My 2001 Prius recently needed to have the 12V battery boosted as the door was left open. The car ran fine for a short drive and was left idling. Upon returning to the car after a few mins it was completely dead. Attempted restarts showed the exclamation and HV Battery Icons. I had the car towed to toyota and they are claiming both the 12v and the HV battery need replacement. The 12v obviously does need replacement as it doesnt hold a charge but I am having difficulty with the idea that the HV battery needs replacement. The car has been performing fine with no drop in performance or gas milage. Has anyone else experienced this sort of instant failure of the HV battery? The car has 130 000km on it.
I suggest that you have the 12V battery replaced first, then see if the car still has driveability issues. If so, find out what DTC is being logged because that will help show whether the diagnosis of a failed traction battery is correct or not. When the traction battery decides to fail, don't expect prior warning. I've experienced two failures so far (on my 2001 Prius and 2006 HiHy.) One day the car is fine, the next day the instrument panel looks like a Christmas tree.
I got the test data from Toyota and they are claiming that I only have 2 good cells in the battery. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me but they range in value from 13 to 0.7. Is that similar to the results that others have found? From what I have read I would have suspected that the system would have shut down earlier when the first or second cell was found out of spec, not continue until only 2 cells were good.
That battery is toast! It may be possible to resurrect some modules but I suspect very few. A replacement battery, salvage or new, is called for. Bob Wilson
Hi asinc, sad to see another 1st time poster check in with a big problem. I am curious whether your Prius had the HV battery resealing done in earlier years? This was offered for free in the US (at least) but I don't know how it was handled in Canada.
