Hybrid Battery and possible Brake Actuator issue

Hi everyone. I'm Joe, from Dallas. I am the original owner of a 2006 Prius. I bought it new for my fiancee to take advantage of the single driver, carpool lane program in CA back when that was a thing. Since then, its been with us through our moves to New Orleans, DC, Santa Monica and now Dallas. Its been a great car and we've used but not abused it. Since we work remotely, we haven't driven it much over the years and it has 136K miles. We also have 2 other vehicles that we rotate the mileage on.

in 2018, the hybrid battery threw the red triangle and it came time for it to be replaced. I wanted to get the Prolong system and diy the battery but the wife said no and I opted for a reconditioned swap, $1,000 for the swap and the guy came to me and finished it in 1hr. Much more affordable than the dealer quoted $3400.

Fast forward to this week. After coming back from a 2 week vacation, where it sat unused, I started up the car and upon driving, it was sluggish with intermittent spurts of acceleration. No codes, but I wanted to be safe so I parked it and used a different car. Tuesday, drove it 13 miles and then got the red triangle, rear fan running continuosly, limp mode. Uh Oh, here we go again. 1 hour to drive the 13 miles home since I was only going 5-20mph with heavy load on the engine. This time, I'm ignoring the wife and I'm going to do this myself DIY. I'm trying to figure out if I should just sell it or if it is salvageable. I suspect the brake actuator is close to failure since every time I step on the brake, there's the buzzing noise and other noises (both engine on and off). Brakes still work, but there's a lot more anciliary noises that weren't there a few years ago. I've also had an issue where it will start reversing when I shift to R even though the brake is depressed, (only on startup and initial reverse).

TLDR
2006 Prius
136,000 miles
Reconditioned hybrid battery (2 yr warranty expired 2 months ago)
New 12v battery (2019)
oil changed regularly per mileage
possible brake actuator failing

Given the age of the prius, should and other possible issues, do you recommend getting the hybrid (traction?) battery fixed/reconditioned/replaced ? I put about 5-10k miles on it a year since we have other cars and trucks to use.

I've read a few of the threads on replacing/reconditioning the hybrid battery and see it as a possible project.
I have a multimeter, ratchets, sockets, wrenches and high speed internet for the endless youtube tutorials etc.

1. What battery charger do you recommend? It seems like there are 2 routes people take - using a RC hobby charger system with an external power source and Prolong system. Prolong seems to be best for doing the whole battery reconditioning and is kinda plug and play, but is expensive. I assume that it can also be connected to individual modules to charge those "bad" modules. I'd like to only spend ~ $200-$300 total. But am willing to spend more if it means my life is significantly simplified.

2. If RC hobby charger is the way to go, what are good ones to get? I see single, duo, and quad chargers, any particular ones you recommend? Some setups that I've seen online show multiple chargers connected. I assume thats to save downtime by doing multiple charges/discharges at a time. I see mention of external power sources. Do you get a 12v battery, connect it to the charger and then connect that to the modules you recharge? If I should get multiple chargers, at some point the price of the Prolong system becomes a non-issue.

3. Do most chargers come with the cables needed, or do I need to buy that separately?

4. Dischargers? Is that a feature of different chargers? I see mention of lightbulb fixtures. Is that something I have to build myself or can I buy that ready to go?

5. Should I get the possible brake actuator issue resolved first? I read somewhere that if the actuator is having issues, that will diminish the regen braking and possibly the hybrid battery charging capability.

 

I have an iPhone and bought the veepeak obdcheck BLE obd2 scan tool.

Using the free portion of dr. Prius app, it looks like block 2 is bad.

I tried out the demo portion of the app and got this


View attachment 195866

iPhone ?

 

Not knowing how the app works or if I got anything extra from the paid potion, I bought the add-on packs to do the battery and life expectancy test

Happy



iPhone ?

 

I also got these other codes from the demo portion of the dr. Prius app


iPhone ?

 

I'll reach out to Matt to talk over options. Thanks for the insight and advice.

I'm leaning towards replacing the module(s) and balancing the battery. Just need to figure out which charging route to go. I see that Newpriusbattery has $1600 option for a new battery. That's appealing for some worry free driving over the next 6-10 years.

 

You make a good point about the “demo” results. I doubt I could get a good battery indication since the hybrid fan is constantly running unless I clear the error lights and even then, it comes on within 10 min of starting the car.

I’ll have to see if I can find any new cells. I may be going on a fools errand if I need to just get a new battery in the end.

It’s kinda why I’m hesitant to get the prolong system since I wouldn’t really need it with a new battery. I may get one or two of the hobby chargers and if that works, invest in the prolong system for long term usage.


iPhone ?

 

Hometown hybrid is where I got my refurb battery 2 years ago. Unfortunately my warranty ended a couple months ago according to my receipt. In hindsight, I wish I had either tried to diy the fix myself or just get a new battery.

New Prius battery is the other place I considered if going the replacement route.

Thank you for the insight, I’m still undecided on what I’m going to do as of yet. I need to figure out what I’m going to do with the car long term.


iPhone ?

 

Fortunately or unfortunately my wife and I don't qualify for the $1200 payout. When we bought the prius, we were poor graduates. Now, we're in a better place financially.

My frugal inner tinkerer says to pull the battery, test it with the multimeter and replace whats needed and reinstall. My wife would say get rid of the car or just get a new battery and stop messing around with a new project when SHE has all sorts of other projects for me to work on.

@fotomoto I didn't see your thread about this same exact issue until I clicked on your link. I'm in the same situation as you were then. This Texas heat really does a number on our batteries if we don't drive it everyday! Thanks for the insightful posts. When you got the battery from Matt, did you keep the core or did he keep it as part of the lower cost? After you replaced the battery, did you continue to do preventative charging with the Prolong?

@JC91006 That's a good idea to reach out to Hometown Hybrids. I'll give them a call to see if theres anything we can work out. I had a good experience with them 2 years ago.

@Tim Jones Which battery did you replace with? A new Toyota OEM battery or one from newpriusbattery? I'm not afraid to pull the battery and do any of the work involved with replacing or even reconditioning. Its just a matter of it taking awhile to do. Time is the one resource that is hard to come by cheaply.

 

I've reached out to Hometown Hybrids and the best they can offer me is $100 off as a returning customer.

Thanks for the photos @Tim Jones . I'll contact 2k1Toaster to see how long delays are for battery shipping. Their website shows Aug 7 but I've seen some posts suggesting it could be longer.

If the lead time is too long, I'll have to look into other possible solutions. I may have to put the 12v battery on a tender if its going to take a long time.