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Do you think my HV battery is on the way out?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019.

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  1. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    G'day

    I'm new to Prius by less than 2 weeks and love the car. It's a 2006 model with about 130 000 miles on it.

    I have ordered an OBD link and will try to get Dr Prius app working with that to check into it more.

    But as I know nothing about these cars and I don't know a single person who owns one I thought I might ask here while I wait for my package in the mail.

    I have never been able to get all the bars lite up on the screen for the amount of charge in the HV battery.
    It will go to one from the top every time, but never completly full.

    When I leave the car parked over night and the temperature is cooler the battery level doesn't really drop as I drive to work.

    When I get in the car to come home and the day time temperature has been up around the mid 80's the battery will be right up near the top and then with in a third of a mile the battery has dropped down to 2 bars.

    I don't put the air conditioning on and have tried a few different driving techniques to see if it makes a difference.

    I haven't had the battery indicator above 2 bars by the first set of traffic lights yet. It is about 100 yards up hill from where I park the car to the main road and then 200 yards of flat road to traffic lights.

    Thankyou very much for your time and thoughts on this as it is appreciated. Hopefully when the OBD link turns up I will be able to diagnose or test the battery pack, but I can't wait that long so I thought I would ask for peoples thoughts

    Have a good day
    Scott
     
    #1 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
  2. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    You want Techstream software either mini vci or Vxdiag. Vxdiag is easier to set up. $89 on Amazon. Both have full interrogation of the hybrid battery.

    Best way to test the hybrid battery is do a road test. Then you can see how much the hybrid battery is participating.

    Find a nice straight and level road about 3-4 miles with little traffic. Get the car up 60 miles an hour turn off the ac and the heater and the lights. Put the cruise control on. Hit the reset button on the consumption meter on the mfd to reset current mpg's to 0.

    Let the car cruise by itself for the 3 miles don't touch the gas or brake. . At the end of the 3 miles whats your mpg's read on the mfd consumption page?

    Mine is 49 mpg's after this test. Before I rejuvenated and charged my battery with Prolong System the test was 42 mpgs. Anything in the low 40's is a tired hybrid battery. Lower than that battery soon needs rebuild.

    look at:



    &

    hybridautomotive.com
     
    #2 edthefox5, Nov 20, 2019
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  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Once you get Dr. Prius running you'll get a good sense of the details of your battery pack... The screen you're watching is a terrible way to interpret battery pack health, it's a very rough tool and Dr. Prius will offer you way more info.

    Assuming you know vehicle history and battery pack has never been worked on, you'll want to plan to clean battery cooling fan, clean corrosion and inspect pack, as well as learn about reconditioning the pack, which in most cases will turn an '06 pack with 50% capacity back into a pack with 96% capacity. Learn the science of it here: BU-807: How to Restore Nickel-based Batteries – Battery University

    Learn about one of a couple different methods to recondition a pack here: FAQ
     
    #3 PriusCamper, Nov 20, 2019
  4. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    sounds perfectly normal. what happens with the indicator bars when you are out on a good long drive?
     
    #4 bisco, Nov 20, 2019
  5. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    Thank you Ed

    Unfortunately the cruise control doesn’t work.

    I was informed of this before I bought the car and it didn’t bother me, but now it may be a small problem.
     
    #5 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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  6. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    Also thank you for the links
     
    #6 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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  7. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    G’day Prius Camper

    The bloke I bought the car from had owned it since 2008. He has never touched the battery or fan.

    I have a “computer dude” who will be able to help me set up Dr Prius and I feel rather confident that with research and links from you guys that I will be able to service the battery.

    Thanks mate
     
    #7 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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  8. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    G’day Bisco

    I bought the car about 4 hours from where I live so on the way home the indicator bars were always up near the top, but never all the way full.

    The only time it dropped all the way down to 2 bars was going up a big hill. This also had the petrol engine reving hard.

    I filled the fuel tank before the drive home and got 4.3 or 4.4L per 100 km
    Sorry I can’t do the conversion on that one.
     
