Bear with me, virgin thread, been reading these posts and you guys are great and I value your opinion. *Have used '05 Prius, 117k miles, owned it for 6 months. Oil change/maint good standing, engine compartment fluid levels all look appropriate and clean. Inverter motor whirs nicely and there is appropriate motion in reservoir. Was driving the other day, suddenly got the "!" Triangle, VSC, Check Engine, and (!) light came on. Was near an AAMCO and they do free error code scan check, so dropped off. **They said it came back with no error codes. I asked which scanner they used, they said they used 3 different kinds including something called a "Verus" which is supposedly $15G and big-time. They said it would take $220 for a few hours to search for further cause. I said “no” since it drove normal, and was comforted by no codes found. So I left, filled up gas, unplugged negative 12v terminal for 5 minutes to reboot dash lights (thinking wife may have not screwed on gas cap all the way possibly triggering dash). Started driving, and a few minutes later, ALL the same dash lights came back on. I was near my house at the time, the Back Seat Traction fan started getting loud and car interior started getting noticeably warmer. Power definitely dwindled as did MPG, especially climbing small hill near home. Parked it, hybrid motor/inverter reservoir felt warm to touch like normal (but not hot). 1 hour later, did MFD Diag of 12V battery and got: 12.6v 11.5v (w headlights and brakelights engaged). **BTW, traction fan suddenly came back on full force here. 14.2v (“Ready” mode) Ultimately: 1) Am I Toast!!?? ...Does this all point to a dying traction battery? 2) California Warranty: Per CarFax, my Prius Mfr date is 10/12/2004….**ALMOST 10 year mark and 117k miles. Car registered in WA state from 2004-2007 and registered in CA from 2007 til 2014. Both are “CARB” states…Do I qualify for 10 years/150k hybrid battery warranty thing if #1 is the case? How do I get free replacement if this is all true?? ;-) Thanks a ton! Scott
It definitely could be, though be aware that overheating due to a clogged fan or ducting can cause the same symptoms. In either case however the battery will soon be toast if the cooling situation isn't fixed. Just so you know, the traction battery fan doesn't blow air out of that vent, it sucks air in from the cabin interior. So there's probably no causal relationship between the rear fan running and then the cabin temperature rising. (Though there could be a causal relationship the other way around. That is, the cabin temperature rising could be the cause of the fan running, but not the effect).
Your loaded 12V reading of 11.5 V seems pretty low, 12V battery might be the place to start. Given that you're right up against the warranty limit, It would probably be smart to get it in to a dealer ASAP. They are more likely to be able to get at any stored codes, and even if they find nothing at least you are building up a record of the issue in case it dies conclusively just after the warranty expires.
Get to the dealer ASAP. Have them recheck the 12v battery. Otherwise, symptoms certain sound like a battery. But the if the codes return, that will give some additional detail. Just because they have an expensive code reader, does not mean it can read the hybrid specific codes. If the triangle was on, obviously there are were hybrid codes in the system.
Hey Gang, I re-ran the Diag today on 12V Batt, now it's: 12.5v 12.2v Loaded - *11.0v Loaded with Heater on Full Blast, Brake Lights, Traction Fan on High, Headlights 14.2 Ready Does that make a difference with the 12v Battery? Thank you all for the tips, sounds like the Dealer needs to do their thing with the codes/software for Hybrid. Is this like 1 hour of labor? What can I expect? Trying to stay super frugal. Thx!
Yes its the Hybrid battery. Seeing alot of those with your year now. Dealer will charge one hour labor and will pull the codes reflecting that.,. But you may be under Hybrid warranty so get to the dealer asap and spend that $125 and get in line for a new free battery! And yes you also need a new 12 volt battery too.
Basically, I have a brand new Prius! (Well, at least a new Traction Battery!)....Many thanks to: uart miscrms ericbecky edthefox5 Thanks so much! Toyota Kearny Mesa also hooked me up with a free rental car for several days! -Scott
You won the HV Battery Lotto! Good for you. I'm hoping for a failure. 3yrs/20,000 miles left to go before repair/replacement comes out of my pocket.
"Bold added by me. *gulp*" You know, it only had 117k miles, which seems low...don't these puppies last a lot longer usually? I've only had it for 6 months, so who knows how the previous owners drove it/maintained it.
I feel like for the prius the more you drive it the better, and longer the trip the better. Your car may have set in the sun and it probably wasn't used for longer trips
I'd be interested to know if the dealers checked and cleaned the battery cooling fan and vents gtrsca. This issues seems to be somewhat common, especially if there are often dogs or similar pets in the car, and it greatly reduces the effectiveness of the battery cooling. If the dealer didn't specifically mention doing this then I'd definitely look into it. There's some good info on where and what to look for in this thread here: Fur and dirt causing major battery problems | Page 2 | PriusChat
2005's are 9 years going on 10 years old so mileage sometimes doesn't matter that much. If you store your car outside and continually let the interior cabin temp get extremely hot I would imagine it will greatly shorten the battery life. There's that big rear window right over the back area. No tint no custom Prius Shop insulated front windshield shade no package rack extended to cover the battery area and always out in the sun with no window cracked =Early Hybrid battery death. Its basic common sense. Plus your cooking all the ECU's and the MFD on the dash. The company I work for has about 150 people half of whom park outside up on top of the parking garage and no one ever even uses a window shade. Lots of Prius's. I see brand new expensive cars sitting in the sun cooking the hell out of the interior. Interior so hot you cant sit in the seat at the end of the day. I just don't get it. You know your cooking the battery if you hear the battery fan in the backseat come on after you start the car.
