Multiple Warning Lights=Hybrid Battery in Question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by FinallyanOwner, Jun 3, 2013.

  1. FinallyanOwner

    FinallyanOwner Junior Member

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    I have a 2006 Prius with approximately 112,000 miles. It has been a merely perfect car until yesterday. Everything was driving normal on my way to the store. When I turned on my car to leave the store a half hour later, the red exclamation point of death showed up along with the check engine light, ((!)) and the VSC signal all came on. Upon reading on this site, I decided to run the 12V battery test through the nav screen and sure enough, I believed that is what it was. I bought a battery and had it put in. I left the shop and and all the dash warning lights went off. When I restarted my car 10 minutes later to head back to work, all of those exact warning lights came on.

    I ended up taking it into the Toyota Dealership Service area. They tried to reset the dash warning lights by pulling out the battery fuse (I think that's what they are called) in the front box of the car. It didn't work so they gave me the option to pay for the diagnostic ($98) or leave and drive around and hope everything is fine. I wanted peace of mind, so I had them do the diagnostic.

    The assistant service manager came back 1.5 hours later and told me he had bad news. He said that there were faulty cells in my hybrid battery, which is why the service lights remained on. I almost started crying, sharing that I had thoroughly researched the prius before buying and that this forum, specifically had almost no talk of this...that is rarely if ever happened, that it needed to be replaced. He said in his 15 years at Toyota he had only seen it a couple of times. He told me warnings to look out for is if my car won't go above 25 miles an hour or it could technically start using only the gas side of the engine. He also said that the car just needs to "relearn" how to operate after replacing the 12v battery and it could essentially be fine.

    He then quoted me $3500 if I ended up down the road of needing the battery replaced.

    I am bummed out to get this news and will keep everyone posted. Anyone have a similar experience? I looked for any and every post I could find about the battery before buying, so I wanted everyone to know about my experience.
     
    #1 FinallyanOwner, Jun 3, 2013
  2. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    Actually plenty of posts about battery failure here, lately. Yes, compared to the number of Prius's on the road, it is not common, but is becoming more so every day as the Gen II ages. It is something that *will* happen to every battery out there, eventually.

    That is called "limp mode", and is a definite sign of something needing attention. Also, listen for the battery cooling fan noise suddenly becoming audible from the back seat vent, and sudden changes in the battery indicator on the MFD from all green bars to purple bars and back, in quick succession.

    I hope we can assume that the car has had the inverter coolant pump replaced under the safety recall, and that it is working OK. The dealer should have checked that first, I would expect. But do check to see that it is OK by looking into the top of the coolant reservoir next to the inverter and seeing if there is turbulence in the fluid, when the car is in Ready mode.

    If the car has thrown codes indicating a bad cell in the battery, then I doubt it will relearn anything different. Please list the codes that were read by the dealer, so you can get 2nd opinions here.

    You are not far from Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle PHEV and they will get you down the road again for a whole lot less than Toyota will.
     
    #2 nh7o, Jun 3, 2013
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  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    #3 JimboPalmer, Jun 3, 2013
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  4. Wetcat

    Wetcat Junior Member

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    I just replaced my hybrid battery at 130,000 in my 2005. I went with a remanufactured battery from Greentec auto. Battery $1500 , installation $300. Toyota may put it in but I doubt it you will have to find someone to install it. Toyota started at $3800 then when I said no they came down to $2500. Therefore Toyota can do a new battery for $2500 if you are just over the warranty like I was. Good luck.
     
    #4 Wetcat, Jun 4, 2013
  5. FinallyanOwner

    FinallyanOwner Junior Member

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    2006 Prius
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    N/A
    I just wanted to update everyone. It certainly is the hybrid battery. Driving warning signs:

    -Limp Mode
    -Unable to accelerate after waiting at stop lights
    -Fan constantly running in the back seat

    After doing some major reading on here and other blogs, I saw that Toyota Corporate is definitely helping people with Prius' who are over the warranties! I called into the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 800-331-4331. I told them about what was going on, they needed the VIN number and they assigned me a case number. Within two business days, I received a call from a case manager who said they do work with customers regarding the hybrid battery. They told me the first step for them to help me was to have the hybrid battery failure code confirmed, which I had already done (as seen in my earlier post). They are going to reimburse me $2000 towards the quoted $3300 plus tax repair. I am obviously relieved that they are helping. It is in the shop now. If anything else happens, I will be sure to update.

    Good luck to anyone with the same problem. I also wanted to warn people who are considering buying a used Prius over the 100K mile marker. I see this is happening more often from what I am reading and is ultimately a very expensive repair. In retrospect, I probably would not have boughten this car had I known.
     
    #5 FinallyanOwner, Jun 17, 2013
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  6. TheEnglishman

    TheEnglishman Member

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    Ironic... The 2006 Prius I bought last weekend JUST had its traction battery replaced at 81,800 miles. One day I went in to test drive it and all of these anxiety-producing lights came on like that freaky red triangle. The dealer advised me to buy a 2010 Corolla they were selling with the same mileage at the same price. I told him that for me it was Prius or bust. Came back the following weekend, and *shock* the $3000 traction battery was replaced, and the asking price didn't go up. I took her home that day feeling like I had a practically new car. Gen II batteries are all slowly dying out. Just like the engines on Model T's' and VW Beetles eventually wore out. No matter how reliable a car is, it just won't last forever. It's made up of thousands of parts and the odds of them all existing in harmony forever is just a fantasy. But still, you get soooo many advantages in the Prius that could probably amount to saving for a traction battery. For example: 1. The transmission is ridiculously simple. In a conventional American car you may need a transmission rebuild at 150K miles. 2. The brake system takes a while to wear out thanks to regenerative braking. 3. There's no starter, alternator, timing belt, or many other parts you see on a conventional car. My Honda Civic was approaching 100K miles, and I've heard horror stories that the timing belt on a Civic can be a small fortune alone. So go ahead and keep on driving the Prius. All cars have problems somewhere, the Prius's problems are just conveniently rolled up into a large repair cost as opposed to incremental moderate costs.
     
    #6 TheEnglishman, Jun 20, 2013
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