If you're wondering, how do I know if my hybrid battery is bad? You will notice a significant reduction in fuel economy, erratic fluctuation in the battery is charged, weird noises coming from the engine, overuse of the combustion system, and your hybrid battery will not hold the charge.
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If you are super excited about your hybrid car because it saves a lot of fuel and it doesn't contribute to the CO2 emissions, there are a couple of things you need to keep an eye on when dealing with hybrid cars.
Nothing is more frustrating than dealing with a dead or a faulty hybrid car battery. Suddenly, you lose all the great features of this car, and many people panic immediately after they notice issues with their hybrid batteries. New paragraph luckily, your hybrid car will tell you before it goes bad because there Are many bad battery symptoms.
If you are new to the world of hybrid vehicles, it is very important to familiarize yourself and keep up to date with the most common signs that you need to be aware of when dealing with dead batteries.
This article walks you through all the details to help you answer the question, “how do I know if my hybrid battery is bad?” The article also well highlights what exactly will happen when your hybrid car runs out of battery. Lastly, this article will also answer some of the most frequently asked questions related to hybrid battery issues.
How do I know if my hybrid battery is bad? Here are the main bad hybrid battery symptoms!
Bad hybrid battery symptoms usually come in the same fashion despite your vehicle's make, model, or year.
Let's take a look at how to tell if a hybrid battery is going bad. You might see all these symptoms simultaneously, in some situations, while in other situations, you might see only one of them.
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Significant reduction in fuel economy
What if the first common bad hybrid battery symptom is a significant reduction in your fuel economy. If you notice that your vehicle is not giving you the expected gas mileage, your vehicle's battery is most likely dying.
As we all know, your vehicle's hybrid battery is responsible for providing the required energy that any fuel could provide to regular vehicles. Thus, once your vehicle realizes that the battery will die, it will switch automatically to use the fuel and thoughts. You'll notice a significant reduction in your vehicle's fuel economy.
If you notice that you need to visit the gas station regularly, step back and check your vehicle's hybrid battery.
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Issues with the charge state
Have you ever experienced a situation where your vehicle's display shows a fully charged battery in a minute, then, suddenly, you see a sharp drop in your vehicle's charge status?
If that's the case, any erratic change in your vehicle's charge indicates an issue with the battery. The issue is most likely related to overcharging or unable to keep the charge for a long time.
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Your hybrid battery is unable to hold the charge
Another common symptom indicating an issue with your view hybrid battery is not to fully charge.
For example, if you left your car in charge overnight and realize in the morning that the battery is not fully charged, there is a problem with your vehicle's hybrid battery itself.
Thoughts, you need to have your vehicle inspected by a professional mechanic and get the problem resolved immediately. Otherwise, you might be in the situation more often.
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Overuse of the internal combustion system
As we mentioned earlier, if your vehicle felt that your hybrid battery is not performing as regular, it will switch immediately to using the internal combustion system.
A good indication that your hybrid battery is going bad is to monitor how your vehicle often uses the combustion system. For example, if you realize that the combustion system is used more than it should be, you need to immediately have your vehicle inspected by a personal mechanic.
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Weird noises coming from your engine
One of the worst signs of a bad hybrid battery has a deal with overheating. Since your battery is trying to work hard to provide you with the necessary power and it can't, there is a high chance that this battery will overheat.
As your battery overheats, it can't damage itself and the surrounding components. Thus, if you've noticed that your vehicle is using the cooling fan to reduce the batteries' temperature, you need to take your vehicle to a personal mechanic immediately.
How do you test a hybrid battery?
Now, if you have noticed any of the mentioned symptoms of a bad hybrid battery, it is recommended that you do your homework and check whether your battery requires professional mechanic attention or not.
This is because professional mechanics will take time and money to do their tests, and the patient might not be related to the battery itself. Thus, it might be worth doing what's known as stress testing.
What stress testing means is that you challenge your battery and use a certain scanning tool to check whether any problem is coming from your battery or not.
To do so, you can visit any repair shop and ask them to provide you with a scanning tool that is suitable for hybrid batteries. Some of those scanning tools are the TechStream that Toyota uses or some aftermarket ones to check, like the Snap-on or the Matco.
Those tools are not like the OBD2 tools that you use for checking any standard vehicle errors. They are specifically used to check the hybrid battery capacity.
The test itself is not very complicated, and anyone with very minimal mechanical skillsets can do it.
Here's all you need to do to perform a stress test on your hybrid battery:
- Find an empty area where you can perform the test. An ideal place would be an empty area safe in the back of the street or anywhere where people are not around.
