I've noticed that after sitting over night my battery for the hybrid system is not charged enough to operate the car in EV or for the first mile or two it does not seem to use as much electric power to supplement the car. After a couple miles it is charged or near charged and I see more use.
View 5 RepliesI know car likes to shut off at 3-4 bar, but what if I want to keep the battery closer to full in order to get more power. Is there any way to tell the computer to keep engine running?
View 19 RepliesOn a hot sunny day, occasionally I have to be stopped for extended periods with the A/C running which means the engine will come on for a few minutes out of every 10 minutes or so. to charge the traction battery. Engine comes on at 2 bars and goes off at 3 bars.
As engine efficiency at idle is low, would it be better to put it in D with the brake firmly pressed and push the accelerator so that the engine speed is in the high efficiency range so as to produce more charge for the fuel burnt and maybe also I could charge it to a few more bars on the battery indicator?
About 4 months I accidentally reversed the polarity when jumping my car and fried my 12V battery and blew the fusible link. I replaced it with an Optima yellow top but due to other issues I haven't driven the car since about that time.
Last week I got most of the other issues resolved and tried starting the car, nothing. It was reading less than a volt on the voltmeter. I used my portable jump starter and got the car started. I only drove it to the gas station (1 mile round trip) to fill my tires and back. I went to start it the next day and nothing again. I thought maybe I didn't charge the battery enough since I hadn't been driving it.
I charged it overnight using a wall charger and again the next day it wouldn't start. Yesterday I jumped it again and drove it about 20 minutes, about half at low speeds (<30 MPH) and half at higher speeds. I got home put the car in park, but still on, and checked the voltage again, about 13.8 V. Turned the car off and checked again and I could see the voltage dropping like a rock. Within about 30 seconds it was down to 6V and within another 30 seconds it was so low that I didn't have any interior lights or dash lights.
It seems to me like the battery is bad. However after I "fried" the original battery I had similar issues. In fact the reason I had to jump it in the first place is because the battery died a few times in the same day. Could something be killing the battery?
Do you think it would shorten the life of the hybrid battery if I make a habit of really trying to EV in the last mile of arriving home?
Tonight, I accelerated quite slow after the last stop to stay on battery, but I noticed the battery bars got down to 2.
Got to wondering, if I do this a lot, might it shorten the traction battery life such that it fails at 11 yrs, for example, instead of 14 years?
Took my C to the local drive through car wash as it was pretty crusty looking from all of the rain we've had lately. I had my A/C on as its a nice and warm sunny Florida day. Pulled inside and put my C in Neutral to go through the wash and half way through my car started beeping like mad and flashing the "!" in a triangle symbol and on the small screen it said something to the effect of "Cannot charge traction battery when car is in 'N'." My HVAC system drained down the traction battery and since the car was in neutral the engine couldn't keep it above the minimum SOC level. Turned the air off and anxiously waited for the car wash to hurry up so I could put it in drive. After I put the car in drive the SOC read 1 blue bar and took FOREVER to charge back (or perhaps it just seemed that way because I was freaking out..)
View 17 RepliesI see this was discussed back in 06 but not resolved. Maybe more owners have had additional experiences with this.
View 18 RepliesI have a 2005 Prius with about 170,000 km on it. I bought it two years ago used at 150,000 km. Everything worked fine for about 8 months, them I noticed the main battery started to drain on first start in the morning after driving a short distance. It would drop down to about 2-3 bars most days, especially on cold mornings. After reading on this forum for a bit I turned off the key locator, and it went back to normal for about 6 months, at which point it started dropping again. I haven't had any warning lights come on yet.
I replaced the 12 V battery, as recommended here with an Optima Yellow Top, even though the original one showed no voltage drop. It actually tested higher than the new Yellow Top I got. My fear is that the traction battery is losing modules. I'm planning on testing them soon.
A month ago I bought a 2007 Prius with 140,000 km. I notice that the state of charge drops into the 'red' bars within about 20 minutes of the car switched on, in Park with no accessories running. A mechanic connected his diagnostic computer and saw 2 cells are low. However, the mechanic informs me there is no value in replacing those cells as others are likely to go down, thereafter. Is there anything I can do to avoid having to replace the entire traction battery?
View 10 RepliesIs it possible to do a long charge of the hybrid battery with a regular battery charger? If so how?
View 5 RepliesI recently purchased a used 2007 prius. The car has not been driven for some time. I won it in an auction from a used/wreaked car lot and am in the process of fixing it up. I need to know if it is possible to charge the hybrid battery when the car is idling or will this only discharge the hybrid battery and if so, is there any way to charge the hybrid battery other than driving the car?
View 6 RepliesMy battery on my Celica wouldn't hold a charge, as if my alternator was faulty but i took it to Azone and it was fine. Replaced battery around a month ago so i doubt that's the problem..checked fuses and "charging" fuse in fuse box next to battery was not getting current to i ran direct current to from battery it and it seem to have fixed the problem for about a DAY, then fuse blew..replaced it but it still seems to have the same problem ): btw the battery and brake lights stay on..
