I bought a Prius a few months back. I was told the battery was recently replaced. I get good gas mileage which is about 47 mpg. It has about 200,000 miles on it. Below are the problems in order. 1. I got a check engine light on after the tank was filled with gas. This light turned off after a few days and everything seemed fine. 2. About a month later I got the triangle of death and the check engine light at the same time. I bought a scanner today and it has some misfiring cylinder errors which I was aware of (this did not trigger the triangle of death). It shows a P3006 error and it has to do with the HV battery. It says the battery levels are uneven. I also checked the 12V battery and it reads 12.3V. So I am sure that's good. I also get good gas mileage as I have mentioned above. I am pretty sure the issue is not the HV battery. My biggest concern is the triangle of death which I believe is caused by the P3006 error code. I am attaching the report as a .pdf. P.S. I really don't know much about cars.
It looks like they recently replaced it with a rebuilt one. Those rarely last more than a few months. Perhaps there's a warranty on the battery. Rebuilders have been making the warranties shorter of late since they are discovering that they fail sooner than they thought they would. Since you're so close to San Francisco, you might check out Lucious Garage. They are one of the most highly respected hybrid shops anywhere. Here's their page on your situation: Gen 1 Prius Battery Failure, P3006 - Luscious Garage | Hybrid Specialists
Welcome to Prius Chat . Some questions: What scanner did you buy? How long have you owned a classic Prius? Have you tried taking it to a shop? Keep us posted .
Thanks, my question is, SOmething can still be wrong with the battery even if I get good gas mileage?
Thanks, I bought the Blue Driver Scanner. I have owned the Prius about three months and I have not taken it to a shop. I am a full-time student so I really don't the money to take it to a shop.
The software to buy is Techstream and pair it with a J2534 harness for ~$20 and you’d have what you need to diagnose your Prius. The blue driver probably will not be able to diagnose the Prius specific codes you’ll have. Can you return the blue driver, then look to get te Mini vci J2534 setup? A shop that could help you out would be Arts Automotive in Berkeley. They are a respected Prius shop. Good luck and keep us posted .
Okay. I am just confused about the J2534 adapter. There appear to be various ones. I found one on E-Bay. Mini VCI J2534 Diagnostic Cable For Toyota Lexus Scion TIS Techstream V13.00.022 Is that the correct one?
Sure. As the battery loses capacity due to cells getting out of balance or actually degrading, the car's computers will continue to optimize power management to give you the best possible efficiency as long as they can. Eventually, the computers will decide that the battery is too far gone and then you'll take a big and sudden mileage hit and/or the car will go into limp mode or just stop running. The article I referenced explains it well. Having an old Prius with limited funds for repairs is really risky, as you've now seen firsthand. Hopefully, you have time and a place to work on it yourself. @Raytheeagle's suggestion above of the Mini VCI setup will get you started diagnosing it. It shouldn't cost too much to at least get it running again (maybe a couple hundred dollars), but there's no telling how soon it will fail again without a new HV battery. There are a gazillion threads here on rebuilding batteries. It was very popular till we discovered that it was a short term fix.
Okay, I am going to graduate this summer(August) as a Software Engineer so I will be making good money. I will have the funds. Right now the car is running fine. I am thinking of contacting the guy who sold me the car(I think I still have his number) and asks him for the paperwork on the warranty. He said it was good for 10 years and it was replaced this year. In the meantime, I am going to clear the error code and get the adapter.
A little update for future readers in the same situation. My battery completely stopped working. It showed a "brake" error. On the LCD it shows no power going to the battery. It is not charging. My dad was driving the car and I was on the passenger side. I had my Bluetooth scanner plugged in and ran a scan. It showed two new error codes. • C1202: Brake Fluid Level Low / Open Circuit in Brake Fluid Level Warning Switch Circuit • C1259: HV Control System Regenerative Malfunction I think the issue is not so much the batteries(unless someone tells me otherwise). I think it's the device in between the batteries and the electric motor. But I do plan to get a good diagnostic test from the company in San Francisco posted above.
Getting a proper diagnostic will be worth it. Here are a few highly recommend options. All are knowledgeable and trustworthy: - Luscious Garage (San Francisco) - Pat's Garage (San Francisco) - Argonaut Garage (Berkeley)
