Prius (Gen 2) :: Battery Fills Up And Engine Brake Kicks In
Aug 25, 2012
My daily route includes the following road segment,
5 km steep climb (30 mph, 50 kph)
3 km fast downhill (60 mph, 100 kph)
4 km fast climb (45 mph, 70 kph)
6 km steep downhill (40 mph, 65 kph)
The speed between parentheses is the traffic flow speed for each segment.
Even though I tried varying the driving speeds and styles, a constant problem I have is , Before starting the final descent, my battery is almost full. Half way down the hill the battery fills up and the engine brake kicks in, which means energy is wasted.
1. Will the battery be affected in time by the fact that it fills up to 80% repeatedly?
2. If I drain the battery on the last climb by slowing down and switching to electric and then fully recharge it on the descent (and avoid engine braking), will this reduce the battery's life span?
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I notice on my MFD that my battery level never fills up to the top. I've seen purple when it's low, blue, and green when it's in a high charge state, but there's always a missing 'never filled in' space for another bar, though always blank.
I can let off the gas downhill with it already green and that blank space for an extra green bar never fills. It just stays blank. Is this normal?
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I have replaced a bad module in the HV battery and balanced it. Inverter coolant pump has been checked and inverter coolant has been replaced. Engine coolant has been drained and refilled. (Both coolant jobs followed Haynes manual guide including bleeder valves.) Transaxle fluid is full.
After each step of troubleshooting I have done a test-drive. Warnings come on consistently within 2-2.5 miles, day or night. I do not have a scan tool, but I do have the trouble codes from Toyota (all prior to my repairs). Is it possible that a bad ECT sensor could trigger all of this?? Is there something else I can check?
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Does the outside air temp make the engine come on to warm up even if everything else favors all electric mode? If so then at what temp does this happen?
I'm asking because there have been a couple of times that the engine came on right after start-up with a full charge and the climate control was not calling for heat.
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When the battery power is low, the engine will kick in and then there is a loud "exhaust" sound. Are those really sound from the exhaust or some other fan?
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I got in the car today and started it... I was waiting a few seconds for someone to get in the car (it was in the garage) and as soon as the engine kicked on there was a very very large long rattle noise i immediately turned the car off. Waited again and turned it on same noise.. the only thing I found was a cover under the car towards the front was really loose. ( I haven't hit bottom or anything while driving) but I did have the lighted door sills just installed the other day. But it never made that noise..
btw i have 1100 miles on it..I looked under it and is the black dust protector thing supposed to be loose like if I push on it I can make it rattle..
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New thread so this info can actually be found. Like most of you, I was irritated and embarrassed the first time I tried to top off my tank at a busy station, then had a quart of fuel pour back out onto the ground before I could get the cap back on. I did a simple fix that worked forever after. I always get a full fill, never have fuel burp.
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I'm loving this 'new' 2004 prius with 177k miles on it that i just bought. In New England winters I'm still getting 40-45 mpg and I'm not even trying to get great MPG's.
1.) Wind noise : My biggest disappointment is excessive wind noise over 55 mph. I 'm using this car as a taxi and its so loud inside I'm a little embarrassed with customers in the car. It sounds to me that its coming from the passenger window or passenger side near the windshield, but I can not identify its location at all. I've always been the one driving when looking for it though.
I called a dealer that sells lots of gen II used prius's and he says its fairly common to replace the window seals? The car has a clean car fax.
2.) Mild clunk when the engine kicks on. Not all the time, but sometimes : Other thing is, I can sometimes feel and hear a mild clunk when the engine kicks on. I also feel a little bit if vibration when the engine is on and i'm idling (it was 16 degrees last night so the engine stays on for heat). The oil level is good. I'm due for change in the next 500 miles.
Is this anything I should be concerned about? I'm sure I'm just overly sensitive.
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2004 Toureg with 12,000 Miles. No problems for 5 months. All of a sudden the engine fan has become posessed. When I park - even after 5 min of driving in cool Colorado weather - the fan kicks off and stays on for 10 to 20 min. The sucker is LOUD! I could not find any info on the fan in this forum. Having problems with the engine fan. I called the dealer and he said there no problem. (Also, the blue compas above the mirror was flashing on and off tonight. Bad, but I hope not related.)