View 1 RepliesMy sister owns a 2004 Kia Amanti. The battery will not hold a charge. The battery has been replaced several times. the alternator and regular and anything else that could drain the battery has been checked. All ground posts have been cleaned. At first the battery would go dead every 3 to 5 days but now you have to start the car every day or it will die. They say there is a 7ohm drain on the battery that can't be located. The latest suggestion is to replace the wiring in the driver's side door. What would be causing this?
View 4 RepliesMy 98' Taurus will not hold a charge. I have replace the battery 3, The alternator was replaced 4 times, and the 175 amp mega fuse was replaced once.I am at wits end cause I don't have a clue what is causing the the battery to discharge over night in the winter and with in 3 days in the sommer. I have rewired the main fuse box under the hood cause the relay to the starter melted the box, I replaced cables to the battery, the alternator, the starter, and the ground to the battery, and the main fuse box under the hood. I have tested the battery to see if it will hold a charge on its own. This test took 3 weeks before it drained. I know it is not the battery. What is going on with this car, Did I miss something?
View 1 RepliesMy 2007 Prius has 120,000 miles. I live in a mountainous area. I need to climb 3 miles at 6% grade to get out of my neighborhood. Lately I've been noticing the traction battery loses charge fairly quickly and I've been thinking about replacing the battery. Much of my driving is in steep hills and I run a full charge cycle many times a day, so I guess I should expect some loss of life.
View 7 RepliesI can charge it off someone else battery and it will start and drive, but by the next morning it's dead again. Truck charges fine while truck runs so I don't think it's the alternator. 1999 4.2L V6 ....
View 3 RepliesI am pretty sure that my Denso alternator is shot. My 2010 Corolla S will not start, battery won't hold a charge either. I pop started my vehicle around 10:30am today and drove 30 minute north on the 101. My car appeared to have no issue maintaining power. I rode my bicycle around for about an hour and then tried to start my car. Nothing. Tried to pop start the vehicle twice...still nothing.
The battery has about 40k on it. Car has 121k. So I am guessing it is my alternator.
Like I said the current alternator is made by Denso. I would like to buy a higher quality alternator with maybe a little more cranking amps.
I also am planning on purchasing a Optima battery, should I stick with a yellow top or a redtop. I have some aftermarket audio, only amp is in the Pioneer head-unit (avh p440bt), which is connected to aftermarket 6x9s and components (JL Audio c2-690tx and JL Audio C5-650).
There a couple of things wrong with this particular vehicle. first, that battery will not hold its charge; it also has a high pitched noise when started and only when accelerating. Where to start?
View 9 Replies2008 Prius gen ll.. I had to take an unplanned out of state trip this week. For most of the highway time (2 days each way at +/- 65mph) the hybrid battery was almost always fully charged(green bars). The arrow every few seconds pointed towards the battery indicating charging even though the battery showed all green bars. Every now and then, several times per minute it would out pulse a short blast of energy to the system but not enough to bring it down to blue bars.
MPG was down about 10% . P>G didn't seem to except when I was in town. Taking my foot off the gas pedal didn't always result in the 99.9 indication unless I was going down an incline. I went from Northern Michigan to South Louisiana so temperature wasn't the culprit. The only thing different is that my 12v ignition battery failed just before leaving and the dealership replaced it.
At normal speeds, when I pulled off the interstate for gas/food/sleep the system worked OK, blue bars charging and discharging and good gas mileage. P&G worked normally. I've had this car for 5 years now and only a few times over that period have I noticed the hybrid battery fully green.
I recently worked on a 2006 with 140K miles that presented with the following symptoms:
The hybrid battery was at 1 bar; the ICE would not start; the car was in Ready, but there were no codes. As I let it roll off the flatbed wrecker in Neutral, it felt lumpy. If you have ever pushed a car (or run out of gas in one) with a manual transmission that was in a high gear, engine off, it felt just like that.
I popped the hood and could see that the engine crank was turning while the car was being pushed in Neutral. What else turns with the wheels? MG2, or more specifically, the MG2 ring gear. What is the only way that the wheels could turn the ICE crank? The planetary carrier pinions were locked to the ring gear.
Surprisingly, while I was looking at things, it did manage to start the ICE pushing it around must have freed the carrier pinions, so I let it charge the hybrid battery. It was basically the worst metal-to-metal noise that I have ever heard! I pulled the drain plug and saw about a teaspoonful of large metal chips on the magnet. The fluid condition itself was very good, not the black factory fill that I am used to seeing come out.
Seen the battery charge level at 100%? The battery charge display seems to never go up to the top bar. I think I may have noticed it once, but I might have been dreaming that.
View 18 Replies