2013 Prius c, 175xxx miles My daughter got the check hybrid system error code as many have before. The car is a temporary car and needs to last maybe another few years. I would prefer not to have to buy a new battery for 1500 if possible. We took it into a shop and had it scanned. The shop tech said that the battery is running hot and may be charging / discharging too fast causing the error code. However the voltages of the cells are within specs. I am attaching pics of the scanner in case anyone has any ideas because charging/discharging fast may be hard to diagnose.
I know you don’t want to pay for a new battery, but if your daughter plans on putting a bunch of miles on the car over the next few years it might still be worth considering. The Project Lithium batteries are probably the most popular option right now with a fairly straightforward DIY installation. A few more years of ownership isn’t that temporary, and balancing and replacing individual cells seems like more of a headache than it’s worth. But that’s just my take.
She really doesn’t put many miles on it; probably 6-8k a year. Granted it’s better to put a new battery in but money is tight at the moment so we are looking at all options
That’s understandable. An OBD2 reader and the Dr. Prius app are worth getting if you don’t have them already. You can run a battery test and get more specific information on what cells or blocks have gone bad and proceed from there. This is the OBD2 reader I have. Perhaps others will chime in with some guidance on balancing the voltage. I know if you replace a bad block the voltage has to be balanced with the others. I’m not sure how it all works, but if you don’t get your answers in this thread, search this forum and YouTube and you’ll find more information.
did he give you the trouble codes and sub codes? maybe you just need to clean the cooling fan and intake grille
