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Two battery packs later and still having issues

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by darkgiant, Feb 10, 2024.

  1. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2013
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    Location:
    Seattle
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Hey all, I recently have been working on my 2013 Prius which does have mileage, and started to show the infamous "triangle" lights. Using Techstream, I could see it only had a DTC of P0A80-123, which I know is a sign of a bad hybrid battery pack. Having owned Prius's in our family for nearly two decades now, and doing hybrid battery work myself, I figured it'd be easier to swap out the battery pack all altogether from a local shop given the mileage. Well, I have done exactly so, as I am using a shop in my area that I have used many times in the past decade and referred a few friends. The owner of the shop was cool about allowing me to swap out the new hybrid battery pack myself, but after installing the "new" refurbished pack, the dreaded P0A80 and triangle lights came back within a week. I went back to the shop as the owner is a close friend and he was cool about swapping out for another refurbished battery pack he had available. Well, it's only been two days and the P0A80 and triangle light is back once again.

    There are no other DTC codes aside from P0A80 being logged, and before I go back to the shop again, I wanted to get some data to see what is going on causing the latest code to appear. I saved the Techstream DTC and subcode. To my eyes, I'm not sure I spot anything outrageous here, as both battery packs are refurbished by the shop. It is very likely given the DTC is for a bad hybrid battery pack, that this is probably another battery pack that wasn't refurbished properly, but before I go back to the shop, I'd like to share some of that data to avoid coming off as an annoyance to my friend and rest of the shops staff. I uploaded the DTC and the rest of the data... I do see some blocks with low voltage, but is there anything specifically that stands out that I can present to the shop? Or can this P0A80-123 be linked to something else?

    Screenshot 2024-02-10 at 2.47.24 PM.png Screenshot 2024-02-10 at 2.47.35 PM.png Screenshot 2024-02-10 at 2.47.46 PM.png
     
    #1 darkgiant, Feb 10, 2024
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2024
  2. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    Model:
    Touring
    Looks to me like the Block 9 voltages make it pretty clear there's a problem.
     
    #2 TMR-JWAP, Feb 10, 2024
    Brian1954 likes this.
  3. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    Location:
    South Central PA, USA
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Battery block #9 is 1.2v lower than the other battery blocks. This indicated that one of the two modules that make up block #9 is bad. Specifically, one of the cells in that module is bad. There are six 1.2v cells in each module. Show your friend the three pages of data when you return the HV battery so that he can see where the problem is.

    If you plan to keep your car for more than two years, it would be better to buy a new OEM battery. A new OEM battery will be good for another 10 years. You will continue to have problems with any refurbished HV battery that you install.

    How many miles do you have on your 2013 Prius?
     
    #3 Brian1954, Feb 10, 2024
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2024
  4. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    Model:
    Four
    Whatever you do don’t buy the lithium battery scam pack. It has no low temp bms on the lifepo4
     
    #4 Grit, Feb 10, 2024
  5. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Location:
    Durham NC
    Vehicle:
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    I would say wait a minute and give your buddy a chance to see what it is he can see I've had real good luck with my guy up here in Greensboro North Carolina up near Brown summit He does a good job He's very astute I guess is the word I would use and he's very careful even purchasing a couple of modules from him one time He handed those things to me and they tested like they were brand new I installed them on each side of a module I was replacing because of the dreaded HV isolation fault in a battery pack that he built It took 3 weeks for that to show up and then when it did he dropped me three modules off like I say that we're like brand new because I told him I was going to change the module that was showing bad and the one on each side of it in case the one showing bad was leaking or something was going on and he was like yep that's what you want to do. Once I change that module didn't take hardly any time that battery pack has been running in the green steady for weeks almost a month or two now running great no issues He said he is built some batteries for the two Prius that he owns one his son drives to school and one he drives daily. That have lasted almost 5 years. His cars are pretty clean He doesn't have any leaks and he keeps them pretty reasonable It doesn't park them under trees and so on so I guess he's had reasonable experiences. Maybe the shop you're dealing with is very busy and just doesn't have the time maybe they don't have the setup to do it as many modules as another place . My guy works on batteries not cars I think that may be another difference too.
     
    #5 Tombukt2, Feb 11, 2024
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