Prius Battery Replacement (GenII) Like you've never seen - NEW Cylindrical Cells

Good point, however I suspect those "new" genuine battery has been sitting in warehouse for a good amount time. Thanks for the input.

 

I found a video of your batteries being installed 2k1Toaster! So far he has had zero issues in over 10k miles.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

LOL ! Interesting thought. How "new" was the battery in your genuine "new" Prius ?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Good question. Mine was a 2005 model that was sold in 2004, so I guess it didn't stay in warehouse for that long.

However I bought this used.

 

My battery arrived. Working on replacing the cells.

 

She is up and running.

 

Less than 24 hours? Did you do it alone or with a helper? How did it go? Any surprises?

 

I started working before the battery even arrived. Starting from last Sunday I removed the side piece, Tuesday removed the brackets and released battery, Wednesday decommissioned the battery enclosure, Thursday is when the battery pack arrived. Plenty of time to prepare and I didn't rush at all. I'm a newbie on fixing cars, so I planned to spend a whole week of spare time doing this.

The manual didn't come right away so I PM'd OP and immediately got a PDF copy landing in my mailbox. The steps in the manual are slightly different than Chrisfix video, and the battery pack is slightly different than #562. The orange safety plug cable is hard and is difficult to install, but that was expected in the manual.

What's different than Chrisfix video.

The battery modules housing was detached from the battery computer for easier screwing, and in that case he flipped battery upside down to reach the bolts, and to detach the temperature sensors. With this battery set, nothing holds their position horizontally, so when I tried to flip it upside down, the battery modules slides side way out.

No big deal. I tried to re-arrange the modules upside down in the first place, and screwed all 56 bolts to hold their position. If you are following the manual from the beginning, there shouldn't be this surprise during re-installation of the modules.

What's different than #562 CtrlAltDefeatTV video.

There's no paper stickers on the side so you got be careful to correctly attach the bus bars to correct terminals.



What did I do that differs from the manual.

Apart from the above flipping, I also deferred bus bar installation step since I was working without an electrical glove.

I started from the front facing side (the side with main positive and negative cable), attached all the bus bars, and attached the main cables. BTW OP told me to ignore the torque settings and just tighten the terminal bolts normally. I ended up using a lower torque settings (35 in.lb instead of suggested 48 in.lb) just want to be safe. After this side was done I immediately put the plastic covers on to prevent electric shock on that side.

Then the rear facing side, I started from the right end then going left. Whenever I finished a bus bar I put the cover on, to make sure I was never exposed to a voltage higher than 36V. (See image above demonstrating the strategy.)

Also the manual suggested putting temperature sensors on the top side for better measurement. But the air dam doesn't fit so I ended up putting them at the same place as the original battery, the bottom.

Other than those, nothing really surprised me. After I put the battery back in the car, I tried to start it to make sure it's working, before putting other trim pieces on. Here I'm following Chrisfix's advice.

I'm pretty tired now since I was doing all this work alone, and the car is sitting in an apartment parking lot, not my personal garage, some steps took much longer than normal case. But still, I made it XD.

Tools I used
3M Comfort Grip Gloves CGL-GU, General Use, Size L (Pair of Gloves)
EPAuto 1/4-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (20-200 in.-lb. / 2.26~22.6 Nm)
EPAuto 3/8-Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-80 ft.-lb. / 13.6-108.5 Nm)
AmazonBasics Mechanics Socket Set | 40-Piece
ABN Upholstery Trim Clip Removal Pliers
SUPERFASTRACING 415 Pcs Push Retainer Set -18 Sizes Car Auto Push Pins
Panlong Bluetooth OBD2 OBDII Car Diagnostic Scanner

Some of them may not be the best choice, but they did the job. The torque wrenches are cheap, but work pretty good.

 

Great writeup! Thanks.

 

Nice Work!

 

Just a follow up FYI. I've completed 2 round trip commutes. 36.1 miles total, I'm getting 52.1 MPG average on the new battery pack.

Flat surface, 40mph cruising speed most of the time, a few signal lights, gentle and fast driving style.

 

Today I'm getting 54 MPG somehow, strangely high.

 

It depends how you are measuring your MPG.

If you are resetting your consumption meter and the doing short runs (<50 mi), then you will get wildly different readings.

The best gauge of how you are doing, is to average at least 3 tanks, then compare the average of the last 3 tanks with each other as you go on.

This strategy evens out the “bladder” effect.

 

Can we get some updates on how the batteries have done? How many miles have you put on your batteries?

 

Could you post some links to these videos? I have searched around but only find people rebuilding with used cells... :/

 

FWIW, I'm approaching 7,000 miles point, and the battery is still strong.

 

Apologies if it's been asked and answered, but what metal are the "solid metal" bus bars? That description from Quick View link on this page:

Gen3 Toyota Prius Hybrid Battery Kit

 

Hopefully copper. Maybe steel, aluminum, etc. I think the "feature" is that they are new (don't need to be salvaged from the old pack).