Hybrid Battery Replaced Yesterday (7-4-12)

Nice DIY effort...did you use Re-Involt?

 

Nice job. I hope I don't need to tackle the same project anytime soon!

 

I had Toyota replace my huge battery in my 2005 Prius and it was $5,000 not including the rental car I had to get. Now it has been about a month or two since I got it replaced and the master warning light came on with a few others but the only one that stayed on was the master warning light. Ever since I got the battery replaced through toyota it has been driving slower, louder and bouncing more than ussual. I want to take it back into toyota to see if they just didn't put the battery in correctly but they are going to charge me at least $80 to test it and see if it is the new battery. My friend said that they could of not interfaced the new computer properly and the power cell that is supposed to recharge the battery isn't doing its job properly. Could there be something else wrong? Has this happened to anyone else before? and If you are reading this and you put the battery in yourself could you tell me how you learned and the steps to I can go into toyota to make sure they did it properly. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME, MY CAR IS WIPING OUT ALL MY SAVINGS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL. (((((((

 

You could have lost the Inverter Coolant pump. Easy to check. Make car 'Ready" then open hood and then take the cap off the Inverter Coolant reservoir and look down into the reservoir at the coolant. Coolant should show movement/flow through the reservoir. Very obvious. No flow of Inverter coolant means pump died (pretty common) and Inverter overheats and it throws lots of codes.

If flow ok when you take it back make sure you get the exact codes that were thrown. That's what your paying $80 for. Make sure the dealer gives you a list of all the codes they pull and then post them back here. Without codes its just speculation for us. Without codes we cannot help you.

 

The hybrid battery from Toyota comes with a 1 year, unlimited miles warranty. It is quite possible that they botched the installation somewhere, like not connecting the cooling duct etc. Or the battery itself is a cull. The codes will tell the story.

 

is there any way I can check the codes myself? my friend works at auto zone and hooked it up to an OBD scanner and everything passed, but I am not sure if that is the most updated scanner.

 

Is the battery dying in a Prius only 7 years old common? I was looking into buying a used 2005 Prius with 109k miles on it, but I don't want to buy the car and then have to pay all that money for a new battery in just a year.

 

Apparently so...

 

Yes, an 05 with over 100K is at elevated risk of failure, esp. in FL.

For a battery problem, you should be looking for codes P0A80, P3000, P3011-P3024. They should show up on generic OBD II scanners. I think you are stuck going to Toyota to get this figured out. It would be nice if they would cut you a break on some of this stuff since you already forked over $5K, but they aren't always nice.

 

i don't think it's common, but it's more frequent in hot climates and elevated mileage. still, what % would you call frequent or common? but anyone with a prius in warm climates or looking to buy a used one should be aware of the possibility of a good sized bill.

 

Maybe not so much common, but is there some magic number that when the odometer reaches the battery will die? I’m just looking for a reasonably priced Prius that I can get a good few years out of until I can afford a new one. I won’t be putting much mileage on it at all, mostly to and from school this fall, which is not but 6-7 miles from my house

 

no, there is no magic number. some people's have gone out inside of warranty, others just after warranty in which case toyota has sometimes stepped up to the plate, and then you hear about some at 125,000, 150, 175 etc. really, with a 6-7 mile commute, your not going to save any gas.

 

So these were all the codes that turned came up when I took the car in before I got the battery changed, P3000, P0A80, P3013, P3012 B1207, B1200, C1242, B1271, B1421, C1357, C1259, C1310...Does anyone know what these mean?!?! I am waiting to hear back from Toyota to see what codes come up this time and I will repost those as soon as I get them. Is there anything else that Toyota could of done incorrectly when putting the battery in my car to make it shutter, and run worse than it did before I got the battery replaced? Please explain the Inverter Coolant Pump issue?

 

I live just across the bay from you. I have a 2001, 2007, and 2010 Prius. Florida is not very hard on Prius batteries at all. The temperatures hardly ever exceed 100 and the flat driving does not really need deep cycles of the battery very often. The warranty should still be in effect for a 2005. It's worth a triple check.

Battery failures are extremely rare so just reading about one on PC is not a sign of a unique problem, but a sign that every car does not last forever, or that a used car's previous owner did something they don't want to tell.

 

Hey, FL_Prius_Driv,

There are 3 different members all discussing 3 different 2005 Priuses & these members are from 3 different states (Florida, Kentucky, & Texas), none of which were CARB states back in 2005 (to carry the longer 10yr/150,000 mile hybrid component warranty). Yes, the standard hybrid warranty is for 8 yrs/100,000 miles, but 2 of these cars have over 100,000 miles on them [not sure of the mileage on the Kentucky car, but most likely also over 100,000 or why else would that member have been charged $5,000 (rather than a warranty replacement)]. So even though they're only 7 years old, the mileage aspect has likely expired the hybrid component warranty on all 3 of them (too bad).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

So noowww toyota just told me that my car needs a coolant fan that is $500 just for the part not including diagnostics and labor ahhhh Is there any way I can make sure they are telling me the truth or take it to a toyota specialist in my area who will do it for cheaper?!?!? Toyotas pricing is ridiculous.

 

They Kentucky car is 109,000 miles and now they are telling me I need a new coolant fan for $500