Any good Hybrid/Prius shops in Florida?

tampa hybrids, probably too far. maybe todd knows someone though

 

Arsinek,

The most important thing right now is to determine what your actual fault codes are to determine if it truly is a battery issue. If it is a HV battery problem, I may be able to help you out.

 

how many miles on her?

 

test the 12v health

check for movement in the inverter fluid reservoir.

clean the hybrid battery cooling fan and intake grille

have you had the recall done? this is not necessarily the battery

 

@TMR-JWAP is really good. He knows the Prius well. And as he said, read the codes with a Prius-literate code reader to see if it really is the battery or something else in the hybrid system. As @bisco mentioned, there is Home - Tampa Hybrids Inc. over on my side of the state. He's terrific, but it's a bit of a drive.

 

EVERY car should be easy to work on. But they are not.

 

it could be easier, but looking at the videos, its not too hard.

back up starter motor? hard hard could that be?

 

Uhaul trailer? Where's it at? How far away do you have to go?

 

It's easier to replace the HV battery than the spark plugs, in my opinion. And I've done both. I thought the battery was a piece of cake considering that they only need to be accessed, on average, every 10-15 years.

 

i mean do you have any kind of scanner to get codes so you know more than just that dash is lit up ?
That is about the right mileage for HV NiMh to start crapping out - yeah stay AWAY from the STEALERship , -- seriously, there's a reason they sit u down into a wifi area with free coffee , popcorn and home theatre ...

there are some 'hybrid battery doctors' in tampa and sarasota , but BE CAREFUL and dont go the route i did with the 'fly by day' craigslist guy ...

 

I used to help people stranded, cars like chevy astrovans, ford minivans, are favorites of the heat for break down, i pull my scanguage out and can reset codes to get them going again, -- one time i pulled out a grinder to cut the rusty bolt holding the spare tire in back of a guy's borrowed pickup truck .. --- but i came to a chrysler 'labaron'? once and the battery is not under the hood, nor even under the back seat, it is tucked hidden away sumewhere behind a front quarter panel fender area and very unaccessable ... we couldnt even get the dash lights to come on ...

 

(and then he said he's moving and doesn't have time -- yeah bat check .. well voltmetter only tells you so much, you really need a load tester to determine 12v health - and its a SLA not a starter bat so is the load tester even going to give the kind of reading desired ( Amp Hours of drain, not Cold Cranking Amps of starting power)

invertor fluid ez to check pump operating

Cleaning the hybrid fan, requires the rear panel disassembly , prob. 1/2 hour min. and some (preferabbly) clutter and distraction free environment where parts and piece are going to get laid out ...

 

1. I beleive Honda hybrid has the ability to run without the hybrid battery - some of it's models are 'series' hybrids (not parallel like Prius)
2. I think that was some of the thinking on board (design concepts for EV's), but suprisingly, it seems like all batteries on hybrids and electrics are tucked away mostly inaccessible, no ez swaps !!!

 

then again, what has ever been easy on cars? engines and tranny's have always been the most difficult parts