transaxle disengaging & hybrid system & ABS warning lights

I have a 2005 i purchased new in 2005. I now have around 120,000 miles and have had no problems - just oil changes and new tires.

I was driving on the interstate in MS and all of a sudden all these lights come on on my dash including the triangle that means take it to your dealer immediately. The car sounded funny acted funny and accelerated funny. I was closer to home so I came home and called the dealer. They said to drive it in but if it started acting up to pull over and they would come get me.

When I cranked it, it sounded like I was pushing the accelerator but I wasnt so I cut it off then cranked it again. I drove it very slowly cause it was acting weird.

The dealer said I needed a new main battery for $4000. So I drove it home to discuss it with my husband and to do some on-line research here.

So 2 - 3 weeks later my husband decides to look at it and by now the little battery is dead - it is the original battery too -btw.

So I bought a new toyota battery (the little one). My husband hooked it up to see if the car would crank. It did but all the lights on the dash lite up again including a couple new ones!

The transaxle disengaging light, the hybrid system warning light, and the ABS warning light.

So now my hubby doesnt want to replace the big main battery cause of all the other lights - especially the disengaging light. My plan was to purchase a rebuilt battery then trade it in.

Ya'll's thoughts please......

I would expect all to be well if you were to remedy the main battery problem. You may want to find an independent repair shop near you that can/will replace it. At my shop we commonly install used batteries in Prii like yours.

I strongly recommend a fresh pull from a wrecked car, rather than a "rebuilt" battery. They may do well in other places but my experience is that they do not last around here. But junkyard batteries are extremely scarce. The supply has depleted by a factor of 10 over the past year. It is too bad, the only junkyard battery listed on car-part.com in MS has the following description:

2008
Battery
Toyota Prius DEAD 29038 $Call
Lindsey Bros. Auto Parts USA-MS(Booneville) E-mail 1-800-317-1480

Anyone on here know her options for buying an after market battery that converts the car to a plug-in and then recovering that cost by selling the vehicle? I ask because I imagine in a few years all us GenII owners aren't going to have the luxury of a plentiful supply of used traction batteries from wrecked GenIIs.

In other words, what are going to be the future options for those of us who want to keep our car on the road for 300K+ miles?

You can use gen3 modules in the gen2 case. The gen3 batteries have a lower internal resistance than gen2 so should perform better and they fit in the gen2 case so purchasing a gen3 battery and changing over all the modules will get you back on the road for some years yet. Reinvolt are talking about bringing out a lithium based battery around December this year as a direct replacement for the gen2 Nmhi.

can i see the site for the web site offering this service?

Yes do a search on Reinvolt hear on PC.

Are you sure it is the battery? Mine did the same things and they said it is the transaxle. At 86,000 miles.

Before spending a few thousand on a traction battery or a transaxle, get a second diagnosis from another dealer or independent. They do sometimes make mistakes.

Uhh... why would you get rid of it after fixing it? Assuming that the current problem was not caused by an accident or abuse, it would almost certainly run without a major problem for another 100,000 miles. You can't begin to buy another car as good as it for the cost of a traction battery or transaxle.

well we just replaced the hybrid battery with a rebuilt one. also replaced the 12 volt with a new toyota 12V and tried to crank it and got all the same lights on the dash. SO WHAT NOW????

Is the safety link in properly? There are a number of posts on hear when people have replaced the HV battery, the red safety link not being installed correctly.

where is the red safety link?

It is on the hybrid battery and is not red it is orange. After you flip it back you need to slide it up. People often do not slide it up.

It is on the HV battery. If this link is not fitted correctly it enables the 12volt system but does not give the HV supply from the HV battery. I will see if I can find a picture and fitting sequence, or someone else may beet me to it.

As I said someone beet me to it.

okay so found it. flipped it down and slid it out the pushed it in and flipped it up - nothing. even tried moving it with the car powered and nothing changed

I am soooo frustrated

This thread explains it pretty well. I didn't read you slid it up after flipping it up. See post #15 at the link, it shows what I'm talking about.

It sounds like you installed the batteries as DIY projects. The process when installing the orange traction battery interlock switch is to insert the switch, pivot the lever 90 degrees, then slide it to lock in place.

If you did this correctly and still have warning lights, then you'll need to tow your car to your local Toyota dealer to have the DTC read. Good luck.

By the way, I do not know what you mean by the "transaxle disengaging" light. It might help if you take clear photos of the warning lights and any error messages displayed on the MFD, and post.