P0A80 Code- but is it really the hybrid battery

Alright well half of that is already done; my hybrid battery is currently 'exposed' (the metal cover isnt off, just the plastic one is) because I had removed and cleaned the blower fan. I will look into this option; thank you!

 

And normally when you do this does the code PA080 go away or will I need to remove it and just pray it doesn't come back? Like how can I test to see if I actually did it properly (if I do go ahead and recondition it myself). I'm just worried since I have continued to drive with the PA080 light on (albeit 4 weeks it just never came back on) as this is my only car, so I'm worried I'll buy the kit and for X reason it won't work (cause I keep seeing everyone everywhere saying you need to stop using car immediately with PA080 etc etc

 

I've reached out to a few and still waiting for some answers, so far don't have any place that does; will give them a call tomorrow as I emailed them because I worked all day. I will also reach out to hybrid automotive. I found an independent dude who does them on facebook so might check that out. Also looking for used prolong kits. Cause if I will need a new one at 650$+, I think for the extra 400$, I'd buy a refurbished battery with a warranty... Am just looking to prolong this car for another few years

 

Thank you for the input.
I am going to call the prolong system place and ask if my car is a candidate albeit the delta soc of 35.50% (today's reading).

I appreciate the input and advice

 

When I did my life expectancy test on Dr Prius, it told me my battery was at 40%. When you used the Prolong system frequently, was the battery at a high 'life expectancy'? Asking because I'm wondering if the fact that it's at 40% will mean that it will 'recondition' less or something like that

 

Thank you all for your help!!
Was able to get the battery out today, cause I have a 3 day long weekend before needing the car again.
If worse comes to worse I need a little extra time, a friend will lend me their car but I thought I’d start with cleaning the bus bars and all that or whatever I can do in a weekend, and see if it helps. read a bit on cleaning or replacing the bus bars. Any other « fast fixes » I can do while having it out?

I called the Prolong company as suggested @Brian1954 and the worker told me he really wasn’t sure that the system would work with a delta soc so high and recommended taking it apart to have a closer look (the garages around here were quoting me 400$+ to look at the battery).
I’m hoping I can advance somewhat on the weekend as I would ideally like it to be somewhat fixed by Monday lol don’t feel like putting it back in and then taking it back out but I guess that may need to happen for me to do all these different tests.

 

I manually tested my modules last night with a volt meter (not under load) and a few were under 7(6.50 and 6.75). Is it recommended to change all below 7?
My little plates holding the modules together on the bus bar were VERY dirty so I'm hoping cleaning those up or changing them may get rid of the code, as the majority of my modules were 6.8 and above

 

I was watching a gentleman on Youtube explain the whole hybrid battery and he was saying that it happens quite frequently that very dirty bus bar plates will throw P0A80 codes. So far, all my modules are in relatively good health (will post pic with all their voltages). My dad will clean all my bus bar plates and bolts with electrolysis. I need to clean some of the bolts coming out of the modules as they also have corrosion, and some of the battery wires with the little metal lopp on the end are also corroded (do I just clean these with vinegar and baking soda as them recommend for the bus bar plates?) Then I'm hoping that if I put it all back together it might solve the issue before checking if not if I should change modules.

Perhaps a dumb question but anyone have a thread or a good youtube vid on how exactly to test each module individually (I heard an under load test is best, but how can I do that if I don't have any special machine?)

Again, can't thank you guys enough

 

Yeah I didn't have the battery in front of me at that point so my explination was shit lol

So I tested the voltage last night about 30 mins after taking the battery out. I do not remember how charged my battery appeared on the dash but it never fulls 100%. Also I did some research and from what I find on Prius chat, the gen 3's module identification is reverse from the gen 2 one, so in this post, block 1 is the one closest to the ECU.
Last night, with a non numericc volt meter, here are my results (that's all I had on hand), I got these numbers (rough estimates since it isn't numeric. Then, this morning, probably around 16h after battery is disconnected, I used a numeric volt meter and got the results in the bracket. (So number out of bracket=last night with non numeric, number in bracket in bold font=this morning with numeric volt meter).


Block 1: 1-6.75 (8.14)
2:6.75 (8.13)

Block 2: 1: 6.8(8.14)
2: 6.8 (8.12)

Block 3: 1: 6.9 (8.14)
2:6.75 (8.14)

Block 4: 1. 7 (8.16)
2: 7 (8.14)

Block 5: 1-7 (8.13)
2:7.1(8.16)

Block 6: 1: 7.1(8.15)
2: 7 (8.15)

Block 7: 1: 7.1 (8.14)
2:6.9(8.13)

Block 8: 1. 7.1 (8.12)
2: 7.1 (8.12)

Block 9: 1-7.1 (8.14)
2: 6.95(8.15)

Block 10: 1: 7.1(8.15)
2: 7.1 (8.11)

Block 11: 1: 7.1 (8.11)
2: 7.1 (8.11)

Block 12: 1. 7.25 (8.14)
2: 7.25 (8.14)

Block 13: 1-7.1 (8.13)
2: 7.1 (8.12)

Block 14: 1: 7(8.13)
2: 7.1 (8.13)


My questions:
1. is the difference from last night to this morning normal? I had read somewhere that the voltage changes the longer it's out of the car, so is it normal? Was it just cause my other volt meter wasn't precise enough?
2. What's the easiest way to do a load test if I know very little of electronics and don't havce any special tools on hand? Is it even doable?
3. How can I was the ends of the battery where I put the leads to test the voltage? They have some corrosion on them as well. I'll attach some pics in next post.

On the prius app, when it wasn't being super weird, block 11 always seemed fishy and more reactive as well as lower than the others. I noticed today it also has a lower voltage.... is it bad enough to change block 11?

Thank you again!

 

Hi!

Thanks for your response!!
Okay that reassures me a little about the delta soc!!

I actually bought a 12v battery tester to load test the cells (as that's one of the methods I found online) and before reading this I was about to load test each module. Should I no longer do that? My battery tester discharges anywhere from 25 to 500 amps, I saw on several youtube videos and threads on PriusChat that I should apply between 50-100amps and see how long it takes to discharge to around 6.5v. Is doing this the same as the light bulb test you're referring to?

Also, might sound dumb, but in the event that it would take me a long time to get modules online, would putting the battery back together and driving it (with same modules, only difference at this point would be cleaned bus bar plates, no more corrosion anywhere) a short while while I wait for both the prolong system and modules to arrive, be a TERRIBLE idea? I drive about 150km a week but have no second car. I red where you mentiioned only solution would be putting it back together but want to make sure we're on the same page that if I put it back together before getting the materials, I'm putting it back in the same state it came out as.

It's been about 1.5-2 months I'm driving with this check engine light and triangle of death. I would definetly change the modules before using prolong if that's what you suggest! I have a week vacation in a month so could do the charge and discharge on those days.

I'll wait for your input before load testing each module, as you are clearly much more experienced then me lol

Also, is it normal the voltages change on the modules ever since taking it out around 32h ago? I planned on rechecking voltage just before load testing each one this morning. If I put it back in before changing modules, it would only be later this week as I was able to borrow my dad's car for the next few days.

Again, thank you so much!