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Battery Fan Problem - Can you help me save $600?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by coreyalderin, Oct 29, 2011.

  1. coreyalderin

    coreyalderin New Member

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    I took my car to the dealership because it had the red Triangle ! wanrnning on the dash and the red car ! warning on the display panel. They told me the code was P0A82 "hybrid battery pack cooling fan 1 performance / Stuck off" but it was actually working at the time the mechanic looked at it. He said it would probably need to be replaced anyways so they wanted to replace it. They want $600 to do it. I told them I would wait, so they cleared the code for me.

    I read a lot of posts of people having the same problem and they fixed it by cleaning the fan. My fan was a little dirty, but not bad at all. Is there a quick way to see if the cleaning fixed the problem?

    Also, when I was cleaning the fan, I noticed another possible problem. There was some corrosion on the wiring that connected to the fan (see pictures). Is it possible that its not actually the fan, but maybe the wiring that tells the fan to turn on?

    What should I do next?

    Thanks for the help
     

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    #1 coreyalderin, Oct 29, 2011
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Yes, it is certainly possible that a bad fan wiring harness connection is the root cause of the DTC.

    1. Clean the corrosion off the wiring harness using isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol.)
    2. Reconnect the wiring harness connector.
    3. Disconnect the 12V battery negative cable where it bolts to the body for 5 minutes. (The purpose of doing that is to erase any traction battery ECU DTC that may still be present.)
    4. Reconnect the battery negative cable.
    5. Drive the car and see what happens.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Oct 29, 2011
    1 person likes this.
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Certainly worth a try. Replace the connector (or just the corroded contact, if the dealer can order one alone) and see whether the problem goes away. [As Patrick wrote cleaning is the first thing to do.]

    It would be good to discover why it corroded. Was the car flooded or is there a leak?
     
    #3 richard schumacher, Oct 29, 2011
  4. coreyalderin

    coreyalderin New Member

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    Here is an update:

    The probably really sems to be coming from the corosion. When I was cleaning it out the little metal piece on the inside of the connector broke off because of all the corossion. So I cut the one wire off and reconnected it without the white connector piece. I hope this works.

    How will I know if it is working? How often does than fan turn on? Is it always on? Should the fan turn on if I have the car running, in park?

    Thanks
     
    #4 coreyalderin, Oct 29, 2011
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    You will know that your fix is successful if you don't see any warning lights or icons appear.

    The fan only runs when it is needed. The ambient temp in your area is pretty cold now so you may not hear it run until the summer.
     
    #5 Patrick Wong, Oct 29, 2011
  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    The corroded wire looks like the "smoking gun". Hopefully your rewire will prove that. And then mention to the dealership? Depending on their reaction, it might be time to shop around. The service manager can set the tone: some are dedicated and care, and then there are some BS'ing mercenaries.

    Anyway, I'd suggest to finish off as kosher as possible, maybe solder and shrink-tube any wire splices, but still ensure everything's detachable, use snapable connectors at some point in the wire, in the event you need to remove the fan in future.
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Oct 29, 2011
  7. 2009Prius

    2009Prius A Wimpy DIYer

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    What caused the corrosion at the first place? Where is the connector located and was there water leaking there?
     
    #7 2009Prius, Nov 1, 2011
  8. CBarr31

    CBarr31 Active Member

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    Sorry to revise this thread but this happened to Ema as well but was originally the P0A84 battery fan low voltage error. I had Toyota fix the wiring harness move the wires and it worked well for about 2,000 miles. Now I am getting the P0A82 error and was going to dig back into it today but didn't have a chance.

    As such this might be something people with high mileage Prii especially those that are seeing water in their 12V battery area or under their spare tire. Ema had both of these and all that water for sure is what caused the corrosion on her connector.

    Chris
     
    #8 CBarr31, Apr 1, 2015
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