2008 P0A80

2008 with 240k miles.
We're 2nd owners since 95k.
It was my car and is now my daughter's, she was driving and got the RToD "problem" warning on the display screen, red car with exclamation on display screen, and a few other lights.
She called me as soon as it happened while she was driving and I had her tell me what the HV battery bars looked like on the display. She said it was green and then dropped one bar while we talked and she got the car home.

I ran the code later on and got the P0A80 code on torque lite. I then went out with the Dr. Prius app and took a look, but I don't really know what I'm looking for or if these read outs will even tell me anything other than the 1 obvious cell that has issues.

I took several screen shots, the first one is with the battery down to 2 or 3 bars because I had just been out with the dome light on fiddling with the torque lite app earlier. The ICE was not on when I took any of the screen shots.


Then I started it up and drove a few miles. It didn't take long for the battery to go up to all green and then alternate between that and 1 missing bar.
The other 3 screen shots are from sitting with the ICE off after returning from driving those few miles.


Does any of this info actually tell me anything? Thanks

SM-G981V ?

 

Thanks for your reply. I haven't torn into it yet as I'm still trying to decide if I have any desire to start this process.

I really doubt anything has been replaced in this pack as we've owned it since 95k and I can't imagine there could have been anything done to the pack before 100k but I suppose anything is possible.

My options as I see it are to individually test all 28modules for load and capacity using equipment yet to be purchased and replace those modules that have not recovered enough capacity. This seems to be days and days if not 2 weeks of work to be able to cycle the modules 3-5x only 4 at a time using a hobby charger-discharger.

Or

Get the prolong deluxe system and perform the charge discharge cycles up front, then replace likely block 10 modules as well as any others that seem to have not responded well to the cycling.

Method one is cheaper financially but very expensive in time.

Option 2 is more expensive financially but waaaaay cheaper in time spent baby sitting...and I'll have the system to use on my gen 3 prius with only a harness purchase.

Decisions, decisions...

SM-G981V ?

 

These are a couple screen shots after having cleared the codes once the car had gone into what seemed like limp mode.

The first 2 while discharging, 3rd while slight charging, 4th while heavily charging.

I don't know if these show anything else worth noting but I am preparing myself for a looooong drawn out saga if we keep this car.


SM-G981V ?

 

Yeah, I'm just trying to avoid putting as much money into it as what it's worth...especially with 240k on it and using 1.5+quarts between oil changes.
If I can spend less than $1k and get it to last another 30-40k I'd be thrilled. Spending $2-2.5k and have it last only another 30-40k I would not be so happy

SM-G981V ?

 

I had just been reading some threads about that replacement module kit. I'm definitely not ruling that out.

However, the prolong deluxe as a way to attempt balancing the system after replacing known problem modules has other benefits as I have a gen 3 that could use the prolong for extending its life as well as a buddy of mine that has both a gen2 and 3 that could use prolong. If we split the cost of prolong and buy our additional harnesses we may be better off in the long run...I don't know. 4 vehicles getting HV Batt maintenance seems worth it but maybe not. I'm in uncharted territory here.

SM-G981V ?

 

Ok so last night I finally decided to pull the pack from my '08 and see what's up.

It had been sitting for nearly 2 weeks so it was certainly not freshly charged straight from a running vehicle.

I checked the block 10 modules right away just to see what the starting voltage was and saw #19 was at 6.60v...and there it is. The rest are at least normal.

I hooked up a motorcycle headlamp and did a 1min load test on each(85watts). Probably should have done 2min or maybe more but I was anxious to at least get some data started.
If I take out the #19 values the avg after the 1min load was 7.48v

My worst 4(besides 19) were:
7.37v
7.38v
7.39v
7.40v

Is that far enough below the avg to be concerning after only a 1min load?

...Or is the voltage drop under load the more important number? Avg delta V is .47v(without 19) and I have 5 modules more than .05v than the avg. Only 1 of those 5 with the larger delta Vs is also one of the 4 above that had the lowest 4 voltages after the load.

