The dreaded dealer diagnostics

Thanks everyone, Ericbecky, I may give you a call. My home computer will not let me onto this forum, so I can only reply when at work. I hope I'll have a chance to take a closer look over the weekend (which is Sun and Mon for me). We've been running around in a cheapo Nissan Versa we rented for $107/wk. This is how people without resources live.. they can't scrounge up enough for a down payment so they end up renting. Next we'll be using taxis!

 

So, today I checked the 12v aux battery (11.4 v after sitting for a week). 14.3v with engine running, so that seemed OK.
- Next accessed the hybrid battery and checked voltage at each cell with car shut off. Numbered from passenger side...all were @ 8.04v to 8.07v except #1 @7.8v, #22 @6.8v, and # 28 @ 7.76v.
-Removed all terminal connectors and cleaned all buss bars and fasteners and replaced. Checked voltage again and all pretty much same as 1st time.
-Had to disconnect and reconnect auxillary battery a couple times before I could get the car to start, but it did, with all the bloody warning lights on. I decided to just try driving to see what would happen. Went about 20 miles, mostly highway at 40 to 60mph before the hybrid battery fan came on (had all the covers off, so felt top of pack...just slightly warm to the touch.) So I kept driving and everything seemed fine except for the stupid lights and the cooling fan.
-I went about 32 miles in about an hour. Computer said I averaged 43mpg. The energy monitor looked as if everything was working too.
-Also, the coolant control valve seems to be working since the heat works and the engine overheating light does NOT come on.
- Checked voltage again after the drive and all cells were just about .5 volts higher (engine off) than before I drove it.

Tired now, so I'm going home. Will see if any of you have comments later.
Thanks.

 

This morning I realized that last night when I posted, I was thinking that it read 12.4...checked again today and it really was 11.4 which obviously is bad. Tried putting a charger on it today, waited till it read 14 volts, did the disconnect and reconnect thing and started it, no lights, drove about 18 miles and they did come back on.
I've seen posts by people who have replaced one or two modules in the hybrid pack, looks pretty straight forward. Do you think that and a new 12v auxiliary might take care of it?

 

Thanks again, there is a reason I am kinda determined to try and get some more life out of the car that I didn't mention in the beginning. About 2 weeks before this, after researching the expected life of the Prius (ex. Yellow Cab in San Francisco only uses them, and retires them at 300K miles). I made the decision to spend $800 to replace rear struts...car rides so nicely now!

 

So here we are, about 6 weeks later. I finally decided to go with a guy I found on C-list who is a Toyota technician who replaces hybrid batteries as a side business. He brings a reconditioned battery to you, exchanges it for your old one and puts it all back together again in about an hour. Then he connects his laptop and you go for a drive. If everything seems ok you pay him $650. He'll replace it if it fails within 2 months. We've put over 1000 miles and the car runs like new. It is so nice that I gave it a thorough detailing and am even thinking about having a dent fixed and replacing the cracked front bumper. My wife loves her car again!

Dealer flat out lied about needing computers replaced, wrongly told my wife that the reason the hybrid battery failed (could have been) because the 3 way coolant valve was faulty ( it isn't, but a sensor is.) causing the battery to overheat!