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I've been hitting the EV switch to keep the car in EV mode for the first couple minutes. It kicks off at about 20 mph. It does let me get up to speed using EV mode so my hope is that will translate into higher fuel savings.
The default and Eco modes require starting up too slow while hitting EV lets me apply more power and faster acceleration. Wondering why Toyota didn't engineer that into the car though?
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I'm having two slightly strange issues with a 2007 Nissan Altima 2.5S...
First, after driving for about 30 minutes on warmer/hot days (above 85 degrees) the temperature gauge starts rising and then the A/C starts blowing out hot air for a while. After a minute or two the temp gauge goes back down and the A/C goes cool again. The only reason I bring it up is this something new that has never happened before, even in the hottest summers and it only happens when it over 85/87 degrees.
Second issue is a bit stranger... After driving for 20-30 minutes the car will start "jumping". It feels like the engine loses a cylinder and then it kicks back on. It almost feels like the car is stuttering, if that makes any sense. This happens intermittently and only after driving for a slightly extended period of time. It also seems to be independent of the speed at which I am traveling. I took it to the Nissan dealer and they said they couldn't reproduce the problem and couldn't really look into anything because the Check Engine light was not on, so they had no code to go by, or something to that effect.
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Title says it all. I've been running my iPhone for music via bluetooth in my new 2013 three. Anyway, lately I've been noticing that after the systems loads from start up that just before any sound is heard. I am getting a decent pop from the speakers.
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I recently attempted to change out the clutch on my bug for the first time. All went well right up until I tried to start it. The starter kicks over, all the electrical works, but for some reason she's not firing. Upon removing the spark plug i found out there is no spark. The plug cables and plugs themselves are brand new, so I'm guessing that's not it.
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So I have a '98 cavalier with the 2.2l and 4sp auto. Anyway, it runs great when dry conditions, but when its wet from rain or any moisture it runs terrible. It stalls and stumbles and the cab fills with a gas odor. I changed the coil packs and plugs and wires and it still does it. I have a P0301 cylinder 1 misfire detected and a P0200 injector circuit problem. I'm having a hard time believing this because it runs fine most of the time. Is there something else I can look at that is feeding this problem? Is this a common ocurrance?
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2007 Prius with 88K miles.
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I noticed that I have an unusual "rumble" noise coming from the location of my ac blower motor when it kicks in full blast. When the air temp comes down a bit and the AC slows down or if I switch the ac off full blast under climate control, the noise goes away. I have never noticed this before and am wondering if it is my ac blower motor starting to fail.
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My new battery was draining down overnight. Thinking it wasn't charging back up properly I replaced what I'm sure was the original alternator. Now sometimes the engine lights (battery,brake & oil) flash on and off when I accelerate. So far the battery hasn't gone dead again.I also had an oil change. They put 5.7qts in the 6 cylinder engine.
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Have a water leak that fills the drivers side rear corner panel and the area were the spare tire is located? I have an 07 with the glass top. About once a month or so I need to pull the rubber plugs and drain both areas.
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Purchased a 2006 prius not too long ago with just over 100k miles.
I like the car, I average about 42-44 mpg. It is really for my commuting. The question I have is it seems like my brake pump runs all the time. When I take my foot off the brakes, it runs, when im in a drive-thru, my battery drains super quickly, however if i put in park instead of leaving it in drive while in the drive-thru, it does not.
My only thought is there is something wrong with my brake pump and the way it drains batteries.
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Heading out on 4 week 3k mile road trip. Have 12v adaptors for a very efficient laptop and smartphone.
It seems that in "Accessory" mode the PIP is using only the dinky 12V battery so this is not a healthy solution. Is there a recommended strategy to put the car in semi-ready mode and reduce all possible drain so that utilizing the 12V will not be draining the traction battery reserves much at all?
I'm thinking that perhaps trying to put the car in "ready" mode with the FOOT OFF the brake indeed fires up access to the traction battery without firing up other things that require the full power monty that Ready mode with the FOOT ON the brake requires. Seems to me the PIP is a great mobile office solution if we could gain access to traction battery reserves without running much else.
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