Help for a Newb

Hello everyone.

Let me start off by saying I was given this 2007 Prius by a friend when she took it into the dealer and was told her hybrid battery was in need of replacement. She balked at the $4k+ dealer charge for the new battery and installation and decided to buy a new camry instead. Long story short I ended up with a new to me 194k mile car. I proceeded to pick the car up and drive it 400 miles home and then another 220 mile round trip to Atlanta with no issues and an average 43 mpg.

I read through the threads on here and figured out how to load test each cell and find which one is my culprit. after removing the battery and testing each cell I found #6 to be at 7v while all the rest were at 8.2-8.4v. I then ordered a used working cell off of eBay and since the battery was out on the bench and the new cell wouldn't be in for a week, I decided to level the existing cells and see if the one cell would level out any (connected all positives together and connected all negatives together and let it sit overnight). After the leveling 27 cells were at 8.1 v and the #6 cell was at 7.1 v. So leveling didn't help out the low cell. I decided I would put everything back together to get the battery out of my dads garage and install it temporarily back into the car so it could be moved around the driveway if needed.

***Here is where the problem starts***
I tested the battery and it has 222.4 V installed it into the car and tried to start the car to move it and got warning lights across the dash and a flashing E on the gas gauge, when it was parked the day before it had 1/2 tank. I do not get a ready light, the car will not shift into reverse or drive and only stays in N telling me to hit the Park button. My 12 V battery is showing 12.5 V when I go into the diagnostics screen to check voltage, I have also pulled the 12 V out and stuck it on a charger/tester to ensure the battery is in good condition. I have read through several "Car won't shift into gear" threads without much useful information to glean.

ReCap of info
12 V battery is fully charged and tested good on Craftsman charger/tester
Hybrid battery has one bad cell in it but is reading 220+ V at the leads
There is fuel in the fuel tank
The dash lights up with several indicator lights
The car will not shift into Drive or Reverse

 

I have removed and replaced it several times since I read in another thread that this could be the issue, but I will try again. Thanks!

 

Thanks TF the 80 is mine and the 40 is a friends. I definitely get better mileage in the Prius though. JC nailed it and made me feel extremely dumb for missing that simple step for so long. Thanks JC you're awesome!