hi guys. Noticed that driving around My hybrid battery shows low but there’s no warning lights. Normal? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Welcome to Prius Chat . Some questions: How many miles on your Prius? When you say low, do you mean they are cycling low and then fast to fill? Is your hv battery pack original? Keep us posted .
It has 175k and has a fairly new rebuild hv battery. Just drove it again and noticed on flat ground at 25-30mph with a light load the bars show about 1/2 filled. With a full load going up a hill the bars are low and going downhill with my foot off the gas it shows a 3/4-full charge/bars and shows it’s charging. Normal? Thank you!!
Some additional questions: Did you rebuild the battery or had the battery rebuilt by someone else? What is the warranty on the hv battery? What you are seeing are initial signs of the rebuilt battery failing. While probably not the news you wanted to hear, I’d call the rebuilder and share what you are experiencing with them. Good luck and keep us posted .
Someone else did it and gave a 90 warranty which I think isn’t expired. I will need to get into that tomorrow. Are rebuilt usually ok? Any suggestions on something better without costing an arm and a leg? Thanks for your input!
I’d delve into the warranty, but it will be a lost cause. Maybe you and @Mavi should get together on a Prolong setup, since you are both in the San Diego area. That would be the best way IMO to keep your car in the road and minimize the unexpected down time. But ask yourself this before you take that approach: How long do you want to keep the car? What condition is the car in? If another major part fails tomorrow (brake actuator, ac, etc), is the car worth saving and making an additional investment? Once you have clarity there, the Prolong setup might be in your future. Hope that helps .
Thanks for the advice! I love the car and it’s in excellent shape and want to keep it for a long time. Just out of curiousty, why is letting the warranty fix it a hopeless cause? Forgive my ignorance on the issue.
The warranty fix will be a “kick the can down the road” solution . You just can’t predict the quality of the rebuild as the modules will be old and not the same resistance as the ones in your pack . I’ve helped another member here by loaning our my Prolong setup. He had 2 failed modules and was able to swap out the bad ones for some used ones of about the same vintage, balance and recondition the pack and has been running strong for 3 months. I know @Mavi was looking for a Prolong setup and might be interested in sharing. I do that up here with @SFO and it works well for us. Hope that helps answer your question .
Cool! Thanks! I’ll try to reach out to @Mavi and see if he can help! Thank you soo much for the help and advice!
The trade name for Hybrid Automotive’s equipment: Prolong Battery Systems. Extending the life of your hybrid. – Hybrid Automotive Check ‘em out.
Got it! Now it all makes sense. Would you recommend the total package or just the charger? I see they sell all these items separately. So, you obviously feel this is a good enough product that really works and is better than rebuilding batteries? I’m assuming what this does is discharge the entire system and recharges the packs in sync?
I would get the full system as you have a rebuilt pack and reconditioning will be the route you’ll need to go if you invest. While the initial investment seems high, if you can find others that will appreciate the equipment as much as you and take car of it, you’ll reduce costs and avoid it “just sitting on the shelf” most of the time. You can even rebuild batteries with this setup (which is what the member up by me did with the Prolong equipment). You’ll just need the modules to swap in, then do the whole pack reconditioning together . Hope that helps .
They should be a good place to buy used modules too. Their price may be a little higher but they have a 1 year warranty, according to @jeff652 (the owner).