- Use the scanning tool to scan all current errors or perform what's known as diagnostic trouble codes scanning.
- Then, you need to move on to the live data collection process, which means that you need to start your hybrid battery and have your vehicle exploits up to 30 mph.
- After that, drop to neutral but not to a complete stop.
- You need to repeat the process at least five times.
- Once you finish repeating the five times, your scanning tool will tell you your hybrid vehicle's battery's overall status.
- Once you get the results, it's then your decision to check whether it's worth visiting a personal mechanic or not. If you notice that the battery has significant problems and requires replacements, you have no other choice. Otherwise, you need to check any other culprits causing the bad hybrid battery symptoms you've noticed.
Can you drive a car with a bad hybrid battery?
According to automotive experts in the hybrid industry, your vehicle will not stop running if you have a bad hybrid battery.
Hybrid vehicles are designed in a way that the vehicle can automatically switch to using the fuel or the combustion system once the hybrid battery goes bad.
However, you will notice a significant drop in your vehicle's fuel economy, and in some scenarios, your vehicle might drive rough.
What happens when a hybrid car runs out of battery?
This on a discussion on the Toyota website, your vehicle is going to switch automatically to using the combustion system, which relies 100% on fuel.
Your vehicle will not be able to drive more than 18 mph, though.
Can I hybrid battery run on fuel only?
Yes, that is the backup situation. When your hybrid battery goes bad, your vehicle will switch to the fuel.
However, keep in mind that the other way is not possible. For example, if you are looking to run your vehicle with electricity only, this cannot happen.
According to Toyota help discussion, hybrid vehicles are designed to run on hybrid batteries only if there is enough fuel in the tank. Thus, if your tank doesn't have any fuel, your hybrid battery will not engage, and the vehicle will not run.
How much does it cost to replace a hybrid battery?
Unfortunately, hybrid battery replacement costs are one of the most expensive repairs for all types of maintenance related to hybrid vehicles.
According to automotive experts, it can cost you between $1000 to $6000 to replace your vehicle's hybrid battery.
Thanks, you need to evaluate the situation first about whether it's worth replacing your vehicle's hybrid battery or not.
Is it worth replacing my vehicle's hybrid battery?
It all depends. For example, if you order replacing your battery with 75% or more from your hybrid vehicle's value, it is never recommended to spend this money and repaired it.
Think about it this way: you need to perform repairs only if it adds value to your vehicle. For example, if repair costs are going to cost you $5000 and your vehicle is worth $10,000, you need to evaluate whether, after performing these repairs, your vehicle's value will go up to $15,000 or not.
Otherwise, it is not recommended to spend this money on your vehicle.
The other thing to consider is the mileage on your car. It is noted that after 100,000 miles, your vehicle is expected to face significant damages, and therefore, it might not be worth performing major repairs after this mile's threshold.
The other thing to think about is any other existing problems in your car. For example, if your vehicle has measured problems in any other components, it might not be worth spending this huge amount of money on getting the battery replaced, and instead, you would better sell this car and buy a new one.
The brand new and even the used market has many decent vehicles that can last much more than your current vehicle.
What if it's not worth repairing my vehicle's hybrid battery?
If you got to a point where it's not worth repairing your car, whether it's related to your hybrid battery or not, your best option would be to sell this vehicle and use the payment towards a better one.
One might wonder, who is interested or going to buy a vehicle with significant damages? Well, you are at the right place.
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Whether you have major problems with your hybrid battery or any other components, Cash Cars Buyer will not only provide you with the top dollars but also will pick up your car free of charge no matter where you're living around the states!
Our process is very straightforward and does not take over a quick conversation with our team describing your vehicle type and condition. Once we hear this information about your car, we provide you with an instant offer that doesn't take more than a couple of seconds.
Then, we coordinate with you to move your car safely within one to three days.
As the pickup time, we inspect your vehicle to make sure that it matches the information we have in our system. Then, we hand you the cash payment immediately on the spot!
The bottom line
Hybrid vehicles are great, and they can help you save the environment and save a lot on fuel.
However, when dealing with significant problems with hybrid batteries, one might get discouraged about buying a hybrid vehicle.
Luckily, some common symptoms are indicating that your hybrid battery is going to go bad soon. Thus, it is recommended to keep an eye on those symptoms and reach out to a professional mechanic immediately after you notice any of them.
If you've noticed that repair costs are going to be much more than what you're willing to pay, we recommend that you reach out to Cash Cars Buyer and sell your car within one to three days!
If you would like additional information, you can give us a call at 866-924-4608 or visit our home page click on the free instant online offer.