My HV battery replacement experience - Australia.

Awesome... Glad I could be of service... Make sure to replace all those crappy bus bars now while you have the chance so you don't have to take it out in the future to clean it again.

 

I soaked them until they were clean. Also used that ox guard mentioned above. I was really hoping that would fix my hybrid battery light. I was super hopeful since all the modules checked out. All had almost even voltage. Maybe the grid charger will help it?!

 

Hey mate so did replacing the bus bars fix your problem?
Also have you encountered any errors related to the battery after doing this replacement.

Asking because,
I read online Toyota will reimburse $500 thanks to their Hybrid HV Battery Recycling Program so my goal is to buy a new battery from Toyota in contrast to purchasing a reconditioned one. The warranty from my understanding should be 8 years which is far better than a 6 month warranty for a reconditioned one.

 

I do not know about Australia, but in the US the Toyota replacement battery warranty is 1 year if you install and 3 years if dealer installed.

 

I wrote about my centre console computer display not working. All the normal background is there, but the actual live parameter info are not displayed.
But I did not have any replay. I heard some time ago that some one in Canada had similar problem, and sped a fortune to replace component from the local dealer, whit no success whatsoever.
Can anyone with the same or similar situation inform me of any remedy?



iPad ?

 

Look for a head unit from a wrecked Prius?

 

Do you mean a used display?


iPad ?

 

Yes

 

I also noted that by selecting the 4 main buttons on the centre console, I get the message to check the air conditioner connections.
Is this message meaning something else, since the air conditioning work properly even without the functioning display?
Could dirty battery terminals be causing this fault?
If other second generation owner experienced similar situation, I would like to read about it.


iPad ?

 

17th August, 2018:

I rang a Toyota parts person today to find out the current pricing on Toyota hybrid batteries.

To clarify, only the modules get replaced. The casing, computer section, etc, all get reused.

Current Australian retail pricing:

2010-2011 Camry Hybrid: $A3,227.91
2003-2009 Prius: $A2,428.55

However, you then get a $500 refund when you return your old battery pack (ie so that they can reuse the casing).

He said that for taxi use the 2010-2011 Camry (ie 40-series) were generally doing around 400,000km on the original battery, and the Priuses were doing 600,000km.

For fitting, he said it was around 5 hours labour for each car, so you’re looking at $600 upward for that, depending on what hourly rate you can negotiate for that.

And, despite the 8 year warranty on the original battery, it’s only a 12 month warranty on the replacement.

Naturally, he was adamant that attempts to repair or recondition hybrid battery packs were generally unsuccessful. In a rare moment of tact on my part I chose not to pick a fight on that one.

 

This unfortunately, is a common problem on early MFDs (Multi-Function Display), search for MFD and you will find a lot of discussion here--the best explanation of what is happening is at this site from member @hobbit : Evaluation and repair of a failed Prius MFD

One thing--has the radio been replaced or are you using an adapter to add Bluetooth or an AUX input? These can interfere with the communication channel and produce the problem you are experiencing. If you have no alterations, then swapping the MFD is the easiest solution. If you have navigation, you need either a 2004-2005 MFD with navigation to replace it. If you don't have navigation, any MFD from 2004-2009 will work*, but 2006 and later will need some wires moved in the connector. See: Will 86110-47230 work instead of 86110-47081 in 2005 Base Model?
*I'm in the US, Gen 2 was 2004-2009 model year in US, may be different elsewhere.

You should start a new thread, or post into an MFD thread with this problem to get better help!

EDIT: You should look at this thread: MFD issues on '04/'05 Prius

 

In the US, the battery has a one year warranty but if the dealer installs it there is a three year warranty. Some dealers in the US still quote the warranty wrong.
You may want to verify the warranty with the service department instead of the parts department.

 

The dude is wrong about the reconditioning part... That's just basic battery 101... Read any manual on NiMH battery care and periodic re-conditioning is standard. Only reason Toyota doesn't build a reconditioning system into a Prius is profits, as well as getting people to buy a new car sooner than later.

But now the tables have turned and with millions of old Prius that people refuse to give up, they've realized that demand for new battery packs is projected to be so high in coming years that they can make a fat profit off of selling new packs at a super low price point. What you're paying in Australia, once you subtract the core charge, is the lowest price I've seen, which is equal to US$1,500.

