Hello, I’ve gotten a lot of information just from reading this page, so I’m hoping to get some help. This is my first time posting. I have a 2005 Prius, last summer my hybrid battery went out and I replaced it myself. It is under warranty still. In the fall I replaced the inverter pump, something I had learned about from this page. Now the warning lights are all coming on again and I think it’s the hybrid battery once again. I’ve taken it to get the codes read and nothing comes up, any suggestions? Maybe a better place to get the codes? I live in a rural area and just went to the local auto parts store. Last time I took it to Toyota who did give me the information that it was the battery, and maybe even which cells were bad, but I was hoping to avoid that service charge- and it is a distance away. I noticed the lights a week ago, immediately pulled over and shut the car down. I turned it back on, it ran okay, I drove it home. I had just got gas when that happened and thought maybe there was a problem with the fuel. Now the lights came on again Monday and later I noticed the vent to the battery in the back had air coming out. Just had the codes read and nothing came up. Is there anyway this could be NOT a major battery issue? The place I bought the battery from is in Sherwood Illinois and I’m in southern Indiana. They want me to have codes before they’ll talk to me about the warranty. I’m not sure it’s the battery again, but really seems that way, with the triangle, check engine and VSC lights all on. It was unexpectedly cold that morning... could it be that?
How's your 12V. battery? A bad 12V. battery is known to make the Prius do a lot of unexplained things.
If you have air coming out of the battery vent enough to notice it its probably the hybrid battery fan is on hi or higher than normal which points to the hybrid battery failing. How's the battery charge behavior look on the mfd? In purple bars all the time wont charge up to blue or goes from full change to purple real fast. Either one of those means death. I applaud you changing the hybrid battery yourself thats pretty impressive cause its pretty heavy. If your going to keep this car you must be able to read full hybrid codes yourself . Most auto parts stores do not have full hybrid decoding and will not see hybrid codes. For someone not completely computer savvy best best is to buy a $99 VXDIAG on Amaazon. Its a little device that plugs into the USB on a laptop and it plugs directly into the cars OBD port. The one with Toyota Techstream software on it.. Thats the same program the dealer uses to trouble shoot the car. Just need a laptop. I have one it works great. if your good on computers theirs a cheap alternative called Mini VCI. On Amazon for $25. Check it out read all the amazon customer reviews on that device. Its not plug and play sometimes. "Rebuilt" battery's rarely last too long as they are using 10 year battery modules to repair your totally dead ones. There not new cells. There cells they took out of junkyard Prius's.
There are all sorts of ways it could not be a major battery issue, if you don't have the trouble codes yet, and are only trying to guess by what lights are on. Battery's a possibility, but so are on the order of a hundred things. I would definitely remain calm and find a way to get the codes read, and go from there. If there isn't a dealership near you, the suggested VxDiag or MiniVCI options would be good, if you have a beater laptop to run Techstream on. If you keep the car a while, you will never regret having that. Regrettably, while there are count-the-blinking-light alternatives for getting the codes from several of the car's computers, for codes from the hybrid ECU I don't think there are. -Chap
Me...I'd go to the Dealership and have them pull the codes. By the time you get the software, cable and laptop set up you will already know and can move forward expeditiously with the warranty on the battery, (or what ever repair is actually needed) without shotgunning it. You already turn a wrench...so paying the Dealership a buck for specifics might be wise at this point. Best wishes and good luck.
Or stop by a parts store and have them ready the codes for free. At some point you should own your own diagnostic equipment. Cost less than $75 total ELM 327 Bluetooth OBDII reader Android phone/tablet Torque Pro app
Believe JeanetteB stated no codes pulled up at parts store. I agree with having own diagnostic tools, but the lights are on now and this needs to addressed now.
Just means the codes that are responsible for those lights being on still need to be read, probably not at that parts store. -Chap
Yes, many auto parts stores code readers are basic models that just read generic OBD codes common to all vehicles but not necessarily hybrid specific codes. Getting the codes read with an appropriate diagnostic tool (reader) by the dealership, hybrid specialist shop or personal device is suggested as the next step. Guessing, you've got a hybrid battery related issue. The replacement battery (new toyota or aftermaket?) also leads me to this assumption as cheaper, rebuilt batteries don't typically last very long. We see examples of this over and over and over here. GOOD LUCK!
Shouldn't air be drawing in there, not out? Or just language tripping us up? Is it even possible to reverse the fan flow??
Owning your own equipment will help you see other data besides just reading codes. For example, if one module is low, but there is not a code showing yet, you would be able to take a screenshot and share that with the rebuilder. Sure sounds like a hybrid battery issue, but at this point ll anyone can do is guess. Do you already have an Android phone/tablet?
Battery vent air gets sucked into inlet in the rear passenger seat and exits out a vent behind the 12 volt battery. If your back in that battery area you can see the flap that seals the hole move with airflow. Th fan is always on and such low flow it does not hardly move flap. If you see that flap moving th fan is on high like when you are using a prolong charger which makes fan run at full speed, Fan runs at high speed when battery hot. At full speed you can clearly hear it in th cabin. Only heard that fan once in 11 years. I left the car on top of parking lot garage with no window shade All day. The interior was so hot I couldn’t sit in th car until the ac ran for a while. Battery fan ran for quite a while.
