Hybrid Battery Condition Application

[MPeters]

Happy New Year to all. 

I am still on quest to solve an issue with the hybrid system in my 2003 Alphard. I am wondering if there is any wisdom with regards to whether there is an application that will allow me to “See and talk to” the NMH battery pack in this particular Toyota vehicle. I’m sure that there are others that have found a way to see the operating condition of the batteries in their vehicles without having to find a diagnostic service provider to do such. 

Any wisdom / guidance would be much appreciated. 

Kind regards, Monty

[Rojie]

12 hours ago, MPeters said:

Happy New Year to all. 

I am still on quest to solve an issue with the hybrid system in my 2003 Alphard. I am wondering if there is any wisdom with regards to whether there is an application that will allow me to “See and talk to” the NMH battery pack in this particular Toyota vehicle. I’m sure that there are others that have found a way to see the operating condition of the batteries in their vehicles without having to find a diagnostic service provider to do such. 

Any wisdom / guidance would be much appreciated. 

Kind regards, Monty

 

Hopefully, one of our Techstream owners will confirm, or otherwise, that the official Toyota software will be helpful.

[AdamjG]

I used an old copy of techstream and obd usb cable bought from eBay to bring up fault codes on my hybrid. 

Was a bit of a faf to install on my laptop. Had to use it with window xp in virtualbox! 

 

I was just about to make another post about Dr Prius app, and whether anyone has had any luck getting it to work.

[PaulE]

Hi, can you post the link to the Techstream software site you downloaded from as I am looking to use it.

[MPeters]

Thanks ever so much Adam. I will give this a go and see whether I can assemble the correct components to have a look. 

Cheers, Monty

[AdamjG]

My pleasure MPeters. 

 

PaulE (&MPeters) this (I think!) Was the website I downloaded the virtual box with techstream to get techstream working on a windows 10/11 laptop.

 

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/how-to-techstream-in-5-minutes.1034923/

 

If I remember correctly, once the virtual system is running, there was a particular order to setup the driver for the cable, but pretty sure it tells you what to do!

 

It was very useful to discuss the codes from techstream with the hybrid specialist who refurbished the hv battery. This was the company, Mark did a great job 🙂

https://www.hybridrepairservice.co.uk/contact

 

[arthurj]

On 1/9/2023 at 4:17 PM, AdamjG said:

I was just about to make another post about Dr Prius app, and whether anyone has had any luck getting it to work.

DrPrius/DrHybrid misreports the cells of the hybrid battery on my 20 series. It shows some voltages but the readings are incorrect. I reported it to the author and sent him some screenshots. He acknowledged that there was a problem and said he would take a look, but I haven't heard anything.

 

I have Techstream, but don't know how to use it to look at the hybrid battery. I haven't used it for a while.

Edited January 10, 2023 by arthurj

[PaulE]

I am currently having trouble with the van with the hybrid system not working. 
It stems from November when due to circumstances I wasn't able to use it and the 12v battery went dead- used a booster pack to start as I have done before 
but errors appeared on the dash after a few minutes- ABS, VLC, red car. Petrol engine runs but no hybrid- some times everything cuts out.
If I disconnect 12v battery for 20 mins everything works but errors appear again after 10 mins. New 12v battery -the correct one- no better so looking
for answers.
I purchased the "Washinglee" lead from amazon at £79.99- expensive but says will work with 32 and 64 bit windows (7 & 10- mine is Win 10- 64bit) and they give a years tech support. I know other members have done it cheaper.
The instructions were pretty good but the link to Techstream didn't work and the download for the driver put scam ads on my laptop which took a while to clear.
I emailed them and they sent me the zip file with everything on. They warn that anti virus software might delete the 64 bit driver which it did but I was able to 
tell the anti virus (mcafee) to accept the file. Followed the instructions and all was well- connected to the van but made the mistake of selecting USA
so Alphard not on list- changed to Japan and all well. Had to run the engine to get all the data on the "Healthcheck" setting.

 

Am looking for a repairer in the Derbyshire / S. Yorks area or further afield if anyone has any suggestions.

[MPeters]

Thanks for this Paul as I have the exact same trouble lights showing on the dashboard. Did you also notice that the dash battery health monitor is showing that the HV battery is loosing its charge very quickly (With accessories on such as blower/AC etc.) as well once the engine is running the HV battery charges back to 3 & 4 green bars? And does your hybrid drive system for the wheels operate as mine no longer does (Indicating that the HV pack lacks the capacity to drive the wheel motors) I have come to the conclusion, based on how old my HV pack is (20 years), having the vehicle sit for a number of weeks undriven more than a few times and the behaviour with the HV pack dropping its charge and recharging quickly to full that the HV battery has “Run its course” and requires replacing. 

I am going to replace the whole battery pack as taking apart the console area is a fair job and I don’t wish to do it repeatedly as modules fail, one by one (Reconditioning the HV pack or replacing individual cells/modules)

All the best in your search for a repair specialist. Cheers, Monty

[AdamjG]

PaulE and MPeter, I’d definitely recommend giving Mark at The Hybrid Repair Service a call. He comes out to you to remove the HV battery.

https://www.hybridrepairservice.co.uk/

 

My 2006 hybrid had the same lights together with VSC. 
 

The problem was two cells in the battery had dipped in voltage. Mark removed the pack took it away and replaced the troublesome cells then balanced the battery pack. 
Was a cost effective way of reconditioning the existing pack, as the remaining cells were in pretty good condition.

 

Another option would have been a brand new Toyota pack.

 

Dr Prius also sells a lithium upgrade for the Alphard which is interesting!

[MPeters]

Thanks Adam, this is good info to have. 

Regards, Monty

[PaulE]

I suspect the HV pack is faulty  as when the system is working it charges from one to four bars then drops again - a couple of times the van has shut down completely and I think it is when I put the heater on- not sure if this is connected.

[MarkATH10W]

Can you tell me which version of techstream you use?  It is good news that you found a version of techstream that has full readings for the Alphard hybrid.  It might be visible under the menu: Help > About

 

*EDIT* I see that you are using version Ver 14.30.023 - 21084 from your screenshots.

 

I am going to purchase the same washinglee lead.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Edited September 19, 2023 by MarkATH10W

[AdamjG]

27 minutes ago, MarkATH10W said:

Can you tell me which version of techstream you use?  It is good news that you found a version of techstream that has full readings for the Alphard hybrid.  It might be visible under the menu: Help > About

 

*EDIT* I see that you are using version Ver 14.30.023 - 21084 from your screenshots.

 

I am going to purchase the same washinglee lead.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Hi Mark,

 

I used version 14, you can download it within the virtual pc in the link I posted above to the ih8mud forum link.

 

Good luck

Adam

[MPeters]

Thanks very much Adam. Cheers, Monty