[Tigermidge]

Hello i am a mechaninc but have never worked on a prius. We (wife and I ) bought one a year and a 1/2 ago. Great car!.
Anyway one of my freind took a prius service class and in it they stated and he showed me it in the book "NEVER MOVE A PRIUS WITH THE DRIVE WHEEL ON THE GROUND NOT EVEN TO MOVE IT TO A TOW TRUCK AS THERE WILL BE NO VOLTAGE REGULATION FOR THE MOTORS AND YOU COUND FRY BATTERYS AND ECT. ELECTRONICS."
I find this hard to believe that just pushing a dead prius and fry the iners.

Any ideas guys..

Mark

 

[DanMan32]

There is a warning, but not like that. Not that I am aware of. Do you have the page number that's on?

Now it does say that there's a danger if the wires are cut, since if you do move the car, then the motors (MG2 specifically) can act as a generator producing voltage across its cut wires.

I just thought, that warning can't be right. It is no worse than cruising the car and then throwing it into neutral. As the car is coasting, that's the same as if it was pushed.

 

[Earl]

I never heard of any reason a battery would be harmed.
This is how the manuals we refer to is the shop addres the procedure for moving a Hybrid manually.
Follow manufacturer instructions for moving a hybrid. Always tow or move with the drive wheels off the ground. Pushing or towing a hybrid can generate electricity, so using wheel jacks is recommended for moving the car around the shop.
Have the tires on dollies to avoid charging up the condensers in the inverter by pushing the vehicle with the drive wheels on the ground.

Always wear the proper safety gear, including electrical lineman's gloves. Following manufacturer instructions, disable the high-voltage system, test for any stray current with a CAT III certified digital volt ohm meter (DVOM) and avoid or remove the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack

 

[mrv]

as a mechanic you may be interested in reading some of these links:

Repair Technician info:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... 047144710/

Emergency Responders' info:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... 011822061/

If you're in the US, you can read through the Toyota Prius training manuals, along with the repair and collision manuals, at:
http://techinfo.toyota.com/
although that requires a subscription and a decent speed internet connection...

 

[DanMan32]

Towing the Prius with the front wheels off the ground (or even on the ground for that matter) and the car off would do nothing to the batteries. The hybrid batteries are completely disconnected on both the + and the - side via system main relays located in the battery cage. The HV ECU has to activate them. The relays are only engaged in READY.

Of course normally if the car is off, the parking pawl is engaged, so you can't tow with front wheels on the ground this way. However, you can in Ig-On and the system set to Neutral.

 

[galaxee]

well, even if somehow you got the car to roll while it was off, it does generate electricity with the drive wheels and electricity with nowhere to go can start a fire.

 

[DanMan32]

No, as long as nothing is broken, it wouldn't be any different than allowing the car to coast in neutral. True voltage as high as 500V (and possibly higher) is generated, but nothing is done with it.

Does your house flood all over with electricity leaking out of the outlets? Your dryer (which is 220V)? No? Well, no different in the Prius.

However, if the wires from the motors were severed, then it could arc, but that's not what we are discussing here, are we?

 

[Tigermidge]

Hi guys, Thanks for the reply.
Interesting stuff for me to read.