2007 Hybrid battery issues and dead 12v? - next steps

About 3 weeks ago when I was driving around the red triangle came up on the dash, along with the yellow ((!)), the vsc, check engine, and the turtle shell on the MDU. I promptly ran codes when I got home and was greeted with P0A80, P3019, C1241, C1259, and C1310.

I started looking into what I needed to do to resolve this, and what my options were, but in the meantime still had to get to work with the old girl. At first the car was mostly running alright, except for a sluggishness when I was accelerating, but this continued to worsen until a week later. I finally had the car cap out at 34 MPH with the engine revving high, Problem appeared across the top of the MDU, and it then signaled there was a problem with the transmission lock. Thankfully I recycled the ignition and it started running again so I could get home.

Eventually though, the car flat out refused to start, which I imagine was due to the 12v not being able to charge and eventually puttering out as well. Limited time and finances made it a balancing act to try and diagnose the problem and get it resolved, but now I've pretty much been forced to make a decision so I don't need to keep taking an uber to work every day.

I was originally looking at trying to work on the battery and rebalancing it myself, but I don't have the time or the resources not to mention the expertise to try that unfortunately. I was also considering trying to get a refurbished unit from green bean batteries, as they would do the install themselves and they apparently have a lifetime warranty( highly suspect IMO). My other options are of course going to the dealer to pay a pretty penny for a brand new unit, getting the battery rebalanced or trying out newpriusbatteries. I've heard some bad stories about refurbs, and not too much about how newpriusbatteries' units are. There is of course the hope that once I replace the 12v, I can restart the car and drive to a place in the area that will rebalance it, as it may be that the entire hybrid unit does not need to be replaced.

I have been reading up whenever I can since these issues started but am kind of at wits end, so any wisdom to be shared would be appreciated!

 

As I said, I looked at green bean but I am leery about dropping money for a rebuilt battery, even if they will do the full install. IF it is only a few modules (looks like module 9 was the problem cell), rebalancing might be an option, I just haven't gotten around to talking to enough shops yet. At this point I think I'm going to wait until i replace the 12v and then have it looked at by the dealer to make sure of what the issue is. I did talk to a mechanic this morning, dude was pretty condescending and tried to tell me that there was no such thing as rebalancing and that you can't replace individual modules, so he's out of the equation either way.

 

No, I was looking local as right now I'm in Pittsburgh.

 

The cheapest new hybrid battery would be 1950, so it’s that or newpriusbatteries if I want a brand new one. Task number one at this point is to get it towed to a dealer so they can diagnose what the actual problem is, and then go from there. From what those codes were telling me there’s a bad module but who knows?

Don’t think there’s anyone in the area that will rebalance the packs for me outside of a dealership.

 

Eric’s pricing is a good ballpark range - but balancing out the voltage and all the other steps involved seemed like an investment of time that I may not have. Lyfting to work plus that undertaking may end up being cheaper than replacing the entire unit in the short term but others have mentioned the whack a mole nature of the process that is a little disheartening. This Prius sat around a lot, only had about 85k on it when I got it, so there is a chance that I would soon be faced with multiple module failures.

 

If anyone who grabbed one of the cylindrical packs from newpriusbatteries and has been using it for a while could chime in I’d appreciate it!