Prius Breakdown

[videodaveblue]

Hi everyone, Having suffered a breakdown in my 2001 classic, where 3 warning messages displayed on the information screen, one of them being 'Battery MAIN' - the power died and the book stated consult a Toyota dealer. The Toyota dealer could only diagnose an 'equalisation' problem. I was first told the Main Battery was not being charged equally and that the computer diagnose automatically fixed this. However upon a subsequent visit for a service, they also suggested the auxilliary Battery. Then the mechanic told me it was the charger not charging equally between the Main battery and the auxilliary battery, so now I am totally confused, although the problem does appear to have disappeared.

Does anyone know what an 'equalisation' problem really is, and can it really be cured by a computer being plugged in?

btw the car has done 90,000 miles and believed to be on its original batteries!

thanks for any replies.

[pa_sound_man]

Hi there, I'm by no means an expert on the Prius Classic - only got my 2005 Prius T4 in June - but have been an avid reader of some of the many Prius forums around ever since.

Are you aware of the Yahoo groups dedicated to Prii of all flavours?

The technical group:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius_Technical_Stuff/

would be a good place to look for advice on this. I seem to recall mention of a known problem with Prius Classic batteries something to do with the charge levels of the individual cells getting too far out of balance - sounds like it might be what you have seen.

I'd give them a try.

Good Luck - Vic

Hi everyone, Having suffered a breakdown in my 2001 classic, where 3 warning messages displayed on the information screen, one of them being 'battery MAIN' - the power died and the book stated consult a Toyota dealer. The Toyota dealer could only diagnose an 'equalisation' problem. I was first told the Main battery was not being charged equally and that the computer diagnose automatically fixed this. However upon a subsequent visit for a service, they also suggested the auxilliary battery. Then the mechanic told me it was the charger not charging equally between the Main battery and the auxilliary battery, so now I am totally confused, although the problem does appear to have disappeared.

Does anyone know what an 'equalisation' problem really is, and can it really be cured by a computer being plugged in?

btw the car has done 90,000 miles and believed to be on its original batteries!

thanks for any replies.

←

[videodaveblue]

Does anyone know what an 'equalisation' problem really is, and can it really be cured by a computer being plugged in?

Thanks for the Reply Vic, had a go at the link - made the mistake of searching for equalisation, when most of this group appear to be our US cousins - equalization produced more results but I still can't find a definitive answer! I guess Toyota want to keep it to themselves!

cheers

Dave

[videodaveblue]

Are you aware of the Yahoo groups dedicated to Prii of all flavours?

The technical group:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius_Technical_Stuff/

would be a good place to look for advice on this. I seem to recall mention of a known problem with Prius Classic batteries something to do with the charge levels of the individual cells getting too far out of balance - sounds like it might be what you have seen.

I'd give them a try.

Good Luck - Vic

Does anyone know what an 'equalisation' problem really is, and can it really be cured by a computer being plugged in?

btw the car has done 90,000 miles and believed to be on its original batteries!

thanks for any replies.

[pauledg]

"Hi everyone, Having suffered a breakdown in my 2001 classic, where 3 warning messages displayed on the information screen, one of them being 'Battery MAIN' - the power died and the book stated consult a Toyota dealer. ........"

Does this sound familiar? Yes, it does to me as this is exactly what happened to me and my 90,000 mile Prius Classic yesterday afternoon on the Bicester ring road. I cruised to a halt (could not pull off) and stared at the warning triangle and the three icon display on the main screen. I walked round the car, stared in the boot, scratched my head and risked re-starting. Nothing. The right hand icon was illuminated and, not knowing what was going on, I dived into the manual and didn't get much useful information save advising contact the dealer. By the time I had scoured the manual and wondered how to get help (no phone, no cash, nowhere near assistance and getting dark) I suppose 10 minutes had passed. Why does everything always happen on a saturday night?

In desperation I tried again to start the car hoping to move it to where the verge was wider, clearly it was going to be stuck overnight! And IT STARTED. Full of apprehension I drove the 5 miles home with no trouble at all.

I'm dying to know whether it;'s safe to use, whether contacting my nearest dealer is worthwhile if it's an intermittent problem - and just what could cause the problem in the first place. The car, bought early summer, came with full service record showing the only replacements required in 90,000 miles were tyres, pads and discs. Nothing else, so its reliability has been amazing. So far. Any comments or advice?

Paul

[videodaveblue]

"Hi everyone, Having suffered a breakdown in my 2001 classic, where 3 warning messages displayed on the information screen, one of them being 'battery MAIN' - the power died and the book stated consult a Toyota dealer. ........"

Does this sound familiar? Yes, it does to me as this is exactly what happened to me and my 90,000 mile Prius Classic yesterday afternoon on the Bicester ring road. I cruised to a halt (could not pull off) and stared at the warning triangle and the three icon display on the main screen. I walked round the car, stared in the boot, scratched my head and risked re-starting. Nothing. The right hand icon was illuminated and, not knowing what was going on, I dived into the manual and didn't get much useful information save advising contact the dealer.  By the time I had scoured the manual and wondered how to get help (no phone, no cash, nowhere near assistance and getting dark) I suppose 10 minutes had passed. Why does everything always happen on a saturday night?

In desperation I tried again to start the car hoping to move it to where the verge was wider, clearly it was going to be stuck overnight! And IT STARTED. Full of apprehension I drove the 5 miles home with no trouble at all.

I'm dying to know whether it;'s safe to use, whether contacting my nearest dealer is worthwhile if it's an intermittent problem - and just what could cause the problem in the first place. The car, bought early summer, came with full service record showing the only replacements required in 90,000 miles were tyres, pads and discs. Nothing else, so its reliability has been amazing. So far. Any comments or advice?

Paul

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[videodaveblue]

Hi Paul, are you still on the original Battery?

After lots of consideration, bench-charging etc, I decided to place a new Battery in my 90,000 classic and I have more confidence in the ability of the car to survive the forthcoming winter - might be worth considering! ;)

regards, Dave.

[posing]

How much is a new Battery - just out of curiousity.

[videodaveblue]

"How much is a new Battery - just out of curiousity".

My reply seemed to get lost somehow!

I replaced the classic Battery with an equivalent (without vent tube) for £30. But to be safe, I fabricated a housing with connector to the vent pipe and hot glued that to the top of the so-called 'sealed' Battery. Now any gases will take the same route as the original.

regards, Dave.

[posing]

"How much is a new battery - just out of curiousity".

My reply seemed to get lost somehow!

I replaced the classic battery with an equivalent (without vent tube) for £30. But to be safe, I fabricated a housing with connector to the vent pipe and hot glued that to the top of the so-called 'sealed' battery. Now any gases will take the same route as the original.

regards, Dave.

←

Waaah! £30 sounds cheap for the Battery! (But then I am clueless about these things) Could you buy a Battery that can store more electricity?

[videodaveblue]

"How much is a new battery - just out of curiousity".

Waaah! £30 sounds cheap for the battery! (But then I am clueless about these things) Could you buy a battery that can store more electricity?

check this link - battery very similar dimensions, same terminals and 35Ah instead of 28Ah on the original. It's the 054 model, for the Daihatsu Charade and Grand Move.

http://www.tayna.co.uk/catalog/searchDaiha...atsu-page1.html

I played one local supplier off against another, BattMan of Bristol came up with the goods at a very good price (for cash!) :)