Master, engine, VSC and engine lights all came up at the same time

Does anyone know what problems might occur if i keep on driving the car for a few days while i'm looking for a replacement hybrid battery?

Can the car be driven for a few more days?

Can a bad battery also lead to bad power inverter?

GT-I9100 ?

 

The biggest problem that might occur is that you might be left stranded and... someone might hit you from behind when the battery loses all capacity. Eventually, the bad cell(s) will become like a direct short taking away all your capacity. This will render the car inoperable or only able to travel at very slow speeds.

It is likely the car can be driven for a few more days (like three (a few to me is 3-4)). The bad battery should not harm your inverter.

 

Well, I've decided to get the battery replaced at a main dealer in northern Ireland and just hope that I can get there safely on Wednesday.

What was very disheartening was that every one of the UK Toyota main dealers said that if mine was a UK car, then Toyota UK definitely would've replaced the battery free of charge and here in Ireland, Toyota doesn't even want to know.

It really is infuriating and disgusting more so the way that we in Ireland have to pay 1859 euro+Vat I.e. 2287 Euro for the hybrid battery alone and In Uk main dealers are supplying and fitting the battery for 1140 GBP I.e 1425 euro.

Isn't that just disgraceful........?

I've been somewhat a brand ambassador for Toyota within my circle, but after the lack of courtesy and the moral indifference that Toyota Ireland have shown to me, I doubt anyone else, let alone myself, would believe me if I were to say anything good about Toyota now, especially the after sales customer service.

The cars haven't suddenly become unreliable but the company certainly seems to have.......

GT-I9100 ?

 

If you managed to get your car to a UK mains dealer, would you be able to have the battery replaced for GBP1140? If yes, how far would you need to travel?

 

Yes 1140 GBP is what they'll charge and the estimate is coming back by email.

I still need to drive around 200 km to get to them.

What do you think Patrick?

Ice just placed the order with them.

GT-I9100 ?

 

Well, it seems that it would be worth the risk to attempt the drive to save that much. At the moment, do you notice any driveability symptoms?

Bring along a cellphone to call for towing help if necessary.

Also, bring a 10 mm wrench so that you can disconnect the 12V battery negative cable where it bolts to the body, if your car dies on you. By removing power for a couple of minutes, that will clear the DTC logged by the ECUs and might extend your driving range with the impaired traction battery.

 

Funny you should mention that Patrick, only yesterday driving home, I noticed that the hybrid battery stopped charging/ discharging and there was a click I heard coming from the back. I Presumed that the battery had overheated and the relays cut off, so the engine stated going loud yet it took me a good bit of time and patience to move at a round about. The car did not seem to be responding quickly to the accelerator.

So I came home and disconnected the 12v battery yesterday and decided not to drive the car until Wednesday morning when going for the repair.

Any tips, words of caution...... Highly appreciated.

Is there a chance I could damage anything else taking this trip.

I have already kept the 10mm spanner with me, I'll bring other tools too, hop point that I won't need to use them.

GT-I9100 ?

 

The hybrid battery is mostly used to get the car up to 45 or so mph.
If you can stay on freeways/hiways with no stops the hybrid battery wont be used much.

How many times since having hybrid battery problems have you accelerated from a dead stop.
And is it getting harder for the car to attain 45 mph.

You will have to judge how many times your car will have to start from 0 mph to get to the toyota shop.

And you are the only one who can judge how 0 mph starts to 45 mph are attainable before total hybrid battery failure.

After about 45 mph motor/generator provides the energy nessary to keep everything powered.
Do you have moutains to cross to get to the toyota dealer?
Large hill climbs will use hybrid battery somewhat.
But if you can keep cat travelling at 60 or more mph you should be ok on moderate hills/mountains.

 

I'll be on highways for almost 95% of the 200 km journey, and I'll definitely be praying for 101% of the journey

GT-I9100 ?

 

You might reconnect the 12V battery, then try driving on a highway to see what happens. If the car is totally undriveable or moves too slowly then you may decide to give up on the idea. If it seems to be reasonably safe, then I would take the risk.

You won't damage any other hybrid system components.

I recall that when the hybrid battery on my 2001 died several years ago, I had trouble just accelerating to surface street speeds, 35-40 mph, and it was an adventure for me just to get to my local Toyota dealer 5 miles away. I didn't try to go any faster.

