Sluggish, no battery when HOT inside

I pull the little hatch cargo cover over the back, maybe it keeps the battery cooler...?

Lately I've been out driving around 11, and again at 5... the car is very hot inside at both times (yeah, I know, black car in the South). But I've never had any sluggishness... and the fan only turned on once on me.

Sounds strange to me.

 

I have had this happen to me one time when I was on vacation in Az. Same symptoms, basically. Fan runs pretty loud back there, and sluggish. It did recover, the A/C was also a little on the downside in the beginning.

 

Not a problem for me, in Phx, very hot these days. I always leave both front windows down about 2 inches, and use the heat shield in the front window.
The Prius is a pleasant surprise for me; I'm amazed it's air conditioning works so well compared to other cars I've had.
I strongly recommend the heat shield advertised in these forums for the Prius. It's well worth the money!

 

what you are describing is very strange. we havent had any real hot weather this year, but i got my car in the middle of the hottest summer i can remember being in Western Wa last year and i never noticed anything like that.

had a few times when it was over 100º and never any power issues. a few times it was HOT!! last year, i was getting off work at 2:30 in the afternoon, and i could almost smell melted plastic from inside the car it was soo hot.

 

If the car was left sitting in the hot sun with windows closed, perhaps the battery compartment temperature would rise to the point where the battery cooling fan would run, draining the battery and, incidentally, not cooling the battery because the air in the car would be even hotter than that in the battery compartment.

Never park a Prius in the hot sun with the windows closed.

 

The battery cooling fan won't run unless the car is powered-on. If the car is powered on and someone is inside, I'm willing to bet the windows would be open or the A/C would be on.

I don't think the Prius engineers would design a car as brilliantly as they did and miss something that basic...

Dave

 

Dave, the original poster said when he came back to his car after parking the fan was running. I presumed he meant, before turning power on.

BTW, I don't think I've ever heard that fan running here in Phx, where it gets over 110 F outside, and where a closed car can get over 140 F. (I never leave windows shut when parking.)

 

I can't see that happening - the only battery accessible with the power off is the 12v aux battery - the relay disconnects the HV battery as soon as the car shuts off and the 12v battery doesn't have the juice to run something as power-hungry as a fan for any length of time at all...

Dave

 

I suspect your low battery is due to the air conditioner being on all the time. After getting into a hot car lower all windows and drive with the air conditioner off for a couple of minutes.

 

[font=Comic Sans MS:57660e5ee8]Take your prize Prius to the dealer on Monday, Nate. I think you may have a HV battery problem. PHX is hotter than any place in CO, especially with the altitude. If this isn't normal in AZ, it sure isn't normal in CO.[/font:57660e5ee8]

 

I had this problem too, and I live in Colorado also
See post http://priuschat.com/forums/hot-battery-vt...html?highlight=
It was too hot for battery, and so it tried to protect it by not using it much. Plus I made the mistake of not running the AC, which would have helped the battery cool off. After parking in the shade for half an hour, everything was back to normal.

I don't think there is anyting wrong with your car.

 

:roll: We're having frequent ~100º days in Dallas now. Haven't noticed any "sliggishness" at all in our Prius "Ernestine." MPGs down a bit due to constant use of AC system, but she's peppy as usual.

 

8) Hi Evan...

Actually, I *DO* park in the sun on blacktop parking lots and concrete streets, sometimes with windows lowered about 1" , sometimes not if there's a possibility (wishful thinking most times) of rain. So, I do get the 130º - 145º OVEN inside. Still, I haven't noticed any degraded performance. Normally, I will lower the rear windows when starting and "outside air setting" on the AC to drive the hot air out sooner, but the performance is at least as good, probably better, than our Camry.

Maybe "Ernestine" is still too "young" - 10 months, 11,000± miles - to suffer degraded performance.

 

As another Arizona Prius Owner, I have not had the problem the OP had. We just finished 39 days of 100+ weather. My Pruis sits in the sun most of the day and it gets HOT. (A study at the University of Arizona actually measured temperatures in cars in Tucson at over 180 degrees after about 45 minutes in the sun!!!!)

I think the Colorado Posters that have had the problem need to go to Toyota and see if there is a tech report on the problem. It is possible that a combination of heat and elevation may contribute. Possibly can be done by reprogramming the computers.

By the way, I don't think I have ever heard a fan on my battery come on. Even on the hottest days I often find that I have Green bars when I first start the car at the end of the day.

Just my opinion

Your Mileage May Vary. YMMV

 

Nate,

I had this happen the other day and it seemed to be a similar situation. Normally the car sits in the sun all day while at work and I drive home at about 5:30pm (Very hot inside the car). The day that this incident happened was one where I ran some errands at lunch (Noon) and ended up leaving work early (3:00pm). So I am guessing that the noontime driving was the difference in this case. I have not seen it again since.

There is a topic that I started on this where another AZ driver tells of seeing the same issue.

http://www.priuschat.com/forums/losing-pow...g2-vt10463.html

How many times have you seen this?

Eric