jbripps

Hi all - so....noticed lately that the battery level drops much faster than normal. Usually, I can hang in the car for a long time without the battery losing too much juice. However, I have noticed that within 5 minutes, it drops to purple causing the engine to kick on. Yes, A/C is running, etc., but this is not normal. Also, difficult to get the battery to charge more than 75 percent. That is the level when there are 2 more bars left up top. I know it's rare to get a full charge to indicate on the dash....but I'm having issues, with normal driving, getting that bar second from the top. I have researched it appears that no one has ever had to replace these batteries since 2001, starting with Prius.

Any advice? 104k miles.

Thanks,
Jon

TheAirman

It's a rare issue when a traction battery goes bad, especially with a Toyota product. You might have one or two individual cells going bad, and keep in mind they are individually replaceable. You just have to locate them, and whats worse, pull that heavy traction battery out from the trunk. It a heck of a lot cheaper than the entire battery though. Search the Prius forums and the internet. There's a lot of info on how it's done, if you are handy.

jbripps

Very interesting – thank you so much for the quick information. I am somewhat handy, I will research the job and see if I can tackle it. Any idea on what something like that costs? I am clueless.

Jon

TheAirman

Here are the steps for the job from the maintenance manual. You better be REAL handy because its almost as bad as pulling an engine out, the way it looks.

HV Battery.pdf

The cost to replace the individual cells is not to bad, but the entire battery might be a little pricey. Also from what I read, if you did have a real issue with the battery it will set a Check Engine Light and code to help determine which "bank" of battery cells are bad. Another part the manual points to is the "battery smart unit". It must be the main brain.

Heres the trouble codes:

DTC TROUBLE SHOOTING PROCEDURES.pdf

anisinn

I own 2013 450h, recently completed 8 years, damm, I have been complaining about vehicle performance to Fremont of Lexus dealership (CA) for two years and they did nothing, just ignored me my complaints and I did not realize it could be hybrid battery issue. I think they were waiting to battery goes out of warranty ? The performance of my car had deteriorated significantly over last 1-2 years, I have to literally step on gas big time to get my car going when waiting at traffic light, Situation is getting worst every day, when there is small steep road I have to put car in Overdrive mode to keep 40-50 miles per hour speed, complained to Lexus of Fremont few times but did not get any solutions so I would suggest do your homework before buying Hybrid.
I need to find out if CA has any extended battery warranty

Clutchless

I have PM'd Anisinn to advise him.her to repost in the 3rd generation RX450h forum (hybrid)

However, I think you should get your car evaluated by an independent hybrid shop or another dealer to find out what is going on with the battery system and to make sure the often neglected battery cooling fan ductwork and fan itself are clean and free of dust and dirt so they can cool your battery. A hot battery may be the cause of your problems. Without knowing how many miles are on your RX it could be several other things that only a shop can check out. However, I think the hybrid system has a longer warranty than the rest of the car. check your books or with Lexus online.
Or trade it in.

anisinn

Thanks, will repost message on 3rd generation RX450h forum -- my SUV has 86k miles on it.