Hybrid/Traction battery monitoring

[johnatg]

Heads up, guys.

There is an interesting article in December 2021 'Car Mechanics' magazine. The mag does project cars on a regular basis (bit like Wheeler Dealers but more mundane cars and less fanfare!). They did a Prius back in 2018 and it was bought by a chap in NI at about 170K miles. The article in the latest copy of the mag is the buyer's update on the car and it's mostly about his experiences of tackling problems with the traction Battery. He replaced some cells but finally gave up and bought an exchange Battery at about 200k Miles.

Ignore the Prius bit - what follows applies to our Lexus hybrids.

Now - he mentions use of a mobile app - Dr Prius/Dr Hybrid which works with an OBDII scanner to extract Battery fault codes and displays lots of useful information about cell voltages, Battery temperatures, charge rate etc. It's a free download - there is a chargeable version which covers more advanced testing but it looks as if you don't need that. There is a demo mode which shows the info you get.

You will probably need a new OBDII scanner - there's a section in the app accessed at 'OBD2 guide' which provides a lot of information about scanners that don't work and those that do. Just because your scanner works with Torque doesn't mean that it will work with Dr Prius. Mine doesn't - I've ordered a different one according to his guide.

Also tucked away is a guide to the future - there is a lithium Battery upgrade which is available for all Toyota/Lexus hybrids - the GS300h isn't mentioned but that will be because it isn't sold in USA but all other models are (GS450h etc) and include IS300h and ES300h. Not cheap, but one day might be a way to go. All info is US based and I'm not sure how you would get a Lithium Battery imported from US - carriers are not keen on Lithium batteries to say the least.

[Mossypossy]

https://projectlithium.com/products/gs450h-lithium-upgrade-pack-20-blocks

[royoftherovers]

Just now, Mossypossy said:

https://projectlithium.com/products/gs450h-lithium-upgrade-pack-20-blocks

Brilliant research.

[Mossypossy]

but more research shows:

The problem with going towards a lighter Battery pack means that you have to switch from NiCad -> Lithium chemistry cells in order to obtain the same power in a smaller package. Lithium cells are more fragile, degrade on their own (even with proper maintenance) and have to be monitored a lot more carefully. They're not really ideal for a high-performance car like this.

Youtube some Lithium Battery fires....you'll be thankful that those aren't bolted to your trunk 

  

[royoftherovers]

34 minutes ago, Mossypossy said:

but more research shows:

The problem with going towards a lighter battery pack means that you have to switch from NiCad -> Lithium chemistry cells in order to obtain the same power in a smaller package. Lithium cells are more fragile, degrade on their own (even with proper maintenance) and have to be monitored a lot more carefully. They're not really ideal for a high-performance car like this.

Youtube some Lithium battery fires....you'll be thankful that those aren't bolted to your trunk 

  

My praise is therefore withdrawn Professor. 🤣🤣

[OldTrout]

1 hour ago, johnatg said:

Heads up, guys.

There is an interesting article in December 2021 'Car Mechanics' magazine. The mag does project cars on a regular basis (bit like Wheeler Dealers but more mundane cars and less fanfare!). They did a Prius back in 2018 and it was bought by a chap in NI at about 170K miles. The article in the latest copy of the mag is the buyer's update on the car and it's mostly about his experiences of tackling problems with the traction battery. He replaced some cells but finally gave up and bought an exchange battery at about 200k Miles.

Ignore the Prius bit - what follows applies to our Lexus hybrids.

Now - he mentions use of a mobile app - Dr Prius/Dr Hybrid which works with an OBDII scanner to extract battery fault codes and displays lots of useful information about cell voltages, battery temperatures, charge rate etc. It's a free download - there is a chargeable version which covers more advanced testing but it looks as if you don't need that. There is a demo mode which shows the info you get.

You will probably need a new OBDII scanner - there's a section in the app accessed at 'OBD2 guide' which provides a lot of information about scanners that don't work and those that do. Just because your scanner works with Torque doesn't mean that it will work with Dr Prius. Mine doesn't - I've ordered a different one according to his guide.

Also tucked away is a guide to the future - there is a lithium battery upgrade which is available for all Toyota/Lexus hybrids - the GS300h isn't mentioned but that will be because it isn't sold in USA but all other models are (GS450h etc) and include IS300h and ES300h. Not cheap, but one day might be a way to go. All info is US based and I'm not sure how you would get a Lithium battery imported from US - carriers are not keen on Lithium batteries to say the least.

What a wonderful find John. Many thanks. I have the app and was not surprised to find that my OBDii reader is "Mother of all junks". I will order a compatible one. Is this https://smile.amazon.co.uk/NEXAS-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Motorcycles-Specially/dp/B08BPC179W/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=NEXAS+Bluetooth+5.0+OBD2+Scanner&qid=1637232867&sr=8-5 the one you you have ordered John?

John

[johnatg]

I've ordered the Panlong one - coming from USA so will be 2 or 3 weeks. Via eBay. 

Comes to £28 odd with post and import duty

PS - my current one is mother of all junks too. But it has worked fine for engine codes on various cars. Won't extract Battery codes though. 

[johnatg]

Further to my original post - if you just want to understand the hybrid Battery, I'd suggest you search for 'weber auto, Toyota prius 2010-2015 ni-mh battery' - you'll find a long video (over an hour) which will tell you more than you ever wanted to know. 

Lexus batteries are very similar. 

Sorry - can't get to the link on my phone. 

[OldTrout]

Thanks John. I will check it out.

Everything I know about the hybrid Battery came from Britprius. I don't know if Techstream has the functionality of this app. If not, John would have loved it.

John

 

[Herbie]

 

[Kijan]

Had a chance tu run this app for some time but indee it need some research on how to interpret readings. It work prefectly on Lexus though 🙂 It also pushed me to get the right OBD connector that would work (not sure if I can put a link though, but it ended up to be about 15EUR from Ali Express - can share the exact one if you like, just pm me. Delivery to Ireland took about 1.5 week, so surprisingly fast).

As you mentioned you can run the full test on paid version that will analyze Battery further and give you life expectancy as well out of it, but I left that for later as haven't seen any strange things so far with results. 

[Zotto]

With same OBD  Bluetooth interfaces I remember Hybrid Assistant app I already told about here in LOC.