Hybrid battery is dying, unsure which way to go

The long trip home and through the mountains without a working battery probably stressed the little ICE enough that you should check and change the oil asap

 

There is no way to guarantee reliability with a used battery that is 10-18 years old. When is the last time someone offered to sell you a "refurbished" 12v battery? Traditionally we were satisfied to get 3 or 4 years out of the 12v. You can put a magic "reconditioner" on the old 12v battery as well. Does not work.

Sure you can break up a Prius hv battery and swap the worst modules. But plenty of people will experience downtime multiple times over a year or two. Reliability in a vehicle is more important than a replacement guarantee. Does not matter if "BlueTech" will swap it again (after a seven day wait assuming nothing else in the car is bad - read the disclaimers). Some of the refurbishers won't even return calls after the first failure.

That brake actuator code is concerning as well.

 

Is the rest of your car in good condition? Paint, frame, window seals, Tires, suspension, etc? Do you like your car and want to drive it for another 4 years? Is it paid off? If it IS paid off....and you said yes to all of the above a $2,000 investment into your car for a NEW Battery makes sense. That is about $45 a month for 4 years. Well worth it. If you said no then what are your options? Cars are so expensive right now. I have an 08 with 119K and I plan on keeping it for 4 more years so a new paint job and new hybrid battery make sense for me.

 

You can get a Lifepo4 battery for 400 dollars more than that OEM battery

 

Being in Idaho limits the options somewhat unless you are heading to Washington state or somewhere else where Prii roam free.

Staying under $2k may require ordering new cells from newpriusbatteries.com and having a skilled diyer or a local mechanic install them. Right now it looks like they are backordered into August.

Or gain mpg with a few more dollars with a $2240 kit from projectlithium.com. Also backordered but this is the way I would go when the time comes again.

But I probably won't have the need since I already changed to new Toyota a few years ago for $2250 installed. Still available for $2,295 with free round trip shipping from Free Shipping Gen2 Prius to the Lower 48 | Hometown Hybrids. In Texas they install free.

The Toyota dealers have a wholesale cost of less than $1600. A dealer in Florida was selling them on sale for $1600 a few months ago. The point here is knowledge is power and some dealers will negotiate. Some won't. It is about a hour job for guys who know how.

 

The supplier.

 

Kind of looks like the bank 12 has an issue in the pack, high resistance. P3022 also flags 12 as a weak bank.

If water ingress has occurred, then it might just be corrosion on the battery terminals causing a poor connection. A high resistance at the terminals would cause the battery to charge less, and deliver less, making it look weak.

Could also be an actual dead bank.

NI-MH batteries usually are around 29ohm in the Prius, and Jack's Lithium packs usually sit around 19ohm.

If you know someone capable, or a willing to do more research BEFORE opening the battery.. it might save a lot of cash to check for corrosion. The pack might still need to be balanced though afterwards, as bank 12 hasn't been charging/discharging the same as the other cells and might be out of sync with the other cells.

If you want/need to replace the cells, I can definitely recommend jack's batteries (Nexcell Lithium replacement at project lithium's website) - Worth the wait, if you can wait.

 

yes, it is one possibility

 

Maybe head south to Salt Lake City
Seems there are many battery installers there

 

Yes the $2,000 Price tag includes installing it yourself. There are several you toob videos showing the process. Watch several of them. If you feel you can.t do it. Ask a friend who is skilled at DIY and have them watch the videos. Many videos on cleaning the hybrid fan. Do the same with this job. If not ask on the forums here. Somebody near you will know someone who should be able to help you out.

 

the tube vents the 12v. someone put a rogue battery in, with no vent apparently, unless you see one to plug the elbow into. unsafe in a rear end accident, but many people ignore it.

there is no vent to the outside, it just exits under the 12v with a one way rubber valve.

clean the corrosion first, clear the codes and see if they come back. $2,600. for an oem is a very good price.

 

The fan blower wheel is seriously clogged. Hopefully you cleaned it. $2,600 for a new dealer battery is certainly better than the $4k quoted in post 25.

However your bearing(s) in post 1 and the brake actuator code in post 5 should be considered as well. The bearings could be $400 a wheel, not bad if its just one. The brake actuator might be $2,500 by itself and is a safety issue. You notice Dr Prius can't read those codes. I would want to know what may be coming after the $2,600 battery.

 

Yes. That is a good price on a new battery. Definitely clean the fan. I would remove it from the car and use a lot of q tips and isopropyl alcohol to super clean it. Also you should remove and clean the inside and outside of the duct work. I use a old camelback bottle brush or a rag ziptied to a short stick and scrub it clean. Since you life on a dirt road I would check it yearly and clean as needed. More if you ride with the windows down and have pets that shed fur. This cleaned hybrid fan will keep you old and eventually new battery as cool as possible. I try to keep the inside of my car no hotter than 85 degrees. So I run the AC a lot but I'm ok with the MPG loss. Wheel bearings are important to go....ABS module is important to stop....I'd for sure work on those next. Electrical contact cleaner and a toothbrush work wonders on electrical connector. Clean and then spray with canned air or let air dry for awhile and then reconnect.

 

the corrosion on the fan plug is very common, and can wreak havoc with the computers. get that done first.