News on battery rubber vent smell

yes. he hasn't chimed in on this thread, so he either hasn't seen it, or knows nothing about the vent tube problem. also, grumpy cabby is on top of the uk warranty.

 

10-4. he's probably camping.

 

Hi Battery driven. There is sm

Man that sounds nasty.

BTW. What does it smell like? From memory some here have reported that it smells a bit like horse pee (urine), while others have described it as a bit like composting hay. I've never encounter it though.

 

Also, the HV battery warranty can be extended to the end of the 10th year by having a "hybrid health check" (HHC) done once a year by a Toyota approved service centre. These can be free if done in conjunction with a fixed price service, or on its own for £39.

I second this. The Bosch S4 055 you have will work, so unless you feel particularly driven to return this and replace with an OEM, I would not waste any more time on this.

It was asked a while back if you have any water in either your battery compartment or tyre well, or both and do not recollect that you answered that question. I only ask as you are running a dehumidifier, which would indicate you think the smell could be from dampness. If you could confirm whether there is water in either of those places, then we can point you to threads which detail from where that water is possibly coming.

Hope that helps.

[EDIT]: If you can indicate where in the UK you are (say county), you may be able to get a recommendation of a good service centre from a UK based member. Cheers.

 

1. It would be good for you to remove the folding hatch floor and the black plastic tray over the spare tire and look around, to make sure there is no standing water or some other nastiness that might explain the problem. Also take a good look under the seats, pulling up the rear seat cushion as well. For example, what if someone spilled several ounces of milk in the hatch area or under a seat.

2. Regarding the 12V battery voltage, since you are using a traditional flooded cell battery, the fully-charged voltage would be 12.6V to 12.7V. It certainly is helpful that you have it on a charger right now. If you don't smell anything interesting coming from the battery as it is charging, then I think we can rule that out.

3. Yes, it would not hurt to have your dealer inspect the traction battery, although it is not clear to me that a "bad smell" is a warranted condition. I don't think you'll find mention of that in your maintenance and warranty booklet.

 

Patrick... I did a small experiment and thought to share it here. This is too small a sample but the results were interesting.

I have access to 3 Gen 2 prius. I found that all 3 has the same strong smell. Interestingly the owners of the car could not find any "bad" smell in any car. Maybe the odor is so specific that not all folks are equally affected by it and that is what's making it so difficult to troubleshoot or people having strong opinions. For me, It's strongest at the vent in the back seat. Maybe folks who are having this issue can repeat this experiment.

I should add I like the car and am a big fan of prius!

Remember the broccoli discussion over the years:
The Broccoli Problem: Why Some People Taste Things More Bitter

 

Interesting thought any merit?

 

That's a strong indication that the traction battery is at fault if you can smell the problem at the vent.

Your profile indicates you own a 2009, so do you experience the same smell issue with your own Prius?

 

why is it so difficult to believe hobbits write up on the smelly battery tubes?

 

Maybe vent gas reacts with the rubber vent tubes.

 

Looks like you exercised due diligence. It is reasonable the traction battery is the source of the odor since you've examined the hatch area and determined the 12V battery is not at fault. Hopefully you won't be wasting your time & money by having the dealer check the car out.

 

FWIW, 3rd gen free play spec is 30mm.

 

mendel, you know everything.

 

Patrick knows everything, I just like looking for stuff.

Wait a sec, I think you just called me a know-it-all.