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Swapping gen 2 battery and other questions

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Bucci, Jan 27, 2022.

  1. Bucci

    Bucci Junior Member

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    2006 Prius
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    hoping to get some feedback on the current situation:

    We bought a used 06 Prius in 2012 with 140k miles. Have loved it.

    In 2019 at 220k the hybrid battery failed.
    I replaced it with a brand new Toyota battery core (got a great price on internet) and things went fine, we are up to 240k miles....except the body rust has become very bad. Rocker panels are completely shot and so is frame rail...(side note don't use the frame rail spots to jack the car when doing snow tire changes).
    I'm concerned about crash integrity with this car. Its also begun to burn some oil (guessing a bit over a quart per 1000 miles) and the has the classic combination meter problems (cold weather can't see dash info) so I don't see the point in doing major body work on the 06.

    Since we have lots of life left in a gen 2 battery, we located an 07 Prius with 125k miles at a fair price, private sale.
    It has original battery, fuel use at about 41 mpg. Rocker panels have been replaced with welded pieces from junk yard. Otherwise in good shape. Hoping to get 5 to 8 years out of this car, use up the life of the new hybrid battery, and then replace with an EV.

    I'm wondering:

    -should I swap the hybrid batteries now or wait until fuel economy dips on the 07?

    -in doing the battery swap would you just change the complete units?
    Is it best to swap the cores out and keep the computers with the original car?
    Or can I just swap the whole units and trade keys?
    Are the computers roughly same wear, or is the high mileage one correspondingly 'worn out'?

    -what do do with the old 06 car? Would you:
    keep it for spare parts (outdoor only storage available)
    sell as repairable
    sell as salvage only - I've been told once the rocker panels are rotted out it becomes a safety issue.
    junk it for parts. I'm thinking the old battery/computer and cat converter alone are worth a $1,000?

    Thanks very much for any info or thoughts
     
    #1 Bucci, Jan 27, 2022
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    I'm guessing you must be up in the New England states Western Massachusetts New York Connecticut etc actually the rocker panels once they're rotted out the integrity of the car is not shot the jack points are shot The factory jack points move the jack in 3 in and then you're actually in on a major frame rail a square tube that runs down the car on each side it's part of how the floor is welded together and glued together when the frame of the car is built it's unit construction I lived in these states for many years and had rotted out rocker panels on TE27 Corollas TE51s etc This never caused any structural deficiencies in the car body now what I can tell you did happen a lot is when that rust moved to the strut towers once the strut tower start to take a beating and salt gets up in there the struts will have no place for those three bolts or nuts to hold the strut to and then your wheels will be wobbling out of camber drastically then a wreck comes so that's how I've seen that generally go with this type of stuff what's wrong with the coming down to North Carolina on vacation this summer and grabbing a 0709 Prius chassis dragging it home You come down here to North Carolina and buy a whole '07 Prius running and drive it back to wherever you're going probably cheaper than swapping out all these part and of course put the battery in the newer car but the rest of the stuff you could just save . A quart in a real thousand miles of driving at 140 50,000 miles is not horrible by any stretch of the imagination if it's actually being used maybe leaking
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Jan 27, 2022
  3. Another

    Another Senior Member

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    One quart ever thousand miles means you continuously more than replace oil each five thousand miles. Is that so bad?
     
    #3 Another, Jan 28, 2022
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Funny thing that's how I used to look at this a long time ago and kind of still do and one of my old Corollas in 3 months I would wind up adding the oil of an oil change which back then was 4.4 q or something so my oil was always looking pretty good on the dipstick cleanliness wise because it was leaking enough to wear in about 3 months I would wind up with 4.2 q of pretty much new oil than the thing so for about 6 years no kidding I didn't change the oil in this car and it never got yucky dirty nasty matter fact the car went away from me had nothing to do with oil or engine or transmission rust
     
    #4 Tombukt2, Jan 28, 2022
  5. Bucci

    Bucci Junior Member

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    Thanks for the thoughts
    The 06 car is at 240k miles abs had just recently begun burning oil. Between the rot abs a few other annoying issues (combination switch shot, has an exhaust monitoring valve shot) I just have that the end is near feeling

    I picked up a well cared for 07 yesterday
    When swapping the battery can I just swap the whole u to with the computer in it? Can I use the same keys if I do that?
     
    #5 Bucci, Jan 29, 2022
  6. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    The entire HV battery can be swapped with no problems. No programming, no ecu issues, etc.
     
    #6 TMR-JWAP, Jan 29, 2022
    ANDRAS RIMELY likes this.
  7. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Why not just store the new battery from 06, when the 07 battery starts causing problems then swap in the new 06 battery.

    Maybe TMR-JWAP can chime in to advise how to keep the stored 06 battery in good shape.

    Albert Barbuto can suggest as well, since he has a stored HV battery.

    Can I borrow your battery charger/balancer/reconditioner? | Page 6 | PriusChat
     
    #7 alftoy, Jan 30, 2022
  8. Bucci

    Bucci Junior Member

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    #8 Bucci, Jan 30, 2022
  9. Bucci

    Bucci Junior Member

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    Any info on how to store a battery would be helpful.
    Thanks
     
    #9 Bucci, Jan 30, 2022
  10. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    What I want to know is can I put some kind of ant connector back there on the HV battery I don't know where to put it and then have it snake up to where I can get the hobby charger on it just every so often it wouldn't seem the discharge is the problem but I sometimes need to just bring it up to full because it will definitely go down or discharge very quickly no problem seems like but I don't want to have to open the cover and do all this fiddling around just to hook up a charger
     
    #10 Tombukt2, Jan 31, 2022
  11. Albert Barbuto

    Albert Barbuto Member

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    Nimh batteries are very happy with long term storage. The key is temperature. You want to keep the modules as cool as possible. Basements are an ideal location. If you do not have one, how about a family member/friend.

    If you have stored a pack for a year or more, don't forget that a proper "forming charge" is the way to go. This involves charging the pack at 350 ma for 30 hours, while insuring the pack is kept cool. When the modules are 100% charged, the excess energy is turned into heat. This is the only time heat will be generated at the slow charge rate of 350 ma. A fan will do the trick.
     
    #11 Albert Barbuto, Feb 1, 2022
    ANDRAS RIMELY and alftoy like this.
  12. alftoy

    alftoy Senior Member

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    Note: A grid charger forming charge brings the entire pack slowly towards 240v. It will stop rising, then may hold, or even drop a volt or more. Pack is done after this happens. At the gentle 350ma rate, do not rush letting the pack completely fill. Now before using the pack in the car, I like to bring the pack back to the original voltage I started with, using light bulbs. 120v bulbs must be in series, to handle the 240v pack. Do not drive the car with a 100% charged pack. The battery computer does not know the pack is fully charged. It will attempt to put more in, which has destroyed packs. Not good....

    Can I borrow your battery charger/balancer/reconditioner? | Page 7 | PriusChat

    Lots of discussion for $100 grid chargers.

    DIY Grid Reconditioning Charger | PriusChat

    DIY harness for DIY charger/discharger | PriusChat

    Build Hybrid Battery Maintenance Gear For Under $100 | PriusChat
     
    #12 alftoy, Feb 2, 2022
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2022
    ColoradoCrow, thenightmareofhair and Albert Barbuto like this.
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