, Jun 23, 2023
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  4. Stefanovich

    Stefanovich Junior Member

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    Buyer beware, I suppose. Still, a lot of people here were reporting positive results so I thought it would be safe. It sounds like I would have had just as much luck with Green Bean or some other aftermarket reconditioner. And at the time OEM batteries were very expensive. I guess there's a reason the warranty was only for 2 years. Well, if the reconditioning doesn't work then I might just move on to a newer car when my battery eventually fails. My 2006 is a bit long in the tooth anyway.
     
    #4 Stefanovich, Jun 23, 2023
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    most people here are having good success, but there have been a couple failures.
    have you reached out to newpriusbatteries?
     
    #5 bisco, Jun 23, 2023
  6. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    And the glowing reports about how great the "reconditioning" process is seem to be fading away too.
    I wonder why ?
    No, that's a lie, I KNOW why.
     
    #6 sam spade 2, Jun 23, 2023
  7. Stefanovich

    Stefanovich Junior Member

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    Honestly I didn't really see the point. I am past the warranty for the batteries. I suppose I could try and see if @2k1Toaster can help. They are the person behind New Prius Batteries iirc.
     
    #7 Stefanovich, Jun 23, 2023
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    even out of warranty, he might sell you a module or two
     
    #8 bisco, Jun 23, 2023
  9. Noahdoge

    Noahdoge Active Member

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    The epa rating for highway is 45 mpg, so for a 17 year old car I’d say your 42 mpg is pretty good for interstate speeds. Overall the battery doesn’t look bad. I mean the resistance isn’t great but how can we conclude this battery is failing and needs to be reconditioned?
     
    #9 Noahdoge, Jun 23, 2023
  10. Stefanovich

    Stefanovich Junior Member

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    Personal experience. I have made the same trip not terribly long ago and I got much better MPG. That's why I checked the Hybrid battery in the first place. Because I have done better. Unless I got really bad luck and was going into a headwind most of the trip, which is exceedingly unlikely period
     
    #10 Stefanovich, Jun 23, 2023
  11. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    The difference between the highest and lowest block is a very minimal 0.07 V so I don't think you've got anything about which to worry. The way the Dr. Prius app graphs the voltages exaggerates the height of the bars so it looks bad, but if it was graphed properly all the bars would be virtually level.
     
    #11 dolj, Jun 24, 2023
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  12. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    The number above that one that measures amps going into or out of the pack is below 2amp in the screenshot. Even a failed battery pack can look that good when there's hardly any amps going on. But a hard breaking or hard acceleration getting those amps up to 50 or so will send that voltage difference number soaring on an ailing pack.
     
    #12 PriusCamper, Jun 24, 2023
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  13. Noahdoge

    Noahdoge Active Member

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    @PriusCamper Agreed. That’s why it’s best to screen record and go out on a 10 minute drive to get more accurate readings.
    Here’s a recent drive I did. 2012 original battery.
     

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    #13 Noahdoge, Jun 24, 2023
  14. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    +1 @PriusCamper, easily overlooked, but more telling than a static snapshot.
     
    #14 dolj, Jun 24, 2023
  15. Stefanovich

    Stefanovich Junior Member

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    Yeah, it looks pretty bad in motion. I'm not sure how to attach a screen record to my post but I was monitoring it while driving and it looks worse than my screenshot presents it.
     
    #15 Stefanovich, Jun 28, 2023
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