inverter, inverter pump, or battery?

battery fan clogged? what is the air temp, are you in chicago or n.c.?

 

do you carry pets?

 

Could be a bad sensor too. Should be throwing a code or 2 in any case.

 

Hi all,

I'm new to priuschat and I wasn't sure how to start my own thread so I thought I'd try to revive this old one a bit and ask for some advice.

I live in Yosemite National Park, over 60 miles of winding, mountain road between me and the nearest toyota dealership.

This week my dashboard lit up like a christmas tree with the following warning lights:

red triangle of death
MIL
VSC
yellow circle w/ exclamation point (brakes?)
hybrid warning light

We got the code P0A80 which I know is hybrid battery failure. My prius is an '06 with 175xxx and maybe it's just wishful thinking but I'm really not certain that my hybrid battery is dying. I'm wondering if the inverter water pump isn't functioning properly. We checked out the reservoir and saw a little turbulence but it doesn't seem to be pumping very strong.

I have a video of the reservoir and I'd like get some feedback as to whether or not people think the water pump is working properly. We would be able to make this fix on our own with the help of a mechanic friend without trying to get the car out of the park and to the dealership while also saving hundreds of dollars.

of course, I can't post the link or the video in here because I'm so new to this chat (why would that make a difference?) I'm hoping someone would be willing to let me shoot you an email with the video. I'm pretty desperate at this point!

Any advice is much appreciated!

-katie

 

There should be only small ripple on the inverter coolant reservoir. So it sounds like your inverter pump is fine.

P0A80 code means that the hybrid battery is bad. What did you use to read the codes?

This just sounds like you need a new hybrid battery.

 

What kills a battery is charge cycles and heat, both of which your car sees there much of the year. I once lived in high desert mountains in Prescott AZ and my battery did not enjoy a long life there.

Please check and let us know the voltage of the 12V battery under these conditions: No load, ACC, and IG-ON. Do you know its age?

 

There should be extreme agitation in the Inverter Coolant reservoir when the car is in READY.

I noticed 50,000 miles ago there was barely any turbulence in my reservoir. The car had 50,000 miles on it then bought new. Had my pump replaced under the campaign. Still tepid circulation. They don't replace the fluid when they replace the pump.They just duckbill the hoses and slide the pump in.
So when I did my trans fluid at 50K I also replaced the Inverter coolant and added a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter to it and since then and now 50,000 miles later I still have extreme circulation. The fluid looks like its at full boil when in ready. I did an infrared tamp gauge observation before and after and noticed the Inverter was then 5 degree's cooler compared to the same run to work before the new fluid.

Inverter coolant replacement is the only thing I have done to the car to show an instant mpg increase. Mpg efficiency is directly related to Inverter temp & health. Its the hardest working device in the car.
Which is why they went to a separate Inverter coolant radiator in a G3 instead of the combined Inverter/engine heat soaking rad in a G2.

Fluid condition is just like the trans fluid. All the wear is in the first 10-20K miles.

To those with poor circulation its because the coolant is contaminated with pure raw aluminum metal wear in solution by circulating in that huge cross section of aluminum heat sink below the Inverter. A very abrasive soup to circulate. My hunch is it's probably the main reason so many coolant pumps failed. They couldn't take the abrasion.


Go to 10:00 on this video for pics of the Inverter heat sink:

 

Tried to load a video of the Inverter coolant off my Iphone7 but it has to be zipped and that's a pain on an iPhone.

 

Sorry to bump this thread but that video is one of the most awesome and clear explanation of the Gen 2 hybrid system I’ve ever seen!