Wonder how much lower the price will go? It seems to keep dropping further and further...

 

He kept making it crystal clear that it was just a one year warranty. Big emphasis on that.

However, Australian warranty laws were changed a few years ago to allow for "reasonable use", so it would be interesting to see what outcome there would be if someone were to pick a fight when a battery died 18 months after having new modules fitted.

20-series Priuses on the secondhand market start at around $A5,000, so $A2,300 plus around $A600 labour makes it not viable for most people.

The vast majority of people won't have the car knowledge to know about other options, or how to look for them.

In the US there is Cragslist - our equivalent in Australia is Gumtree (http://www.gumtree.com.au)

I'm in Perth, Western Australia, and no-one is advertising a battery reconditioning service here in Perth, whereas there are people advertising it in other cities such as Sydney and Melbourne (ie 4,000km/2,400miles away).

Unless some does some Google searching and ends up finding and spending considerable time on here then it's extremely unlikely that they're going to become aware of any options other than what the Toyota staff state.

Once I've become knowledgeable and got a bit of experience with rebuilding hybrid batteries then I'll probably place some Wanted advertisements for Priuses and Camrys with dead batteries. I can then rebuild the battery and resell the cars for a profit.

If an owner gets the red triangle and goes to any non-Toyota workshop then that workshop will just refer the person to a Toyota dealership, as a non-Toyota workshop won't have the experience to diagnose and repair a hybrid battery.

The Toyota dealership will then quote the retail price for a new set of modules and labour.

Toyota dealerships make a LOT of money here in Australia.

 

Are you considering doing this as a hobbyist or as a business? Businesses seldom spend the time & resources to properly rebuild a pack.The Prolong or Prolong Pro systems from Hybrid Automotive can assist. Otherwise it is a detailed process. Here is one hobbyist example from here.

Just Another HV Battery Thread and Experiments | PriusChat

 

The fiscal reality is that it is not cost justifiable to do what it take to rebuild every battery properly on a professional basis. The ones who are doing it, generally are not billing the entire cost of their labour at a sensible professional rate. If they did do that, the prices of the rebuilt/refurb battery would not make sense compared a new battery, even at inflated OEM prices for Toyota new.

Why do you think Toyota, who are the ones who make the thing, do not even entertain the idea of refurbishing? Toyota of California even went as a far as going to proof of concept by getting into a business relationship with a 3rd party rebuilder. I don't think they got the results they wanted from that and as far as I know that relationship did not last.

Rebuilding/refurbishing will only ever remain in the hobbyist space, IMMHO.

 

A bit of both.

My background here in Perth is running taxis, but Uber and government policy has wiped that out. I've pretty much decided to sell my last taxi as I can't find regular drivers for it.

As much as I despise Uber, my next move will be to rent out Prius and Camry hybrid cars for ridesharing use.

There are various places here in Perth already renting cars, but no-one's renting hybrids. Everyone's scared of the cost of replacing the hybrid battery, whereas I'll rebuild them at home and always have a spare Prius battery and spare Camry battery ready to be fitted.

Our petrol here is more expensive than in the US due to government taxes. The cheapest petrol here is around $US1.00 per litre, and it goes above that in regular cycles.

I will have to check with our local laws, but if I can recondition some batteries and sell them then I'll do so.

I'm going to start with most likely one Turnigy Reaktor charger to recondition modules one-by-one. Regardless of the advantages of the Prolong equipment there will still be the need to disassemble batteries and clean the copper bars, clean out the casings, etc.

But, I most definitely want to buy the Prolong equipment at some point in time. Training wheels, crawl before you walk, etc.

 

I’ve used the Prolong equipment to help other members here in the Bay Area rebuild their packs and it works well.

I also share the setup with 2 members for maintenance on our packs.

If you are going down this path and have more than a couple of cars you’ll maintain and potentially profit off of, the Prolong will help .

 

For multiple cars, I would recommend a harness installed in each car.
Also, The Prius and the Camry Hybrid require different chargers, I believe.
@jeff652 here or calling Hybrid Automotive would confirm that.

 

All depends on the end game.

If doing this to packs and reselling them, one harness for each car type would work.

The pack voltages are different, but you should be alright with the Discharger.