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Which of My Hybrid Battery Cells Are Mandatory to Replace? (Voltage Data in Post)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Marvin5881, Sep 21, 2023.

  1. Marvin5881

    Marvin5881 New Member

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    Battery State of Charge 38.5%

    Battery Block Voltage - v01 --- 13.92v

    Battery Block Voltage - v02 --- 13.48v

    Battery Block Voltage - v03 --- 11.01v

    Battery Block Voltage - v04 --- 12.92v

    Battery Block Voltage - v05 --- 13.34v

    Battery Block Voltage - v06 --- 13.63v

    Battery Block Voltage - v07 --- 13.19v

    Battery Block Voltage - v08 --- 12.94v

    Battery Block Voltage - v09 --- 13.92v

    Battery Block Voltage - v10 --- 13.92v

    Battery Block Voltage - v11 --- 13.84v

    Battery Block Voltage - v12 --- 13.95v

    Battery Block Voltage - v13 --- 13.53v

    Battery Block Voltage - v14 --- 13.58v

    Battery Block Voltage - v15 --- 13.16v

    Battery Block Voltage - v16 --- 13.19v

    Battery Block Voltage - v17 --- 13.68v

    Battery Block Voltage - v18 --- 13.63v

    Battery Block Voltage - v19 --- 13.36v

    Battery Block Voltage - v20 --- 13.82v

    This is the frame of voltage data after discharging the battery at 6.5 amps right before the engine turned on to start charging the battery back to capacity. My max battery capacity was 65%. If I just replace the bad cells in battery block 3 will the hybrid computer be happy with the rest of the cells and prevent the code P0A80 from coming back? I need to sell this car. This is a 2007 Lexus GS450h with 199k miles.

     
  2. Marvin5881

    Marvin5881 New Member

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    Someone told me that a difference of 0.5v is enough to cause P0A80 and someone else told me that 1v difference is what causes it. Which is true?
     
  3. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    Both are true, but it is not as cut and dry. The 0.3-0.5 V and the 1.0-1.2 V thresholds come into play in different scenarios and Toyota is not sharing how exactly they interplay.

    Looking at your static voltages, you likely have 2 modules at a minimum to replace one in block 3 and the other in block 8. But static voltages do not tell very much of the story. You will need to do a basic load test on each module (including the replacement modules) to learn the relative capacity of each module. You would then need to compile a battery with 20 modules that all matched in capacity. Through this process, you might find (many) more modules that need to be replaced.

    As it stands, this battery is severely out of balance and just changing 2 - 4 modules likely will not yield a good repair.

    You will need to invest in some equipment to charge and discharge the battery several times and in time to do that. It probably will take 2- 5 weeks of time to do the job to a good enough standard, but likely longer as you will be learning on the job. The amount of time will depend on the equipment you buy to match the process you choose.

    Use the advanced search function to find many threads that outline the process.

    Personally, I would not be bothering to take the amount of time to do this for varied reasons, not the least of which is the diminishing stock of suitable replacement modules. Instead, I would find 20 modules from a recently wrecked Lexus/Toyota with the same chemistry as yours (either NiMH or Li-Ion) and replace all modules. If they were very recent you wouldn't even need to do any charging or balancing.

    Good luck, you have many decisions to make.
     
    JohnPrius3005 likes this.
  4. TMR-JWAP

    TMR-JWAP Senior Member

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    So, you have effectively done a complete discharge of the battery. Why?
    All the blocks are well below 14.4 volts, which would be two modules together at the NiMH 7.2 volt plateau.
    That battery wouldn't do anything for the car right now, except trigger fault codes.
    Obviously block 3 has discharged to the point that (likely) one cell in one of the modules has failed.
    Did you have codes that indicated block 3 was weak?
     
  5. Marvin5881

    Marvin5881 New Member

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    I did this discharge because I was trying to see which block was causing my P0A80 OBD2 trouble code. I think what I will do now is just buy a handful of modules and skip the 2 week process of reconditioning every single one. I'm thinking I'll just replace the obviously bad ones, fully charge them, balance them manually by having all the modules connected in parallel for 48 hours.

    It's a GS 450h as well, so replacing every module would really break the bank
     
  6. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    That is not balancing, it is equalizing and is largely a waste of time.

    What you propose to do will likely not result in a successful outcome.
     
    JohnPrius3005 and Brian1954 like this.
  7. Marvin5881

    Marvin5881 New Member

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    I see, I can either gamble and replace a couple, or do the long process that takes 2 weeks that verifies all modules. Also, it's pretty interesting that at least a handful of YouTubers swear by connecting all the modules in parallel, it didn't make much sense to me either, so I'll skip that and save 48 hours.
     
  8. Marvin5881

    Marvin5881 New Member

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    There are 3 wrecked Camry Hybrids. Those have 34 modules but mine has 40. If I install 34 of the camry modules assuming they're good and keep 6 of my best modules from my lexus, I should be good, right?
     
  9. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    This is a good example of people who don't know any better repeating something they heard on the internet.
    'If' and 'should' being the operative words.

    BTW, I believe the Prius c has 20 modules in its battery, so you might get lucky to find two packs out of late model Prius c's.