Bought a Prius at an auction. Refuses to start, bunch of scary codes. Help!

• P3000 (Battery Control ECU) + P0A80 (Hybrid ECU) indicates the traction battery is in poor health or failing.
• C1259 and C1669 are secondary/related codes from the brake or skid control ECU indicating that the hybrid system fault is affecting regenerative braking or stability control communication.
• B15E6 is unrelated to the HV system; it’s about the car’s microphone wiring or the head unit.

When a Prius sets P0A80 (“Replace HV Battery Pack”) together with P3000, the most common underlying problem is a failing high-voltage battery. Addressing the HV battery issue typically clears the regen/brake-related codes. The audio system code B15E6 will require a separate fix (checking or replacing the microphone).

 

i would sell it. if you aren't qualified to diy it, a 2010 will present a lot of issyes down the road that someone is going to have to repair.
you will likely save money in the long run.

btw, there is no way to make a prius run on engine power only. the hybrid battery has to continually start the engine.
it could be that they cleared the codes, allowing the battery to work until the next time the car is powered off.

 

Buying a used gen3 is risky even when you can personally inspect and drive it; buying sight unseen is like betting on the Chargers.

Not so sure about good condition because 2010-15 models often burn oil, blow head gaskets, fail brake by wire systems and the expected hybrid battery replacements.

As Bisco says, the hybrid battery has to be minimally functional or the car won't start, move or do much of anything.

A lot depends on how much you paid, shipping cost and resale value if it runs well without codes. I would factor in $3k of repairs into your go no go decision.

 

Replacing the 12v battery is the place to start. Sitting for 2.5 months likely killed
the 12v battery, at the best made it very low. Which will cause a lot of hybrid errors.
There is a chance that the hybrid battery is low. Which can be charged.
And will cause error codes.

They probably jumped the 12v battery to get the hybrid system going.
Replacing the 12v battery, then clearing all the codes, then disconnect the
12v battery battery for a half hour or so could reset everything to the default setting.
Then the hybrid battery would charge and you'd be in good shape.
You will get the P0A80 code all the time for anything remotely connected to the
hybrid battery. No reason to FEAR it as must as some would have you believe.

Since the "auction" listed the car as having NO issues(can you trust them?), then
replacing(charge the battery for at least 6 hours with an agm charger at 5amps or less)
the 12v battery and the rest I wrote should get your going.
I've gotten it on mine pack when I didn't set the safetly switch correctly. A simple fix.

It's not 100% it will fix everything, but it's a great start.
What you do will be your decision.

 

The only thing I'd add is the length of time to charge the 12v battery, and use a charger that has a recondition setting. It will take a min of 24 hrs to recharge a low voltage AGM battery, probably 48 hrs for the recondition cycling to make any improvements.

A jump start pack will get it running and the high voltage pack will pump some back into the 12v battery. Don't consider this as being sorted, it is only a surface charge and has not desulphated the AGM battery plates, a recondition charge is the only hope of getting it back to serviceable.

Personally, I'd look for either 4 new or 4 x second hand good condition LFP cells that will make up a battery roughly the same size.
Buy one of these Buy HA02 Battery Equalizer 48V (Battery Life + 50%) and connect it across the 4 cells, one pair of wires for each cell, starting from one end and working through to the other, and don't remove the insulation cover tab from the terminal until you are ready to connect it, don't let it touch any metal that is part of the car or battery that is not the terminal you want it connected to .... that will kill the unit and you'll need another one. These units work, I can't offer any backing for any other so called cell balancers ..... I'm yet to see one work as good or for as long as these.

No more 12v battery problems for yrs once you do this upgrade, it's cheaper than the replacement lead acid battery, recharges very fast and very unlikely to ever let you down for the remaining life of the car.

T1 Terry