Hybrid Battery Dead at 50K?

Sounds like The Stall. My '04 had that happen, needed the software update

There are some ways to discharge the NiMH traction battery: run out of gas and keep trying to drive on electric only, especially power cycling it over and over. Have The Stall happen (Not sure about 2006, it happened to 2004-2005 Prius) and continue driving.

Hopefully with the NiMH recharged, everything will be ok

 

Sounds like you were out of gas and depleted the traction battery by continuing to drive. What level was shown on the gas gauge?

 

I believe the 2006's software was upgraded from the 2005's. Please report all codes the dealer finds. The traction battery is under warranty unless abuse is found.

 

The Stall received a lot of press

Toyota recalling 75,000 popular Prius cars - Autos- msnbc.com

I don't think your model year is affected. Something else is going on

 

Carfax may show it clean but there's no way to know how the previous owner may have abused the battery. Let the dealer work his magic. If necessary contact Toyota USA yourself and ask for them to pay for some of it.

 

I assume you mean the 100k Hybrid warranty? Yes, the warranty goes with the car, not the owner. All factory warranties are like this regardless of the manufacturer. That also includes basic, powertrain, and hybrid warranties.

 

Thanks for the update. Please keep us posted on what's found as the cause.

 

The 12 vdc battery is used to boot up the computers before the relay closes at the NiMH traction battery. There are endless posts here about weird behavior caused by a defective or discharged 12 vdc battery. Sometimes you will get an odd message about the "park" being "abnormal" due to low voltage confusing everything

Not sure what "bypass" they're talking about. Quickly searched the shop manual and found nothing, maybe somebody else knows what that means

 

Whenever any weird behavior begins our default advice should be, first test the 12V battery.

 

Hi O6...,

With the memories wiped, the car will have to relearn your driving style to get back to the best fuel economy for your usage of the car. This may take a week or so.

 

If the aux battery was completely shorted it could pull down the 12V circuits, not providing enough power to spark, I suppose.

One issue with the way that the car starts the engine - by spinning up to running speed with MG1, then applying fuel and spark - is that starting sounds like running. The Check Engine Light could simply have been telling you that the engine failed to start. The car possibly needs to be a bit more aggressive in telling you that the engine won't run and that you should pull over immediately.

 

Why? A dead battery will strand a conventional car too.

 

With a conventional car, the battery goes bad, it's patently obvious: turn the key to start, click-click-click-click-click-click

Let's hope the OP has finally resolved this issue. It's also one more diagnostic puzzle solved for us

 

Reminds me of one of my favorite cartoons from maybe 25-30 years ago. It showed a weary fellow walking back to his car in the middle of nowhere with a gas can in his hand. His wife said, "Good news, Honey! I was able to get it a mile closer using the starter!"

And that can't help but prompt the recollection of a real life story of a lady who decided to surprise her husband by taking on some of the car maintenance. I'm sketchy on the details but it was something like rotating her husband's vehicles tires, setting the pressures, and greasing the brakes. He and the vehicle ended up in the field across the highway from their drive...very much surprised but uninjured save for cosmetic damage to the car going through a fence.

 

Because the HV traction battery is also responsible for charging the 12v. It supplies enough current to run everything - even if the battery is dead.