Gen II codes PA80 P3021 P3022 Battery failure

Hello prius family,

The hybrid owners worst fear just happened to me yesterday and I'm looking for your help and input. I've done some research online and saw that there are others that have had the same problem, so here it is.

My wife has an 06 Gen II prius with 160,000 miles (just out of CA warranty) and all of a sudden multiple warning lights appeared. The VSC light, yellow warning lamp, hybrid system failure, and check engine lights all came on and the car could barely move. It still starts and drives but the fan in the back for the battery (i'm guessing) blows like crazy. I've been very careful and have been driving super slow. I took it to a Japanese auto center expert (which got great reviews) because I always heard that the dealerships will get you. They told me the hybrid battery needs to be replaced which is over $3,000. I don't have that kind of money, but I was seeing that there could be other problems causing this failure.

When we drive it, the display screen shows that the hybrid battery still charges up which I thought wouldn't work at all. We also know that small 12 volt battery is towards the end of its life and could causing certain errors to pop up. I'm hoping that someone with experience could help me out, because I've seen anywhere from inverter pump to ecu needed to be replaced.

Here are the error codes:

C2300 actuator system malfunction

c2318 Low Voltage Error (Power supply malfunction)

P3000 Battery Control system

P0A80 Replace Hybrid Battery Pack

P3021 Battery Block 11 becomes weak

P3022 Battery Block 12 becomes weak

I'm debating on whether I should pay another $100 to have toyota look at it and hope for a different issue that doesn't require a $3000 battery job. If there are any other details that you need to help me out let me know and I can respond. If its the battery I'm thinking of just getting a reconditioned battery for $900 with installation and a 1 year warranty. Save some money. Thanks for all your help.

 

thanks for all your input. I'm going to try and speak with Toyota customer service and maybe get an "out of warranty claim" and maybe they can help out. If not, I'm going the reconditioned battery route.

 

Update on the battery situation. I went ahead and got a reconditioned battery. Paid $1,150 with installation and came with a 2 year unlimited mile warranty. So far everything works good and the "triangle of death" has disappeared. Hopefully nothing else goes wrong. We've only had the car for 15 months, but we still love it.

 

anything i should be looking out for?