Hybrid Battery replacement Roll-Call
05-14-15, 06:36 AM
#46
Just wanted to share my experience...
On May 2nd, my wife was driving our 2007 GS450h (70k on the odo). She was waiting in a drive through (car in drive) when the dreaded Check Hybrid System showed on the display and the warning triangle lit up. She was only about a mile away from our home so she drove the car there and parked it. I was out at a concert with her younger sister (don't ask why =-P) and she forgot to tell me about it when I got home that night. After telling me the next day, I checked it out. The car drove normally and I even watched as the hybrid battery charged up. When I started it up, it was still in the upper blue range and it charged to the green bars after just 5-6 miles.
On May 4th, I had my wife contact our local Lexus dealership to have them look at the car. She asked them if it was safe to drive the car and the Service Advisor on the phone said she didn't know. She asked if it needed to be towed and again, the SA stated that they would not know until they looked at the car. She asked to speak to someone else, and was told by the SA that, "I am very knowledgeable on this topic and you will get the same answer from my coworkers". Jeez... She did make an appointment, however, they did not have a loaner available until May 11th... Weird for a big dealership, but whatever. We have other cars to drive so we left the GS parked (and connected to a Battery Tender). We were also able to get the okay to drive the car to the dealership by another SA (I told her it would be fine, but second opinions are always a good thing).
I researched the issue and found this and many other threads. I figured that it was either the traction battery or maybe it just needed that reflash that others were getting. But I definitely hoped we would get a new battery while it was still under warranty. Fingers were crossed...
On May 11th, she drove the car to the dealership. Check Hybrid System still displayed. She said the car felt normal. Later that day, she got the call, the HV battery was bad. The Service Advisor said it would be a $8900 fix which luckily for us, was still covered by our warranty. They kept the car for 2 days during which they R&R HV Battery, reflashed HV ECU, and completed the Fuel Pressure Gasket recall.
Props to Lexus for not jerking my wife around and for fixing our ride promptly. On side note, the car seems to have more power and is getting better gas mileage... Go figure. lol!
On May 2nd, my wife was driving our 2007 GS450h (70k on the odo). She was waiting in a drive through (car in drive) when the dreaded Check Hybrid System showed on the display and the warning triangle lit up. She was only about a mile away from our home so she drove the car there and parked it. I was out at a concert with her younger sister (don't ask why =-P) and she forgot to tell me about it when I got home that night. After telling me the next day, I checked it out. The car drove normally and I even watched as the hybrid battery charged up. When I started it up, it was still in the upper blue range and it charged to the green bars after just 5-6 miles.
On May 4th, I had my wife contact our local Lexus dealership to have them look at the car. She asked them if it was safe to drive the car and the Service Advisor on the phone said she didn't know. She asked if it needed to be towed and again, the SA stated that they would not know until they looked at the car. She asked to speak to someone else, and was told by the SA that, "I am very knowledgeable on this topic and you will get the same answer from my coworkers". Jeez... She did make an appointment, however, they did not have a loaner available until May 11th... Weird for a big dealership, but whatever. We have other cars to drive so we left the GS parked (and connected to a Battery Tender). We were also able to get the okay to drive the car to the dealership by another SA (I told her it would be fine, but second opinions are always a good thing).
I researched the issue and found this and many other threads. I figured that it was either the traction battery or maybe it just needed that reflash that others were getting. But I definitely hoped we would get a new battery while it was still under warranty. Fingers were crossed...
On May 11th, she drove the car to the dealership. Check Hybrid System still displayed. She said the car felt normal. Later that day, she got the call, the HV battery was bad. The Service Advisor said it would be a $8900 fix which luckily for us, was still covered by our warranty. They kept the car for 2 days during which they R&R HV Battery, reflashed HV ECU, and completed the Fuel Pressure Gasket recall.
Props to Lexus for not jerking my wife around and for fixing our ride promptly. On side note, the car seems to have more power and is getting better gas mileage... Go figure. lol!
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vap3 (10-15-18)
10-28-15, 09:02 AM
#47
Driver School Candidate
Well, a heads up for anyone who might want to try it.
135K miles and I got the "Check Hybrid System" warning half way home on my commute from work. As most people described, the arrows were not showing any power transfer. I didn't chance turning the car off until I got home and it drove fine. When I got home, I turned it off and then back on. It ran on only the engine.
I went to the trunk, unplugged both terminals of the battery, pressed the brake pedal for 10 seconds, then plugged placed the terminals back on the battery.