I will probably do a 2min load tonight after bringing home some gator clips to make life easier...should I go longer on the load?

Any advice on this from the experts?

SM-G981V ?

 

Here's a 2minute load test with the 80/85watt motorcycle headlamp with both high and low powered.

Avg voltage drop from original voltage measured is 1.02v
Only 3 or 4 modules varied much, but even those were within 10% of the avg.
Is being within 10% of the avg acceptable?

The more I look at this data it just seems like #19 is really the only issue.



SM-G981V ?

 

Thanks for the confirmation. I was expecting at least a few modules to start to fall off and separate from the average significantly, and maybe the other 1.11v drop is actually significant, but it seems like staying within 10% of the avg drop is hardly falling off a cliff.

Now I have to decide if buying the prolong basic reconditioning package for just under $500 would be enough to keep this car going another 60k miles or if I should just place the bandaid of 1 "new" module on it and let it ride as is until I can get a newpriusbatteries kit when we start having issues with the pack again. I just don't want to do the prolong thing, then end up in 10-20k still needing to do a whole new pack anyway.

I'm leaning toward letting it ride as is since it's clear I have not just a weak module but one with a cell out...oh well, it's only money right?

 

The real question is how much time the prolong will buy me??? And of course no one knows the answer to that.
I don't need 10yrs...and won't try to get 10 more yrs out of this 242k 2008 prius....which makes me hesitant to make the investment in a new battery...

I can't even get newpriusbatteries to respond to my question about how soon one would be available to purchase...so that may not be an option anyway right now.

I guess I'll let it ride as it is with a replacement module and see how long that lasts me.

SM-G981V ?

 

Yes, mixed messages are due to not knowing what I should do... I need this car to last another 3-4 years. Not long enough to justify a new battery in my mind, but probably longer than the prolong system will keep it going...I'm stuck in no man's land.

I apparently never saw the "store" tab on the site and just now looked and saw the "next arrival" of inventory date. I don't have any problem with their business model...I just didn't see the information I was wanting on the site. My bad.

 

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. I was thinking if I had a hobby charger I could at least do a top end charge and put them back in the car balanced up and topped off, but I'm not even sure that would matter at this point. Maybe I just buy the new battery, install by the new year, just keep adding oil, and push this SOB to 500k miles!!!!!!! Hahahahaha

 

I got the new module in yesterday from 2nd life battery.
It tested at 8.05v out of the package.
I then did a 1min load test followed by a 2min load test dropping it to 7.37v and 7.14v respectively with a 10ish min break in-between.

Definitely a bit stronger on the 2min than the rest of the modules in the pack.

I reassembled the pack replacing #19 with the "new" one. Then I reverse installed the rest starting with #1 in the #18 spot and ending with #18 in the old #1 location. Maybe I shouldn't have done that but I have seen several people mention switching the middle modules with the outside ones.

I got the pack installed in the car and took it for a test drive. The pack had 1 or 2 bars on the energy display and was showing 37ish% on the Dr. Prius app. I drove it long enough to get the charge % into the 65-68% range and the energy display was staying in the green pretty much all the time. My Dr. Prius app bar graphs are showing the block 10 numbers at about .1v more than the rest...makes me think I should have done another load test to bring the new module all the way down closer to where the other modules were...I had considered it at the time but was just anxious to get the pack assembled and installed. The rest of the blocks are literally within a few hundredths of each other.

The IR is 1mOhm lower on the block with the new module but the voltage difference has dropped significantly both charging and discharging compared what the old block 10 values were. Less than .2v vs as much as 1.6v with the old #19 in place.

I might take the cover off in the car and drain the new module a little more to get it closer to the others...not sure if that will matter or if it's the capacity of that module that is so much higher than the rest causing the issue.

Thoughts on any of that?

SM-G981V ?