New to hybrids, not cars. Prius 2008 No start.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Speedfreak247, May 3, 2024.

  1. Speedfreak247

    Speedfreak247 New Member

    Joined:
    May 3, 2024
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    Location:
    Albany Oregon
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    So I came to the dark side. I got a prius and on the drive home got the triangle of death, heater control valve. Took me a couple months to get the part and feel like dealing with it. When I went to start it, the car was black, no dash, no lights. Replaced the 12v with oem batt. Dash / display worked, wouldn't start or move.Dash batt level was low. Attemped the maintenance mode to get the engine to start, no joy.

    What voltage do I need from the HV batt to start the car? Suggestions? Long time car guy so I am not afraid of jumping in the deep end if I HAVE to. Was a POS commuter car purchase, so trying not to do much with it. I suspect I have to take the HV batt and charge all the cells individually, cycle them and log the capacity of all the cells, and clean the bus bars. Any other ideas for a simple way to charge this pos other than rc quad charger?
     
    #1 Speedfreak247, May 3, 2024
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Nov 29, 2020
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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    No put a voltmeter across the terminals on the battery side of the relays what do you got 100 volts? It's a 211 volt system you'd like to have 190 something like that usually I see cars that have been sitting for 6 months it still have 209 in the battery I don't know the actual voltage of the HV battery needed to make the engine crank but I would think it would have to be within range say 20% of the 211 figure or something like that just like a 12 volt battery won't crank a starter in a car with less than generally 10 volts it'll just crank real slow until the battery has six volts and it's not cranking at all or seven or something like that so there's not a whole lot of leeway I don't think I'm sure somebody will come along here with plenty of opinions in short order. Usually I'm starting cars in the middle of fields and sitting and towing lots generally they try to call me fast enough so we don't have a lot of game playing to do but you'd be surprised You can charge the whole pack just the way you're reading it across those terminals you want to shoot 300 volts DC at like 2.4 amps at it when you don't see a change on the charger in 5 minutes the battery is sucked up what it's going to take and you can disconnect and turn off the charger That's the general rule of thumb I use the Venice hybrid charger You can Google that out of California the guy's name is Raj
    .
     
    #2 Tombukt2, May 3, 2024
  3. jeff652

    jeff652 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 6, 2014
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    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Here is one that is pretty reliable, and has the extra capability to run the cooling fan as well which helps keep the cells from potentially getting damaged. It is pretty easy to set up. It is recommended to install the harness while the battery is still in the car, that way you can get the cooling fan involved. Once installed, its a pretty easy process of charging and discharging for a few days to recondition the battery two or three times a year and your battery should stay healthy for at least double its life. A lot of people use it that are on PriusChat.

    Prolong Deluxe Reconditioning Package – Hybrid Automotive

    Hope this helps!
    Garrett
     
    #3 jeff652, May 3, 2024
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
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    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    any trouble lights?
     
    #4 bisco, May 3, 2024
    maleko likes this.
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