HV Battery and/or ECUs?

I'm going to have to defer to the repair experts (not me!) but Failed traction (HV) battery, what to do? - Prius Wiki may help, a little.

Your battery DTCs and other symptoms coupled w/the mileage and age make it very likely the HV battery is bad, but $7K sounds outrageous.

Where you located? Can you update your location info?

 

Yes, please update your location.

You have one or more failing modules in the traction battery. It is time to look for a replacement. Depending upon which part of the country you live in, there are options. I'm closest to ReInVolt and had a good experience with my pack, upgraded to NHW20 modules in November 2009 and still going strong. One of my Prius friends in Blountsville AL is still getting good service after replacing his in 2009.

The other codes also need to be looked at but I've got to scamper off to work:

The concern is a failing catalytic converter can block getting a vehicle emissions sticker in states that have them.

Chicago, would you consider calling Eric Powers over in Madison WI? There are others but I know them and they have a good success rate.

Bob Wilson

 

rturck,
The dealer will always have you update to a new ECU if there is going to be any warranty on the battery.
That's the only way they can control the conditions on the new battery.

If you do it yourself, you could reuse the original ECU.

There are many battery rebuilders besides ReInvolt.
I can get one sent to you for a reasonable cost from our Colorado supplier and you could do it yourself, or depending on where you are, I could come down to you.

Call or email me and I'll help you get back on the road... for a heck of a lot less than $7,000!

 

That's awesome Eric. We're (at least me) so glad to have folks like you on here. This is what its all about right here!!!!

 

Warning! I just heard of a guy being charge $900 labor for installing a battery. OUTRAGEOUS!!
You should not be charger more than a few hours labor. 3 hours TOPS in the worst case scenario!

 

The dealer's book says 5 labor hours, but that includes disassembling the old battery, removing the ECU and installing the old ECU into the new battery.

JeffD

 

o.k., for accessing the ECU, it could be closer to 5 hours. Even then, that is still not $900. ($180/hour)

I was talking about just taking out the old battery and putting in a replacement battery. That's what the guy got charged the outrageous $900 for.
What does the book say for that job?

 

can anyone tell us the significance of the special "ball-end" screws that connect the 2 main terminals to the hv battery? i tried using a regular 8mm screw after loosing one of the two special "ball-end" screws and the dash warning lights lit up. when i found the other "ball-end" screw and replaced it the dash warning lights went off. is it made of a special material for grounding purposes?

 

This reads like a 'close call':

I suspect the 'alternate' bolt grounded the battery terminal to the chassis. If you had replaced the second one, we would probably have a new report of a traction battery fire. But this is just speculation

The worst problem is NOT reporting the code that caused "the dash warning lights lit up." So we are left to speculate about what that bad bolt did. Speculation is not fact which is why I'm such a strong advocate for having a Prius aware scanner and using it.

Even crappy scanner is less bad because there is a chance, a small chance, that the emissions reported code might give a clue. But a Prius-aware scanner can see things otherwise invisible. We really have a computer operated car and to ignore or remain blind to their information . . . <SIGH>

Bob Wilson

 

i know what you mean bob! i have since purchased a scangauge 2. maybe the next hv battery removal i do i can try the same thing with a different non-grounded bolt and see what codes i get without attempting to start the car.

now this is all starting to make sense. on another 02' prius i had a nosy mechanic who had hopes of getting in the prius repair business decide to pull my hv battery out to "look around inside to see how it ticks" (i didn't have my seats bolted back in while he was doing a transaxle job for me) i had just rebuilt the hv battery pack and it was running like a charm. when he gave me the car back i was getting the p3000 hv battery malfunction codes and while removing the hv battery i noticed one of the specialty or 'alternate' bolts were replaced with a regular 8mm bolt. two modules were burnt up real bad and the orange buss bar holder was melted completely through. i will try to get some codes on this the next time. thanks bob!

 

A reasonable (labor) price to swap a complete Gen1 battery is $300-$400 for a shop that has never done it before. Shops that have done it before charge around $200-$300 depending on where they are. $600-$900 is robbery, especially if the shop has no warranty liability on a customer supplied part.

BTW, most dealers suggest changing the battery ECU's. This is pure profit since the old one is usually fine (although there are ECUs with newer firmware versions but I have not been able to determine if they help anything or not).

 

Does anyone know the Toyota part number for the "special ball-end" bolt (it connects the HV cables to the Hybrid battery). The Toyota parts people I have spoken to have not been able to locate it. (I damaged them in attaching the cables)

Many thanks

Mike

 

I've found my local Toyota parts department pretty skilled in their ability to identify and order custom parts. Still, can you post photos of the bolts in question?

Bob Wilson

 

The part number for the Gen1 HV cable to battery assembly "nipple bolt" is 90119-06889.
List price is $0.89 each.

The bolt is not used anywhere else on the car. I'm sure the dealer will have to special order it for you. Don't over-tighten them or they will break! The torque spec is 44 inch pounds.

 

hey paul! what is your experience with folks trying to use a regular 8mm bolt instead of one of these? hv battery fire perhaps??? besides the nipple is the main difference in the material?

 

I don't have any evidence of a regular bolt not working or causing problems, but for $2 I'd just order the official bolts if I lost them. There must be an engineering reason why Toyota chose a special bolt for the HV wires.

 

If it is a blind nut, there may be an insulation cup on the other side. Speculation, if the wrong bolt were used, it might have damaged whatever is there.

Bob Wilson

 

thanks for the info fellas. this has been baffling me as i have experienced burnt modules in a newly rebuilt hv battery pack when a mechanic lost one of the "nipple" bolts and also had the dash warning lights coming up prior to starting the car in a second (different) situation.