If hybrid battery dies, can I continue to drive the car?

No. If there's no traction battery, there's no power available to spin MG1, and therefore there's no way to start the gasoline engine.

The Honda hybrid design is not as elegant as the Toyota design, and the Honda hybrid pieces are basically pasted on. The good news with that design is that the Honda is fault-tolerant and as you learned, can function without the hybrid system.

Although the Toyota hybrid design is quite elegant, every piece must function for the system to operate. Therefore, there's no fault-tolerance.

 

Even on a Honda, there is some disagreement if you should drive with a dead traction pack...it would stress the 12volt battery and you would have to recharge it overnight as if the IMA motor is out....it's the alternator.

FYI

 

First, replace the 12 VDC battery. Then have the car started and drive it for three short trips around the dealership ... full power off each time. Then drive back to the dealer and ask them to read out the voltages of all 19 modules. Be sure to post the values here.

The 12 VDC battery runs the control computers. When it gets marginal, it can cause false errors to show up. The true test of a failed traction battery is to have all 19 module pair voltages.

Bob Wilson

 

old97s,

I'm glad to hear your Insight could run without the IMA - I've heard conflicting reports.

 

Such a small battery lasting that long is amazing. You certainly were doing something right.

Most definitely replace it. That will hopefully cure your ails.
.

 

Seen quite a few who thought their traction battery was cactus when all that was needed was a 12 volt auxiliary battery. Good luck with this.

 

its very interesting that disconnecting the traction battery on an insight only reduces mileage by 4 mpg... but that is probably the reason it gets only low 40's.

its conceivable that the traction battery on a Pri could die while moving and still be able to drive, but your mileage will probably be cut in half. The Pri, besides maxing out on the ICE for torque, would also be dumping charge back to the battery for nothing.

i am guessing you would be lucky to get 25 mpg that way

 

I have had 2 of them, one was a 2001 and I also currently own a 2010 Insight. In both cases, they can run with the IMA switched off (it has a breaker in the rear) but not only will you lose fuel economy, but the car has significantly less horsepower. It actually sounds funny starting one because normally the engine is started by the IMA but when it is off, there is an auxiliary starter motor and it sounds just like a regular car at that point.

As for the Prius.. I do not see what all that stuff is necessary to replace, especially the relays.

 

You can start by replacing the 12V battery, but I doubt that is causing the DTC that your car logged - so you'll probably end up replacing the traction battery if you decide to keep the car.

Unless the battery has leaked electrolyte everywhere (which would have caused DTC P3009) I doubt that the other parts need to be replaced. If your dealer maintains that they need to be replaced, I suggest you visit to see what they look like.

The warranty duration on replaced parts will be one year.

 

It is probably a 'worst case' estimate that assumes more than just the battery modules have to be replaced.

Bob Wilson

 

I wonder how Insight 12V battery get charged without the HV battery.
My understanding is the Insight does not have an alternator and the 12V battery is charged by DC-DC converter using HV battery same as Prius.

So, when the HV battery was disconnected, what happens then?

Ken@Japan

 

I can't believe that the traction battery is gone already. Take it to another dealer. A second opinion would seem to be in order. Then replace the 12V battery on your own as suggested by Patrick Wong.

 

The OP states it a Gen I with 83K miles. They DO go bad sometimes. However, the 12v battery is definitely worth looking into before calling the HV battery bad.

 

The replacement battery part only contains the actual battery modules. The other parts - except the 12V 'regular' battery - are contained in the same steel box and have to be transferred from the old battery case to the new one, or new ones fitted.

I wouldn't replace any of them unless there is a really good indication that they've failed.

See Installing a Prius HV Battery (Art's Automotive) and Gen 1 Prius Battery Failure (Luscious Garage) for the thoughts of a couple of independent garages.

 

had the same problem in Septgember of last year and Toyota replaced the battery and payed for the towing. The total bill was around $4K and I believe they used this warrenty repair to maximise their profits. there is a guy who sells remanufactured batteries for the generation one prius on eBay for around $1,100.00.

I believe that he is in North Carolina and will even install them for a fee. I dont know what the in service date of your car is (mine was December 2000) and I was made aware that Toyota extended the warrenty to 10 years or 120K miles for the hybrid system. I would make sure that yours is out of warrenty before looking for alternatives like the remnufactured battery.

I know this is a maximum bummer, but this is the best info that I can offer. By the way, once the new traction battery was installed, I started getting about 4 MPG better than the last year of the previous battery life.

Good luck!