Hi guys, need some advise. i have a 2011 Prius with about 115k kilometres (100k miles) done and recently i found some foul smelling dark coloured liquid on the spare wheel well. i sent the car to Toyota and they claimed it was from the ar 12V battery. No other explanation was given even upon further enquiry. what i don't understand is that the location of the 12V battery and the spare wheel compartment is separated and the 12V battery compartment is clean. Immediately above the spare wheel is the traction battery so my question is, can the traction battery leak? I will be grateful for the input, thank you all.
Yes, it can. See the Hybrid Vehicle Dismantling Manual (PDF) and the Material Safety Data Sheet for the Hybrid Battery Assembly (PDF), both available for free from toyota-tech.eu. The section “Spills” on page 14 of the Dismantling Manual explains how to clean up electrolyte spills from the Hybrid Vehicle battery, though the same section also says the electrolyte “is absorbed in the cell plates and will not normally spill or leak out even if a battery module is cracked.” If the liquid hasn’t already been removed, you could confirm its origin by testing with red litmus (indicator) paper, which would turn blue in the presence of a strong alkaline (base) like the HV battery electrolyte. The 12-volt battery electrolyte, of course, is a strong acid.
