Have not seen a reference to this one yet! First long trip we are going down a 5 mile very steep hill in the Smokey mts of NC. 3/4 of the way down the unmistakable smell of resistors frying in the morning wafts through the car. Traction battery ICON hits full for the first and only time! No residual issues since. Normal break in occurrence or should I have a chat with my dealer?
Doesn't seem normal to me. I would definitely have the car checked. Might be all right (perhaps some manufacturing residual or debris somewhere burning off), but "amper smell" is never a good sign.
Sounds like the traction battery heated up more than normal due to your long descent which caused the battery to reach a "full" charge as reported by the icon. If you don't have a recurrence of the smell, I wouldn't worry. Did you happen to hear the battery fan running faster than normal?
Were you using your brakes at all? New brakes in the process of setting often give off a similar smell. The prius uses its friction brakes a lot less than other cars but going down a steep hill it will use them. With that said, I wouldn't worry about it unless you notice your traction battery not holding a charge or something like that. Remember, those components are covered for 100K miles.
What would you expect the dealer to do? If they take you seriously they will check for DTC's (diagnostic troubleshooting codes) in the ECU. Most probably they will dismiss it as normal without even seeing the car.
Were you riding your brakes much of the time, or did you put the car in B mode? Did the ICE rev up? Did you hear the battery fan in back? I think Patrick may be correct on this (because he usually is!), but I also wanted to know what you heard at the same time.
I have "maxed" the charge on the traction battery several times, with no noticeable odor. I would suspect that the odor was from your brakes, since I would expect your foot was on the brake pedal a good share of the time?
Patrick, to follow in Priori's inquiry ... doesn't the ICE spin up to dump excess battery charge in potential downhill recharge scenerios? .
The electronics and battery can smell a bit when they are new. I suspect this is the first time they have heated up to this level, which would make this smell normal. It should be fine. Keep your nose open, and if it happens with regularity it could be a red flag, otherwise I wouldn't worry. Tom
Yes to B mode very briefly. Yes while in B mode. did not hear batt fan. Some braking but not excessive. No DTC's present and all indciations normal. Thanks for all the feedback
Hi Gary, Yes, after the traction battery SOC gauge shows "full", then you may notice the gasoline engine reving up which results from MG1 spinning the engine to reduce battery charge.
