Last night my battery charge indicator would show the battery from 1 bar to full bar bars very quickly and then also drain very rapidly again. Basically it would start the engine while waiting at the light for a little while. This morning I started driving and the big red triangle and CEL went on. This a common indicator of the hybrid battery going bad? Or can it be other things as well? Fortunately I'm in CA, so I should be covered (it is a 2006 with 110k miles). I hope.
Mine did that a couple weeks ago. Also a 2006 and luckily also in California. I took it to the dealership. Yes, it was the hybrid battery. Being replaced under warranty and I get a loaner corolla. They said maybe two to three weeks to get the battery in, I took it to Toyota place in garden grove. 137,000 miles on mine.
Well I dropped the Prius of yesterday at my dealer (Bryan Hayden -- Capitol Toyota in San Jose, CA). They checked and sure enough, trouble codes P0A80 & P3019 . They replaced the traction battery and I picked it up today and all looks great. While it was there today got an oil change as well since it was at 110k miles. Only cost me the oil change. Great service from the dealer and hopefully it will be good for another 6 years and 110k miles.
Good that they covered it but a bit disturbing that it failed so early. I'm familiar w/the above dealer and will be going there tomorrow for some maintenance. Did you live in a hotter part of CA/area at some point? Does your commute have any significant hills, esp. those where you might go down a steep hill (charging the HV battery up to a high level) before you power off the car?
I live down in Morgan Hill that is not much warmer than the rest of the Bay Area. My commute doesn't have significant hills, nor did it do much hills apart from once in a while. I did figure it to last about 100k miles though and 5-6 years.
Hmm, for me, I expect (and hope) that most HV batteries should last at least the duration of the CARB warranty (10 years/150K miles) except for those in very hot climates or where they frequently go up/down hills.
How do you know if the hybrid battery goes bad. I got this red triangle and check engine light on way back from miami the other day. Vehicle would not charge up the battery on mfd and I could not go very fast, after a while the check engine light and red triangle went away.
^^ About the only way to know for certain is by getting the codes (aka DTCs) retrieved. Did you ever get this done? LSC A0N - HV (Inverter) Water Pump; Dealer Letter and Technical Instructions | PriusChat
