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2016 avalon hybrid battery rebuild still says replace hybrid battery ....

Discussion in 'Toyota Hybrids and EVs' started by drewbabich, Aug 27, 2023.

  1. drewbabich

    drewbabich Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    II
    2016 avalon hybrid battery just rebuilt but code reader still says replace hybrid battery ....315,000 miles

    Last week my car told me to check hybrid system, I lost my ac sometimes , and the car also died on my once when I was driving it with the check hybrid battery lights. I did about 250 miles while waiting for my used replacement cells to come in.
    Autophix 7360 code reader was telling me
    -replace hybrid battery and
    -weak voltage / trouble charging block 5 and 6

    So today i just replaced a single bad cell from block 5 that was reading 6.7 volts when all 33 other cells were reading 8.05.

    My used ebay replacement cell was reading 7.86 when I installed it. It says it's been load tested.

    I moved my cells from block 5 and 6 into blocks 1 and 2 for the rebuild and at start up everything worked good. No check hybrid system lights anymore.... but my code reader still says replace hybrid battery.

    The codes about bad blocks are fixed though. All it says is replace hybrid battery.

    I have driven the car about 70 miles. I'm getting 39mpg and it's driving well in hybrid mode.

    Now when I'm idling car with ac on for the last 30 min the dreaded check hybrid light came back on. I reset it.

    It hasn't come back.

    Code reader still says replace hybrid battery but no blocks are being reported as bad so I don't know what the issue is

    Data stream shows all 17 blocks have very similar voltages

    I did not load test any of the cells.

    Anybody have any advice on how to drill down farther to figure out why my hybrid system is still throwing the replace hybrid battery code when no blocks are being reported as bad???
     

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  2. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    You are wasting a LOT of time and money here.

    You need ALL new cells or a new battery pack.......unless you really enjoy
    taking the whole pack apart and testing each cell........and playing "whack-a-mole"
    with the cells as they go bad one at a time.

    Some people seem to enjoy that. Most don't.
    But that IS what you are facing.
     
  3. drewbabich

    drewbabich Junior Member

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    Well there is a plus one vote for buying a whole new pack ($2038) or 34 new cells for ($1888)

    I appreciate your input on that Sam Spade. Obviously, you're probably correct that this is a waste of time....

    Except i see i a lot of people online who are replacing individual cells and they seem to be having success with that process??? Granted I am not seeing any long term updated on how long this wack a mole approach to individual cell swapping is working out for people.

    Is there a better area of the forum to discuss diagnostics on these batteries and the recommended way to test these cells.

    If i need to throw $2000 bills at fixing this problem i can do that but considering this car already has 315k on it i'd kinda preffer learning more about rebuilding the battery and determining if my other 33 cells are end of their service life or not.

    Like i said all 33 other cells showed a static load of 8.02- 8.10 volts....with only one cell reading 6.73....

    Maybe that means next to nothing without load testing each cell.

    I would say the first time taking the battery apart was fascinating and interesting. The second time will be faster and more rewarding.... The third time will probably be pretty annoying and frustrating.

    Im happy to play wack a mole a few more times if i can get some good advice from anyone on here who's had good experience on testing and replacing existing cells. I'd like to get maximum miles out of this pack.
     
  4. drewbabich

    drewbabich Junior Member

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    Sam have you ever rebuilt or replaced your hybrid battery and how much did that cost you?
     
  5. sam spade 2

    sam spade 2 Senior Member

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    NO.

    Because I've been in the Electronics industry for about 50 years now
    and I know a little bit about battery chemistry and how it works.

    So I know that it isn't worth my time, money or effort to try and bring dead
    batteries back to life because the best you can hope for is short term limited success.