2001 generation 1 prius battery

I keep getting directed to this forum when I do my research and the people here are pretty outstanding, so I thought I would give it a try. What I'm looking for is opinion on possible problems that I might want to consider before trying to deal with the battery, and secondly, alternatives to buying a new battery for $3000, IN CANADA, preferably ontario near the GTA (rebuilders/refurbished etc...). The more different opinions the better.

First of all the error codes:
P3000
P3019
C1213
C1251
Lights:
check engine
emergency light
triangle of death
power steering
main battery
hybrid system warning (the car with ! in it)

Now my symptoms:
First of all, i love toyota and i love prius. I bought this as is, maybe it was a bad idea, but good price, and my uncle is a pretty good mechanic so i figured it would work out (but he dosent have much experience with hybrids). The first thing i notice is that acceleration is pretty bad, sometimes its normal but usually its bad, it seems like there is no shifting to higher gears (yes i know its CVT, but you know what i mean). Also, if i brake for a while, the engine shuts off and then it runs on battery.... but while my foot is still on the brake the engine cuts back on (kind of roughly), and then back off to battery... all this while idling. Also, the battery meter shows that the battery discharges and recharges in like a minutes (maybe thats why the engine cuts on and off?)

What I've tried:
-at first the only that came up was the mass air flow sensor, so i went and replaced that.... but even so the same code came up again... it seems like the system isnt getting enough voltage so it cant even tell me whats wrong.

Its obviously trash if the transmission AND battery are gone.... but if its just the battery (and my transmission woes are just symptoms of a weak battery), then I'd like to know of real rebuilders/refurbishers in Canada near the GTA (please dont like me to one of those DIY guides online)

Thanks so much in advance. Any help is appreciate bc i kind of screwed over my dad with this purchase and I really don't want to make him pay for my mistake. thanks

 

Thanks! your giving me hope . My uncle is a very good mechanic, but not experienced with prius, especially not in battery rebuilding. BUT, he is willing to learn and try rebuilding this battery bc in the future he can make a lot of money if he figures it out (he'll probably be the only one in a few hundred miles who can do it).

Those codes come from his scanner, I'll ask him to scan it again for me in case i left any of them out

Sim

 

Thank tochatihu!! I can't believe how quick and helpful you guys are!
I've called the dealer with the VIN and they said there is nothing outstanding and it was taken in for all of its recalls.

My uncle (the mechanic) says the 12V battery is fine bc the car STARTS fine... but I'm going to ask him to check how much voltage is running across it during a cold start today.

Now I've heard of the transaxle problem before, and you seem to be replying to by concern of the transmission with the transaxle, (sorry to expose my ignorance), but is the transaxle the transmission in a CVT?

You asked for more information, and I don't know much more, but I want all future posters to see this: Although I am not a mechanic, my uncle is very experienced and has his own shop, so I can always test pretty much anything and give you the results, or even ask him to try things out (if you can explain it in a way that I will be able to understand and explain to him)

Please, tell me anything you want to know and I should have it for you in a few hours

Thanks again guys!

 

The other main thing I want to say is that I've seen the non-toyota battery solutions that run from $500-$1700 and I would be willing to pay that much to get it up and running again, but if its the battery and something else big (like the transmission)... I think the cost would just be too much, as I haven't seen any cost savers for the transmission. So before I pay the ~$2000 for the battery, I'm interested in ruling out damage to the transmission or something else that would make it not worth fixing. The odd thing is that NO codes for the transmission come up on the scanner, but if the HV voltage is low than the car probably doesn't have enough juice to tell me whats wrong with it properly!

(remember I have full access to a mechanic garage!)

 

Alright I will try to pull the battery and get some pictures today. As for measure voltages, could you post a picture with where I should measure on the modules?

 

Also, are there any other things you want me to check out, other than the 12V battery? And are there any ways to rule out the transmission before I pour money into the battery? Is it possible that the transmission revs and dosent shift well if there is an HV battery problem?

 

I don't know if you'd call it "less power" but the engine revs really high without the speed changing much... what do you think? (IE: Max rev and barely changing from 30-32mph in 5 seconds... the 5s is an approximation but you get that point )

 

Update: the 12V battery is perfect.
The full codes are:
P3000
P3006
P3014
P3019
C1215
C1214
C1213
C1259

Is there any thing else (easier) than taking apart the battery that I can do for today?

 

Seems like it, but is it indicating any other problems? Im mainly worried about the transmission, I think im accepting the fact that it is the battery and i will start (with your help) rebuilding it this weekend, but i dont want to spend to much if theres lots of other problems and i have to throw it out either way.

 

The thing is that it DOES move in reverse..... what does that mean :S... ive seen many people with this problem saying that the car doesn't reverse so thats kind of odd.

I'm going to start taking it apart this weekend, does anyone have a link to a nice guide with lots of pictures?

 

Would anyone know of a canadian supplier of the modules? otherwise its going to be some time until i cant replace anything