Turned on the car and it drove fine. Reset the seat memory, power windows, and radio settings... i'm back in business. I hope that resetting the ecu does the trick, but from what I've been reading, the problem came back for some people. Will reply back if it does. In that case, I'll be taking apart the battery pack to troubleshoot any potential dead cells.
135K miles and I got the "Check Hybrid System" warning half way home on my commute from work. As most people described, the arrows were not showing any power transfer. I didn't chance turning the car off until I got home and it drove fine. When I got home, I turned it off and then back on. It ran on only the engine.
I went to the trunk, unplugged both terminals of the battery, pressed the brake pedal for 10 seconds, then plugged placed the terminals back on the battery.
Turned on the car and it drove fine. Reset the seat memory, power windows, and radio settings... i'm back in business. I hope that resetting the ecu does the trick, but from what I've been reading, the problem came back for some people. Will reply back if it does. In that case, I'll be taking apart the battery pack to troubleshoot any potential dead cells.
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vap3 (10-15-18)
11-02-15, 05:18 AM
#48
Pole Position
Chances are you have a bad cell. In most cases the car will drive fine until another cell goes bad. The cells behind the bad cell will not charge properly which will rob you of a little power and a few MPGs. When / if things get worse, you will hear your batt fan switch up to high and stay on. Also, the car will shut down when trying to switch to all battery at low speed. This started happening to me after about 6 months.Yes, 6 months and I didn't see much of a drop in MPG but I could feel the lack of power off the line.
There is a guy who refuses to change his battery and has been driving it for over 2 years with bad cell(s). I wouldn't recommend that as bad cells typically causes your battery to over heat but apparently he's still going strong.
There is a guy who refuses to change his battery and has been driving it for over 2 years with bad cell(s). I wouldn't recommend that as bad cells typically causes your battery to over heat but apparently he's still going strong.
Last edited by L8Apex; 11-02-15 at 05:26 AM.
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vap3 (10-15-18)
05-28-16, 07:02 AM
#49
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Did anyone's car car ever shut down going down the road but will fire right back up after pulling over putting car in park and hurting the start button ...now car shut down won't start if you had this problem what was replaced to fix
05-28-16, 07:25 AM
#50
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On 07 gs 450H Did anyone's car car ever shut down going down the road but will fire right back up after pulling over putting car in park and hurting the start button ...now car shut down won't start if you had this problem what was replaced to fix
05-31-16, 07:14 AM
#51
Pole Position
@ Bobby
The computer will periodically send a signal to shut off the engine when the battery can carry whats being demanded to move the car. Problem is, if you have a bad cell it will not produce enough power to continue moving the car, so it will (not shut down) but simply coast. Pushing the accelerator wont do a thing. You will have to pull over and restart the engine which will restart the computer and stop it from relying on the Battery.
Not sure what you were trying to say in the last part of your message.
"now car shut down won't start if you had this problem what was replaced to fix"
The computer will periodically send a signal to shut off the engine when the battery can carry whats being demanded to move the car. Problem is, if you have a bad cell it will not produce enough power to continue moving the car, so it will (not shut down) but simply coast. Pushing the accelerator wont do a thing. You will have to pull over and restart the engine which will restart the computer and stop it from relying on the Battery.
Not sure what you were trying to say in the last part of your message.
"now car shut down won't start if you had this problem what was replaced to fix"
07-02-16, 03:26 PM
#52
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2008 GS450 with 100,350 miles with the car in the dealership now. It's over the 100K limit as well as over 8 years old so I'm thinking I'll be footing this bill. Hopefully Lexus can help cover some cost. If not 7K may be too much to replace the battery and I've been reading about Prius owners swapping out bad cells for cheaper and wondering if anyone has experience with that with their Lexus'. I'm assuming shops that can repair cells in Prius' would be able to repair cells in a Lexus too but I'm wondering if someone else has had that done. Thanks.
07-02-16, 04:23 PM
#53
Driver School Candidate
2007gs450h with 145K miles. Tried to get the dealership to assist, but they wouldn't after a $120 diagnostic fee although the car has always been serviced by them.
I had my bad cells replaced by www.hybridbatterysolutions.com a few months ago and it's been running great so far. The car averaged 36mpg on a recent 300 mile road trip. Also replaced the 12V battery with a yellow top optima and got an alignment. The car hasn't felt this good in a while.
I had my bad cells replaced by www.hybridbatterysolutions.com a few months ago and it's been running great so far. The car averaged 36mpg on a recent 300 mile road trip. Also replaced the 12V battery with a yellow top optima and got an alignment. The car hasn't felt this good in a while.
Last edited by ATLgs450h; 07-02-16 at 04:27 PM.
