Nat Posted October 19, 2021 Report Share Posted October 19, 2021 I checked out a 13 hybrid with 93k miles last night. The seller bought it at auction, unseen, and when he got it it wouldn't run due to a dead 12v. He put a new batter in it and it ran for about 40 minutes until the battery died. It seems like the DC/DC converter system isn't working, or there's a wiring problem. The seller doesn't really know what he got himself into and just wants to get rid of it. We jumped it with his truck, and everything came on and looked good. We even got the engine to turn on by turning on the heat, and it recharged the main battery. I'm thinking about taking another battery and hooking it up to take a test drive. What should I look for on the test drive? How difficult will it be to troubleshoot the low voltage charging system? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowStorm Posted October 20, 2021 Report Share Posted October 20, 2021 You can tell if the DC/DC converter is working by monitoring the voltage. If it is above about 14 volts when car is in "ready to run" mode,the converter is working. If the voltage is less than 13v, it is not. You con monitor voltage with a voltmeter in a 12V socket or use the ET (Engineering Test) mode on the left screen. Follow instructions here in plus 3 golfer's post of Jan 18, 2020 for how to get into ET mode. (Note: let go of the OK button when ET appears.) Once in ET mode, scroll down a bunch of screens and you get to one with Battery: 12.6v (or whatever the voltage is). With either method of monitoring you should see less than 13v with ignition "on" and then above 14v when in "Ready to run". fbov, cr08 and jzchen 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nat Posted November 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 Thanks SnowStorm! I bought the car. It had ever dwindling voltage, even with the car on. I was able to get to the post of the DC/DC converter with my volt meter and saw that it had 15 volts when the car was on, but that wasn't getting to my 12v battery. I took the back of the car apart to find out where I was loosing the connection, only to find that both the wires ran toward the front of the car. In the engine bay I found the connection, the 175 amp fuse was blown. $6 and it was working. ? jzchen, stolenmoment and fbov 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnowStorm Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 Good job! I think that's the first I've heard of that fuse being blown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stolenmoment Posted November 17, 2021 Report Share Posted November 17, 2021 (edited) ... and you got to change one of the easy ones! Well done! Enjoy your new ride! Edited November 17, 2021 by stolenmoment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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