Best option for battery problem? And southeast Michigan mechanic recs?

I went thru the same situation a few months ago. From what I could figure out the three options are around $3,000.00 for replacement battery from Toyota. 2. A rebuilt battery from a company like Dorman. That runs around $1,600.00 plus the cost of installation. This would have a 3 year warranty and be available from your local auto parts house. 3. Is getting someone to replace a single cell in your hybrid battery. I do this for friends relatives and others here in Huntsville Al. I have been doing it for a nearly a year and so far none of the cars have had a second cell ho out. They will eventually. Good luck its hard choices!

 

Oh also they generally still drive but in a kind of limp mode. I was afraid to drive very much. I felt like it couldn't be good for it but I don't have any real knowledge of how it effects it.

 

For about $150 you can put in a new freshly charged 12 V battery.......which will also reset most or all of the codes......and then you can see what happens from there.

It may not help.......or may not solve everything.......but is well worth the small gamble.

When troubleshooting a problem, one should always do the simplest, easiest, most obvious and cheapest things first.
Your 12 V battery is obviously bad. Change it first.

 

A new 12 volt will help, but I suspect your mechanic called it correctly. You can clear the codes by disconnecting the 12 volt battery for at least 30 seconds, and then reconnect it. It will act like a regular Prius again until traction battery heats up enough to code again, then it will go back into limp mode. Eventually, the Prius will go no more. That is because the Prius will NOT run on the gas engine by itself.

I suggest you contact AutoBeYours and see if they can assist you. You should be able to get it down to them in Indiana and they can do the work for you cheaper than the dealers could. The Dorman route would also be a good bet. Best bet is the new battery from Toyota, but you pay the piper for that. You can do the third option and that is a battery rebuild and rebalance. It will last a while, but eventually the battery will code again as the cells within the modules continue to age. FWIW, the Dorman batteries are also "rebuilt and rebalanced". With that said, in essence you are getting the same thing as if you were to rebuild yourself. The only real difference will be the three year warranty. But I believe you still have to pay someone to put the battery in for you.

Prius hybrids sales and service Scottsburg Indiana

If you are mechanically inclined and skilled with high voltage electricity, you can successfully repair your Prius on your own for a small amount of money. You will need the proper tools along with replacements modules and the chargers that are required to do the balancing of the modules. You can simply swap modules without rebalancing, but when you rebalance the end result is usually a traction battery that requires less service over time.

One other thing that you need to consider. Chances are the cooling system for the traction battery is dirty at this time. The fans are notorious for getting stopped up with foreign material. Once that happens, the batteries tend to overheat and destroy the modules. So, it is a good idea to have the cooling fan and ductwork cleaned while you are servicing the traction battery.

A bad traction battery does not mean RIP Prius. It simply means that it needs some TLC. Once you make the repair, you should be able to continue to drive your Prius. You will probably also see that the MPG will improve once the repairs have been made since the ICE (gas engine) will not have to work as hard to keep the traction battery charged up.

Best of luck to you,
Ron (dorunron)