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vap3 (10-15-18)
07-13-16, 08:07 PM
#54
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Just got my hybrid battery changed out at 100K miles from Lexus. Lexus Corporate paid for half the parts. I'm going to keep hybridbatterysolutions.com in mind if I keep my car for another 5 years. Makes sense to just change out the bad cells if there is a shop that can work on our GS's.
04-28-17, 10:20 PM
#55
Driver School Candidate
Premature hybrid battery failure on 2007 GS450h
Have no confidence that Lexus dealership would provide an economical solution to this problem. Seeking alternative solutions to dealership hybrid battery replacement.
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vap3 (10-15-18)
04-29-17, 05:19 AM
#56
The techstream software with cable can read the individual cells of the battery pack. It is like that you have one or two bad cells versus the entire battery pack.
See if there are any hybrid repair shops in your area that can change these cells out for you.
See if there are any hybrid repair shops in your area that can change these cells out for you.
06-06-17, 02:31 AM
#57
Puchased a low mileage 2007 GS450h just under 3 years ago. Prior owner was a snowbird from Montana and left the car parked in garage in Phoenix, AZ 6 months out of the year. Picked up 7 year old 2007 with only 42k miles. Car now has 62,120 miles and check hybrid system light has been on for last 3 weeks. Battery discharges and then recharges quickly which I have read is a sign of impending hybrid battery failure.
Have no confidence that Lexus dealership would provide an economical solution to this problem. Seeking alternative solutions to dealership hybrid battery replacement.
Have no confidence that Lexus dealership would provide an economical solution to this problem. Seeking alternative solutions to dealership hybrid battery replacement.
DoctorPrius.com in Virginia
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexus-GS450h...VZDi4x&vxp=mtr is in Texas
Last edited by samsonn25; 06-06-17 at 02:43 AM.
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vap3 (10-15-18)
11-01-18, 09:48 AM
#58
Driver School Candidate
I know this is a late entry, but I guess it's all about documentation in this thread.
Bought a 2009 450h in Sept of 2015 with 97,000 miles on it. Car was a commuter used to in the CA central valley on a daily basis. The car didn't have to deal with much cold, but the heat in the summers can be pretty brutal in the central valley of CA. In November of 2016 at just over 112,000 miles, I was flooring the throttle while I was merging on to the freeway and I got the "Check Hybrid System" warning. Being my first hybrid, I thought of all the bad things that could happen. I contacted the dealer and got it in to them. Their $8,000 price was a shocker (given that's about half the price I paid for the thing a year prior). I played the hardship card and they offered to subsidize $2500 towards the repair.
Fortunately, my neighbor is a mechanic and he was able to get it done for well under $5000 with taxes. However, Lexus did not make it easy. Apparently, you need to provide a VIN when ordering a traction battery. When he provided my VIN, the dealership saw that I wasn't going to get the work done with them. They delayed the arrival of the part, then the battery mysteriously was sold to another dealership. They wound up going to a dealership in the south bay, who needed to pull the part from LA.
Needless to say, I will not be working with that dealership ever again. I recently got a recall notice and I will be traveling south to the other dealership in the area to get the work done.
Bought a 2009 450h in Sept of 2015 with 97,000 miles on it. Car was a commuter used to in the CA central valley on a daily basis. The car didn't have to deal with much cold, but the heat in the summers can be pretty brutal in the central valley of CA. In November of 2016 at just over 112,000 miles, I was flooring the throttle while I was merging on to the freeway and I got the "Check Hybrid System" warning. Being my first hybrid, I thought of all the bad things that could happen. I contacted the dealer and got it in to them. Their $8,000 price was a shocker (given that's about half the price I paid for the thing a year prior). I played the hardship card and they offered to subsidize $2500 towards the repair.
Fortunately, my neighbor is a mechanic and he was able to get it done for well under $5000 with taxes. However, Lexus did not make it easy. Apparently, you need to provide a VIN when ordering a traction battery. When he provided my VIN, the dealership saw that I wasn't going to get the work done with them. They delayed the arrival of the part, then the battery mysteriously was sold to another dealership. They wound up going to a dealership in the south bay, who needed to pull the part from LA.
Needless to say, I will not be working with that dealership ever again. I recently got a recall notice and I will be traveling south to the other dealership in the area to get the work done.
11-05-18, 03:44 AM
#59
$1350 core charge. WTF do they need the core unless these are rebuilt or refurbished or remanufactured battery packs?
Also this doesn't include labor rates, one can assume at least 2-3 hours.
Last edited by samsonn25; 11-05-18 at 03:46 AM. Reason: add
