I'm going to repair my hybrid battery... Myself!
 

My "Check Hybrid Battery" light came on at 124,000 mi.... It's now around 137K miles. Initially, it would go off after a few days. Now, I'm getting the ECB fault. Time to do something!! Torque Automotive in Raleigh can refurbish it for $2800 and offer a 3yr warranty, which is very tempting! But... I've decided to replace the bad cells myself!

Here's a great reference - http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/for...for-50/?page=3

And here - https://www.manualslib.com/manual/82...h.html?page=22

I'd like to source new cells, but not able to find anywhere that sells them. Any recommendations?

BTW, I know that you can buy them used on eBay... I'd rather new though.

Merry Christmas!

Bryan

2008 Lexus GS450H

Good luck on the task! I am interested for the results

Wish I could help, sorry for your issues. Hopefully my 2013 is trouble free for many years yet to come but following this thread with much interest. Please update us as progress is made, invaluable for DIYs as their hybrids age!

i thought I read somewhere that they sell New Prius cells that are the same as the 450h. Maybe check on that

Hi there, any progress or update on doing it yourself? I have a 2007 GS450H that just got the hybrid battery failure message. I took it to the dealer but since its over 8 years old, they won't honor the warranty. I'm right at 99,850 miles. I've open a case with Lexus corporate but haven't seen many with success getting better than half covered. That's still $3500 on a car that isn't valued more than $9000.

I found someone locally that offered to source the cells and do the labor for $800. Just waiting to hear back from Lexus corporate. I'd love to do it myself if others have had success.

Did you ever get around to doing this? I let my car sit at my parents for 3weeks. 12V battery was dead, so i trickle charged it. Car turns on but wont start. I'm thinking the HV battery is completely dead. Car wont start on jumping even with charged battery. Gonna take it to the dealer to see if they can charge the battery and get it going.

So I decided to get this a try without success. I have a 2007 GS450H. Had the Check Hybrid light on for a few weeks. Recently the car stalled on me so I knew I had to change the hybrid battery out. I decided to sources some cells from someone locally that tested them under load so I know they were good.

I found 1 bad cell and changed that out. Problem now is that I still get the 'Check Hybrid System" and Check VSC and Check ECB when I try to start it. Now the car won't start at all. The 12V battery was reading at 11.69 so i had it charged to 12.69. I can see the hybrid cell charged up about 75% so I feel like I reconnected everything properly otherwise it wouldn't show the battery level at all.

I suspect its the orange service plug since I can't get it to slide over all the way to the left. It slides over but it feels like its still 1cm short. I've tried everything I know to move it over. I've disconnected the negative lead on the 12V batt several times already.

Willing to try anything at this point.

Do yourself a favor, find a good indy familiar with the hybrid system and let him diagnose it. Money well spent. Most good indies will support a DIY looking for diagnosis and DIY advise and may even print you the tech manual section for troubleshooting and repairing that component (my Porsche indy does). Then, and only then, attempt to fix it yourself. Next time I would do that first before attempting to fix something youre not familiar with, at least that way you know where to go for further advise and troubleshooting if nessisary.

Thanks for the advice. Thought I could fix it myself given the number of people that have fixed Prius out there. I'm glad to pay someone to fix it. Just couldn't find someone local that didn't want over $3000. I'm going to call a few shops this week. My current mechanic didn't want to touch the hybrid and the dealer wanted $7000.

So an update, car is still disabled. I've called a few shops and most only replace cells and balance the battery. When I asked if they can help with a disabled hybrid, no one is able to help. I used my mechanics Techstream and got the following codes:

P0517 - Battery temperature sensor circuit high - probably because I'm using a new 12V since the original is below 10V
P0A10 - DC/DC Converter Status Circuit High Input - I suspect this is the issue. From what I can find, this is the converter under the hybrid battery. Part # G9270-30020. Its an expensive part and don't want to be ordering parts using trial and error
P2519 - A/C Request "A" Circuit - probably due to electrical issues above

I called a hybrid repair shop yesterday and they do mobile installs. Going to have his lead tech come out and see if he can pin point the issue more onsite. Hopefully I can get him to come out. Not sure what else to try at this point.

When the car was at the dealership, the code was P0A7F which is not coming up now.

2 issues during the replacement:

1. When disconnecting the black positive lead on the hybrid battery itself, the 12V battery was still connected. My wrench touched the metal on the hybrid battery and caused a small spark. Service plug was disconnected.
2. When putting the hybrid batt back in, the 2 orange power cables going to the engine where put in incorrectly. 1 has a red tape (positive) and 1 has orange (negative). They were connected to the wrong leads on the hybrid battery.

When I put the service plug back in and test the 2 leads for voltage, I get 0. With the battery out of the car, I can test cell 1 and cell 40 positive/negative with the service plug in and I get 302 volts.

Major lesson learned - never do work on your car that you're not familiar with especially a complicated system like the hybrid system.

Allow me to be brutally honest with you. If you are grounding out your electrical system and reconnecting things in reverse you really have no business attempting self repairs, even on a system you feel confident you are familiar with. Those are the kind of fundamental mistakes that cause serious problems and should never happen, even mistakenly. The larger lesson here may go well beyond familiarity with a given system or repair...

You are absolutely correct. I had no business doing this without expert help. That's why I'm posting my mistakes here so the next person that thinks they can take on a job like this thinks twice. When you think you know what you're doing - you make mistakes and when you're in a hurry, you make even more mistakes.

At this point, I've stopped working on the car and seeking expert help. Just having a hard time finding it.

I'm not trying to justify my mistakes. Just pointing them out. We took pics along the way and took the precautions we thought we necessary but obviously not enough.

Just to be clear, I made a mistake and am owning up to it. Mistakes happen even by experts. I've seen them in every field - Doctors, Lawyers, CEOs, IT experts, etc. That's what being human is about. Owning them takes guts and honestly which many people do not have. I have no pride in admitting a made a mistake and publishing it on a public forum. I'm sure many on this forum have made a mistake from time to time. I came here to make sure others don't make the same or similar mistake and to look for some advice on how to move forward.

Please don't misunderstand my post. Of course mistakes are made, however it was the nature of the mistakes that I thought taught a larger lesson here. As for what you're seeking I hope others will have more specific advice on where to go from here. Im sure it will only be a matter of time before you find a tech that can help.

So my final update: I replaced the DC/DC converter and the block assembly. Car is running now and no more DTC codes in TechStream. TIS was a great help. Could not find a hybrid tech to come and help. Every shop I called said they only replace / refurb the cells.

Full tank is showing a 440 mile range now which I have never seen.