Who to choose for Refurbished HV battery

Good information re: Toyota of San Bernadino. If they really do ship for $200 out of state that would cover a large fraction of the sales tax most people would pay at the counter.

Regardless, there is no doubt that one should call ahead to iron out any kinks along the way or to find a kink that prompts one to keep shopping. Each dealership has its own rules or arbitrary nonsense, and individuals buying batteries for DIY installation is rare. So expect some bumps and friction.

 

This would be the best bet. Anyone other than Falcon Hybrid Solutions / Prius Rebuilders!
So far the battery I got pulled out of a wrecked Gen I car (along with 500 mile tires and wheels) new in 2010 and left only uncharged for a month have worked out pretty good for me. Now to sell the poorly refurbished battery from the scoundrels in New jersey!. I think of the cessl I have 36 are pretty good and two marginal. If on one buys the pack off Ebay I will part the cells out. There seems to be a pretty good demand for pull out cells even for some that are not so good.
Getting anything out of any dealings with Falcon Hybrid Solutions / Prius Rebuilders is something.
Never do business with them!

 

I feel like there are a lot of people defrauding people over battery parts re-manufacture computers and cells, I have 4 pri and of course I have one that is an 06 that had a lot of battery failures and it is down. I need a battery ECU now and would like some advice on where to buy. thanks. Melanie & Jim.

 

best place would be a salvage yard/ebay.

 

I have a battery ecu, text me an offer

 

Lots of choices on fleabay, and you will have an idea of going rates.

 

After reading every HV battery thread on priuschat I decided to tear mine apart and replace individual modules myself. I have a 2005 Prius with 83k miles on it.

For me the official Toyota dealer price is way too high. Reading this thread gave me the impression there's little or nothing to be gained by purchasing an aftermarket HV battery! It seems to me these businesses who claim to "rebuild" or "recondition" Prius HV batteries are doing nothing more than what I could do by myself: They change out the failed modules for other used (but hopefully good) modules.

Disclaimer: I am a working EE and have considerable experience with small rechargeable batteries.​

First I diagnosed that my HV battery pack contained 1 totally failed module (6.6V). I purchased 4 used "tested" gen2 modules on eBay for $175 including shipping (that's $ 43.75 per module). After changing out the "totally bad" module I ran limited charging/discharging tests on my workbench. That led me to replace one other module: It was consistently measuring 100 mV lower than the other 27 modules.
Important note: I did NOT do any of the elaborate "re-balancing" testing that others have discussed on priuschat.

Basically I just changed out 2 modules, put the HV battery back into my car, and started driving it.​

After 150 miles I can say that my Prius is running perfectly. Mpg went immediately from 30 to 46.5. No more DTC codes either. SOC in the MFD display is almost always at 6 bars, never higher than 7 (1 green bar), never lower than blue bar #4. In contrast when my HV battery was bad the MFD display went all the way from 1 bar to 8 bars on a random basis, sometimes over the course of less than 5 minutes. Also I would sometimes need to clear the P0A80 code several times per day (Scangauge II permanently installed in my Prius). After replacing those 2 modules I've had NO codes!

The "wrench work" needed to remove the HV battery from the car isn't terribly difficult. There are several excellent YouTube videos that show how to do it. After I had the HV battery on my workbench it was pretty easy for me to both change out bad modules and run some basic charge/discharge tests on it. Again, I'm a professional EE. But I would definitely say that this process of replacing individual modules is within the realm of a "DIY Prius mechanic."

Also it's likely that SOME of the aftermarket "HV battery rebuilders" are both reasonably competent and reasonably honest.

-EB

 

You probably could have gotten a goodwill warranty for a new battery thru Toyota if you asked.

Anyways, good luck with the module swapped battery

 

that's great. please start a new thread, and keep us posted on a monthly basis as to how things are operating, thanks!

 

Monthly is a lot to ask. I'll be happy with an update when the battery fails. Hopefully way into the future, but I would not bet on it.

 

but then, it won't really mean anything. no one will remember. monthly let's us track the long term viability. many have tried, but few have succeeded.

 

If anybody is going to have decent longevity after a simple swap, this guy is a good candidate with only 83k miles of wear.

 

could be, and that might tell us something about the viability of this process, based on pack mileage.

but there again, it's a ten year old pack with low miles per year, which some believe contributes to cell degradation.

 

I forgot that detail. I take back my optimism

 

I suppose I should have contacted Toyota, but I doubt they would extend my warranty since it's only 8 years in Illinois. CA and some other states are 10 years, and I have heard stories of owners in those states getting warranty on a 2005 Prius.

 

I didn't put all the trim back in place yet. I fully understand that more modules might fail within the next few months. I've equipped myself with Torque/Android and a mini-VCI and am planning to watch the condition of my HV battery closely.

My backup plan is to snag a much newer HV battery from a wrecked car. I've heard stories of people snatching one for $300 on Craigslist, perhaps from an owner who is parting out their own wrecked car?

 

That is so 2-3 years ago.

 

$300 would be a steal, but ~ $1000 will get you a lightly used G3 pack you can use for a full module swap with a high degree of confidence of years of worry free operation.

I hope you prove me wrong, but the forum is chock full of owners who started penny wise and ended up pound foolish.

 

wouldn't it be great if you could flip up the rear seat, lift the battery case lid, and just keep popping in new cells as needed? easy and cheap.

 

You would think so, but look at GDanner's case:

EE, DIY repair. Bought four modules for about $200, and if his car acts typical, he'll be buying something better within six months.