 

Ok so i'm due to take the 200 kilometres trip in less than 12 hours.

just wanted to reconfirm that when the car is in fail safe mode and the rpm is high and its slow to accelerate , is there any chance of any damage happening to the engine the hybrid transaxle, converter anything at all or is it just that it is a little bit dangerous to drive the car in that situation.

i'm hoping to be on the road at 5 a.m. So that i avoid any traffic and i have checked the route as i said 98 percent of it is on the motorways so i just have one have 1km this way and another 1 kilometre the other end which is on minor road but all of it is on dual carriageway and freeways.

any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Patrick, John, anyone.......... thanks

GT-I9100 ?

 

The transaxle ect should be ok. As stated previously it is at the lower speeds that the battery is used to any degree. At higher speeds 50 mph + it is used very little.
As Patrick stated disconnecting the 12 volt battery for a short while then reconnecting may clear the fault codes and allow normal operation. If this is the case accelerate gently and try to get over 50 mph (80 kph) and hold it there if possible.
There cannot be any guarantees with this, but all should be ok. Good luck.

John (Britprius)

 

I should also have said let the engine warm up before moving off.
When the engine is cold this is the time the traction battery is used the most so running the engine in park until it stops will not only put some charge in the battery it will reduce the amount it is used when you drive off.

John (Britprius)

 

I do think that I should be driving at 100-120k for most of the time and stop just two times, one traffic light at start and one at finish.

Will update the result...

Thanks for the help everyone...

GT-I9100 ?

 

I wouldn't worry too much on the drive, but here is a few more suggestions for when you make the journey. The battery is used to activate the CVT transmission so you need to conserve as much battery power as possible during the drive. Make sure to refrain from using any higher power ascessories (radio is fine) such as the HVAC blower or especially using the AC (including defrost). You can crack the windows to get air in to keep the batteries cool while driving. If the car starts acting funny along the way then you may just decide to pull over and have it towed the rest of the distance but honestly I think you'll be fine. Let us know how it goes.

Here is why the car needs the battery even when running on the engine:

 

Hello everyone. I thought i should post an update after getting the replacement on the battery carried out last Wednesday as mentioned in my earlier posts. I must admit that i was very very apprehensive about whether or not the car will actually make the 200 kilometres trip . As i have mentioned in my previous posts i had unplugged the auxiliary battery for 2 days before the trip was to be taken. I reconnected the battery at 5 a.m. In the morning and that was just before i left. I remembered caution warnings mentioned and therefore i wore 2 thick jackets and flattened the rear seats rolled down the rear windows completely hoping that the cold morning air will actually help to keep the batteries cool for a longer while and that i will be able to make my trip without issue. I was very fortunate that i was able to get the first 160 kilometres of my trip without any issues even before the warning lights came back on. yet i had another 40 kilometres to go and i was really very anxious that the car might start going wrong at any point Of time.

Fortunately enough i did not actually run into the fail safe mode before i was less than 1 kilometre away from the dealership. I arrived at the garage at half 8 , they were very nice and ran the diagnostics again to ensure that it was the hybrid battery that need a replacement, carried out the replacement and i was ready to go for shortly after noon. The whole experience was very very pleasant and i was obviously quite happy having saved a fortune for having driven the 3 hours in the morning and about 2 hours going back. All along my journey in the morning i was driving on motorways and did not even have to stop for toll because it's all barrier free now so at most points of the journey i was traveling at 100 kilometres speed or over. So once I had gotten over 75 kmph the hybrid battery charge/discharge was ka frequent access thereby taking longer for battery to heat up, charge fully and the battery relay cutting out leading to fail safe mode where car's engine revs high but there's very little power going to the wheels, the car responds very slowly, sometimes dangerously slowly to the accelerator and can take much longer to stop as well.

I wish to thank 1 and all who have helped me directly or indirectly by posting their experiences here and special thanks to John and patrick and epoch.

thanks once again.

I must say that it is possible that it was just placebo effect but the car really felt as as i was driving a new car after getting the battery fitted.

Hope I won't encounter this issue again on this car.

GT-I9100 ?

 

It sounds like you tested the outer limits of the possible driving range with the failed battery. Glad to hear that the old battery did not give out until the very end of your trip.

 

It might not be a placebo effect. The electric motors can put in a lot of torque to cover up the (relatively) weak engine, especially at low speed. So you might well feel that it accelerates better, and with less engine revs, than before.

BTW Ramanjit81. I've been wondering how you drive from Ireland to UK. Is that like a ferry from Dublin to Liverpool or something, or can you just have to drive up north to access UK dealerships?

 

@uart- if you want to get to the mainland uk yes you would have to take a ferry. however i did not have to go to the mainland uk, 6 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland are still under British regime and i called Northern Ireland; which also comprises of Belfast and a few other notable cities. So i just had to drive right down the motorway from Dublin to Belfast and it can be done in under two hours.

GT-I9100 ?