    #8 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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  9. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    Also interestingly I have just come home from work early as the job site got closed down.

    Today after the car sat for only 4 hours and the ambient temp was not too high the car performed as it would first thing in the morning. It didn’t drop down to 2 bars by the first set of traffic lights, which it does after sitting for 11 to 12 hours in the sun.
     
    #9 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
  10. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    This would be pretty normal for this use case, but doing this day in and day out will be hard on the HV battery. If you want to be kinder to it, start the car and before you move off, make sure the A/C is switched off then press the accelerator to get the ICE (internal combustion engine) to start. Wait for about 55 seconds until the ICE shuts down, then move off. When the HV battery is new, it is not such an issue but this particular use case will cause the HV battery to "age" faster.
    This is nothing about which to be worried, in fact, it is pretty darn good. If you're getting over 5 L/100 km (below 47 MPG; 56.5 MPG (UK)), then I'd be looking at things. Keep up the good work.

    (For some reason, we can get much better consumption figures than they get in the USA. Don't know why, but one is they spec 87 AKI (equiv to our 91 RON, whereas this side of the Pacific we spec 95 RON. Again don't know why the difference.
     
    #10 dolj, Nov 20, 2019
  11. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    Great information and advice thanks mate
     
    #11 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    to me, you're drive home from purchasing showed a normal, relatively healthy battery.

    it is 13 years old though, so its not going to be like new.

    might be good to think about a grid charger now, or a new battery when the time comes.
     
    #12 bisco, Nov 20, 2019
  13. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    I’m happy to spend money on the car and on tools for the car.

    Is one type of charger better than others?

    Is there one to steer clear of?

    Thanks again
     
    #13 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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  14. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    idk. i do know a very good one from all the users here: prolong charger from 'hybrid automotive.com'
     
    #14 bisco, Nov 20, 2019
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  15. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    I’ll look into it.

    I just got off the phone to Toyota and for a new HV battery they want $2430 (Aussie dollars)
    But no trade in for my battery as it is more than 8 years old or 130 000 kms

    Fitting they want $550 to $600

    I would like to “ play around “ with my battery to see the outcome and then get a new one if need be.
     
    #15 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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  16. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if you really enjoy playing around, you can do individual modules on the cheap, but time consuming
     
    #16 bisco, Nov 20, 2019
  17. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    That drop down to 2 bars can be fixed with battery reconditioning as long as you don't have any other battery problems other than that.
     
    #17 PriusCamper, Nov 20, 2019
  18. edthefox5

    edthefox5 Senior Member

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    Be aware the thing that gets alot of new G2 owners is the engine may be an oil eater. Depends on how well the oil was maintained. You need to check on the oil alot till you figure out how bad it is. Check the oil in the am before starting the car. The engine has a big oil driven VVT vane on the intake cam so alot of oil is stored in the head and takes alot of time for it all to drain back so if you check the oil right after a drive it will check low.

    I would check it every couple of days till you get a handle on it. i check the oil on my cars every saturday.

    Keep the oil at the full line always.

    The engine with new oil filter hold 3.6 quarts.

    Good Luck!
     
    #18 edthefox5, Nov 20, 2019
  19. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    Cheers for that oil warning mate.

    The bloke I bought the car off told me it uses 1 L (which I think is about a quart) per 1500 Miles

    I checked the oil today and so far I have had the car for about 400 Miles and all is good. The oil is very clean and a fraction bellow the full mark.

    I was checking out the link to Amazon that you put up and was about to buy it but thought I would ask if is a similar thing to the OBD thing that I have already ordered or is the VxDiag a different thing?
     
    #19 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
  20. Scottyx

    Scottyx Junior Member

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    G'day Prius Camper

    I'm going to ring the bloke tomorrow at Hybrid Automotive and see if he has sold any gear to Aussies.

    I guess I may need to see if my battery is OK to recondition or if it needs work first.
     
    #20 Scottyx, Nov 20, 2019
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