Main Battery Error

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mkitany @ Aug 16 2006, 09:48 PM) [snapback]304511[/snapback]</div>

If it's just the small accessory battery (the 12v battery that starts the car), you can jump-start it from a regular 12v vehicle without any problem (make sure you get the polarity right for the jumper cables).

If the car hasn't been started in a long time (months), the main high-voltage battery could be discharged beyond what is necessary to start the vehicle. Toyota dealerships have a special charging unit in their shops that they can plug-in to the high-voltage battery to charge it up slowly, to get it running again. It's probably also possible to manually charge the battery without the special Toyota charger, but that would require substantially more technical knowledge as well as knowledge of how to safely work with high-voltages.

Dave

 

Sorry to hear your introduction to Prius ownership hasn't been pleasant.

There is a possibility that the original owner never had the preventative seal applied to the cells. There was a SSC a few years ago for that. Its purpose was to prevent leaks as the pack ages; otherwise, a failure possibily similar to yours may eventually end up happening.

 

I remember reading somewhere that you are supposed to remove the HV battery prior to certain types of high temperature painting jobs, because it could be damaged by the heat... At any rate, i'd say it sounds like the car was working before you took it to the shop, it should be the shop's responsibility to return it to you in working condition, even if that means having it towed to a dealer to be fixed (remember, only a certified prius mechanic should work on the car)

 

I see you're in Kenya, where I'll bet there are not many Prii around; heck you may not even have a Prius tech in the whole country, never mind the special Toyota charger, so you may be completely on your own.. As much as I love the Prius, Africa is the one place in the world where I would probably prefer an old 1980's Tercel with a carburetor and minimal computer electronics that I could repair in the bush without special diagnostic tools and expensive parts which probably are not available locally (your closest bet is probably South Africa)..

Anyways, if the paint shop left the car on for any significant period in IG-ON mode or in neutral, they could have discharged the hybrid battery beyond the point where it is able to start your vehicle. If the paint shop used a high temperature booth to bake the paint afterwards, this may also have caused battery damage..

Given your particular situation, your best bet is to try charging the hybrid battery yourself- you'll have to rig up a ~275V DC power supply- some simple transformers and diodes will do, then remove the casing from the battery and using rubber gloves and plenty of care, hook up the charger.. You don't need to give the battery a full charge, just enough that it can start the engine, so just a few minutes on the charger may be sufficient. Once you can start the engine, the on board computers will take over the charging and bring the battery back up to nominal condition- just leave the car running until the engine shuts off on its own, and the battery will be back to a usable charge level..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mkitany @ Aug 17 2006, 08:19 AM) [snapback]304600[/snapback]</div>

It was a special chemical agent that was painted on over the seems to ensure they didn't leak later on.

For a Classic Prius (your model), it would have been applied after the original owner purchased the car. And unfortunately, based on your location the likelihood of that having happened is less of a guarantee than it is here in the United States.

Whatever the case, this is one of those situations only a dealer can provide service for. Good luck.

 

"Special chemical agent"???? There was no "special chemical agent" unless you count the boric acid solution that they provided to neutralize any of the potassium hydroxide electrolyte that may have leaked out.. There were MSDS in the back of the SSC 40G instruction sheets that said that the sealant was a simple 3M water-based acrylic sealant that was gooped onto each of the negative terminals; the other part of the package was an absorber pad that was glued on top of the positive terminals with the same 3M sealant to soak up any subsequent leakages..

As for the charging process, you're on your own; there's just too much liability involved in providing any sort of detailed instructions for a process where you could potentially kill yourself or irreparably damage the battery or the car, so it's one of those things that people will give you hints for, but you basically have to do it yourself.. There are many documents on the internet describing how to take apart the battery (including the aforementioned SSC 40G instruction sheets, which may be available here on PC in the knowledge base, and if not, then certainly on the Yahoo group maintained by Michelle Vadeboncoeur where she archives all of the Toyota recall/special service campaign/technical service bulletins.. Similarly, you should be able to find many schematics of high voltage DC power supplies on the internet..

 

In the US the Main Battery Charger is kept by the Regional service reps so there are like a half a dozen in the whole US. I hope you really do not need a charge and it is a circuit breaker problem.

 

It's a low capacity (a few A/Hr) nickle metal hydride battery. 208 V nominal. You'll need about 250V DC at about 200 mA to charge it. Make sure you limit the current! Charge at this rate for an hour or so and it should have enough energy to start the ICE, which will then take over. Be sure to fully disconnect the traction battery before charging it, as the charger could damage the electronics.

Read the above mentioned document. It outlines how to safely disconnect and connect the battery. DC is much more dangerous than AC. AC can kill you at these voltage levels, but you can let go if you touch it and you will usually survive. What makes DC so dangerous, is you can't let go. It causes your muscles to contract and you freeze to the power. It will kill you more often than equivalent AC.

Please be careful!

 

Re: David Beale's, the original poster has an NHW11 model so the hybrid battery is 274 volts nominal. Based on what I've read in the Yahoo Prius_Technical_Stuff group, one approach would be to separately charge the two half-strings with 150 vdc. Again, using extreme caution...

 

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