Can leaking battery last 20,000 miles before death???

Dear PriusChatters...

The major issue in my case against Toyota and the Dealership is the Gen 1 battery, which was recalled at 40,000 for leakage "preventive seal" placement, and began to weaken before the warranty expired. Symptoms reported over time to the dealership included not regularly turning off when stopped, 10 mpg loss in miles/gallon, less power, etc. However, the dealership refused to replace the battery, even when all the warning lights came on WHILE STILL UNDER WARRANTY (said they put on a new Engine Control Module--from Tech Service Bulletin EG011-03-- after pulling codes P3191 and P3101, and Engine System Malfunction w/Info Code 205). Though all the warning lights went off, the symptoms continued and 20,000 miles later the same lights came on and finally they acknowledged the bad battery.

My question to those of you who are understand these things is whether a battery can weaken and show the above symptoms over a 20,000 plus mile range...or whether a battery that shows signs of going bad will go bad in a matter of a few thousand miles. The Dealership is maintaining that a battery that shows signs of going bad will go down rapidly, and not over time. What are your thoughts and experiences? Is there anything written on this subject that I can research and use in my case? Please include your experience with Prii in your responses, so I can tell who is a techie/mechanic and who is just an owner, like myself. Also, I am compiling a list of owners names, addresses, and emails who experienced battery problems while under warranty, whose batteries finally failed after the original warranty expired, and had to pay for the repairs themselves rather than have the Limited Extended Warranty (on failures that were reported or worked on prior to 8 yrs/100,000 mi) apply.

Thanks for your help!

Allan

 

Hi Rob,

The battery has already been replaced...I tried to view the battery after it was taken out and the dealer refused to remove the cover!

I was at Luscious speaking with mechanic John today, and he was excellent in providing information, including that the dealer should have not relied only on the codes pulled, but should have done a direct battery check.

Allan

 

Thanks, Pat, for your comments. The no start and low power codes didn't deal directly with the problems I was experiencing. The main issues were the declining battery symptoms of extra charging, failing auto shutoff when stopped, and substantially reduced mileage. The new ECM didn't deal with the symptoms either, only ended up making the lights go off...until the battery reached the threshhold of turning on the lights again. Also, it's interesting that the dealer refused to directly check my battery earlier, due to the proper codes not coming up in the scan. Also, the dealer refused to let me see the battery after in was removed, claiming they must leave the cover on...

Allan