I have what is hopefully an easy question for somebody. I had my traction battery discharge while I was trying to figure out another problem with my 2005 Prius. I found on this site, how to recharge it. I finally got it recharged but I haven't been able to get the juice where I need it to run the vehicle. I have 179vdc on the contacts I have circled in the picture but nothing on the other side. No matter what I do, I cannot get the juice so I can operate the vehicle. The 12 volt battery is good to go, I have kept it on a trickle charger. As I understand it, the 12 volt battery is just there to control the power from the traction battery. If I have juice in both batteries, what can stop it from getting where I need it? I appreciate any help I can get. Gary
Gary, I'm not sure but 179 Volts may be to low for the computer to allow the contacts to close. I don't know how you were charging the battery but if it were me I would try to get it up to no less than 200 Volts, 225 V would be ideal. Hope that helps. Matt
Yep. I read that was a common mistake so I made sure to double check that. I had hoped that was all it was but it was good to go.
201.6V is the nominal traction battery voltage and the actual voltage should be more like 220V. Probably what is happening with your car is that the traction battery ECU recognizes that the battery voltage is too low so it is sending a msg to the hybrid vehicle ECU to inhibit vehicle start. Therefore, you need to replace the traction battery.
Hi Gary. You say the car will not power up at all.. "nothing" Even with the hv battery saftey disconnect pulled. The prius should still power up (but not ready) with lots of warning lights via the 12 volt battery alone. I suspect you have and internal open on 12 volt battery, or blown 90amp 12 volt battery fuse located at positive battery terminal or 100 amp fuse link location driverside engine compartment.. Does headlights work on highbeams (max load) ? If headlights work brightly then disregard my suspicions of blown main fuses. Leave headlights on then push start/ready switch...Do the headlights remain on when trying to ready the car or do the light go out. If the headlight go out when trying to ready the prius . then you have a 12 volt battery / connection problem.. hope this helps..
Thanks sir. I will check those when I get home tonight. I literally have nothing so it may be those fuses. That would be great if it was that easy.
Hi again Gary. I have I little more information that my be of use to you. A prius that sits without use of 24 or so days will have a 90% discharged 12 volt battery. At this point when someone tries to ready/start the prius the dash/console lights illuminate only half brightness. And the 12 volt battery voltage drops to 6-8 volts instantly and the prius cannot be turned off (and it will not have ready-ed). At this point most of 18 or so computers in the prius are locked up and loading the battery further in exhaustion/depletetion. At this state a trickle charge will be trying to still power half the computers in the prius and will not charge the 12 volt battery.. The negitive connection at the 12 volt battery will have to be removed. to get the 12 volt battery charged.. This removal of the battery connection will insure that the computers in the prius will reboot and reset properly the next time 12volts is applied.. You will loose fuel trim memory ( no big deal ) radio presets , and driver side power window auto up function (just lower driverside window half way. Then pull up and hold windows switch 1 second longer after window fully closes) and your back in business.. let me know how you make out ... Ps Its nearly impossible to run down the hv battery... as the gasoline engine will always start up and recharge the hv battery.. And if the prius was not in ready mode only the 12 volt battery can be run down.. The 12 volt battery doesn't charge untill the prius is in ready mode.. when not in ready mode the 12 battery will run down quickly...
perhaps your prius plugin hybrid is different 12 volt capacity or 12 volt battery is boosted occasionaly from larger capacity hv battery/charge converter ? Conventional prius hybrids shipped from japan to usa takes 30 days by boat. And are shipped with dome fuse removed to keep 12 volt battery from fully discharging. dome fuse removed removes half the standby load which is normally only 25-30 milliamps. Thats .6 to .72 amps discharge daily. 18.0 - 21.6 amp hours over 30 day shipping period. This does not include the the fuel pump that cycles every 5 hours at 4 minutes per cycle all while the prius is turned off ! The last time I checked the 12 volt battery is 34-36 amp hour capacity. The op has genII some of which only have 24 amp hour battery without keyless entry.. keyless entry option gets 34 amp hour battery..
We got power now!!! Replaced the fuse and now everything lights up. If I can get home from work early enough to get a couple pics tomorrow I will but I am now back to the original problem that caused it to sit. I believe the power divider went out. I had taken it to the dealer and they told me the engine is gone. I need to replace it for 7k. I might go along with their diagnosis except when I was able to get it on the highway, it would run good until you let off the throttle. Now correct if I am wrong(which happens a lot) but once you take your foot off the throttle, the power divider essentially disconnects the engine and uses the main generator to charge the hv battery and slow the vehicle. That tells me that the problem is in the divider or the generator. Since it would still charge, I think the generator is still good to go. I found another thread on here and the rough running and descriptions of how it sounded and felt matched mine perfectly and his was the power divider. With all that said, I have the red light of death on my screen so it will not even try to start the engine. Can a regular code reader find out what is throwing that code or do I have to haul it in to the dealer to find out? As long as I can get it to start up, I have no problem spending the money to replace the power divider but I am real hesitant to replace the motor. Any advice is really appreciated. Thanks for all the help so far, you guys are great!!
Get Mini VCI so that you can retrieve the DTC yourself. If a replacement gasoline engine is actually required, have a used engine installed, which you can buy for a low three-digit amount. It makes no sense to install a new engine for $7K when the market value of a 10-year old Prius is not worth that much.
i also left my '04 and '08 for unto 6 weeks at a time in mid winter in an unheated attached garage with unto 4 year old batteries with no issues. i believe the battery is rock solid until you accidentally drain it one time, then it's on the edge.
