Traction battery rebuild question

Starting with my wife's '05 w 149k mi. I can just feel that triangle warming up.

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Can you tell me exactly what I need to purchase? I'll order it today. I've been wanting to get a proper scanner for this thing. Mini VCI?

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Can a couple of you guys verify that the battery is safe to handle while the modules are connected in parallel? Let me know if there are any extra safety precautions needed here.

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Baddabing baddabang baddaboom let's see what's happens:

 

I pulled off the harness and measured the voltages. Each module read exactly 7.72v. I'm going to connect the bus bars and push the button. Stay tuned........

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I cannot catch a break here. I stripped 2 of the terminals and can't connect the busbars. I really wanted to power up the car when I knew the voltages were all perfectly balanced, but Murphy's Law seems to be in full effect tonight this month.

Does anyone have any idea what I can do, besides breaking the battery all the way down to work on the threads? I can't get a dye on the terminals without taking the modules out. Maybe some type of self-tapping nut??

Anyone? Help a brother out here.



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BTW all the voltages were exactly 7.72v.

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I got the pack apart and repaired the stripped terminals. The good news is I'm getting must faster at yanking it out of the car and getting it torn apart on the workbench.

Since it's apart I want to check out my new weakest link and replace if neccesary. Module #1. The original numbers were respectable:

CELL#1
DCHG #1 3689
CHG #1 7501
DCHG #2 5316
CHG #2 7500
DCHG #3 5698
CHG #3 7500

This module has consistantly read the lowest voltage whenever I measured all of them. Last night all the modules were at exactly 7.72v when I removed the harness. Today they all read 7.71, except for #1, which is at 7.69.

Should I even bother to load test this module and compare it to the others, or just go ahead and replace it because of the larger voltage drop? Anybody still reading this thread?

I'll check them all again in a day or two.

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For what it's worth;

It turns out there is actually a patent for a "self tapping nut".

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I checked all the modules again, most of them were at 7.70 and #1 was still at 7.69. A couple were 7.73. So I put it back together and as soon as I finish dinner I'll put it in the car and see what happens. If I have a problem I'll know where to look, and I'm going to keep a couple modules ready and on hand.

I'm exactly where I was 24 hrs. ago.

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Well, I started the car up a few times and drove it around the block, and all the idiot lights are still on. I'll take it for a longer drive tomorrow.

If they don't go off, I'm done with it until I get a Mini VCI and see just what codes it's throwing.


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I took it on a 20 mile drive and no luck on the lights. I'll order the Mini VCI and hopefully have some meaningful numbers to post in a week or so. I know, I know, I should of done that in the beginning.

If you're reading these forums trying to decide if you should tackle this job, I would not recommend it. I have average mechanical skills and realized I was in over my head early on. I thought figuring out how to set up the chargers would be the most difficult part, but there are many varibles in this equation and many many ways to screw things up.

On the other hand, I learned a lot and at times the process was quite enjoyable. What took 2 days to get the battery apart and on the workbench, between stopping to watch a video and cussing all the commercials on YouTube and figuring out which tools to use and wait a minute what did that guy who posted a comment on that blog say, now takes an hour.

I've kept going with this because we have 2 Gen 2's and I'm looking for a 3rd for my daughter. If I can somehow figure all this out, I don't have to be afraid of buying one with no hybrid warranty remaining (100k mi in my state). These cars certainly seem to have a lot more than 100k in them, but you have to be able to work on them yourself. It makes no fiscal sense to buy an out-of-warranty Prius with no plan of what to do when something goes wrong.

If you think you can take it to the dealer and say, "fix it," you'll be in for a shock that would make grabbing ahold of a hot traction battery, barefoot in the garage standing in a pool of dog pee, seem like the static shock you got when you rubbed up against Betty (by accident) this morning.




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