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P0A94 Code

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by tvpierce, Sep 30, 2020.

  1. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Maine
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    2013 Prius V Wagon, 170K miles

    My wife was driving to work this morning -- going about 30 mph in town -- and the engine just stopped. She was able to pull to the side of the road and park.

    Had it towed home, and connected it to Techstream.
    Hybrid Control: P0A94
    ABS/VSC/TRAC: C1259, C1310
    Combination Meter: B1503
    Power Source Control: U0293

    Cleared the codes, and the first three persisted:
    Hybrid Control: P0A94
    ABS/VSC/TRAC: C1259, C1310

    I've done some research on the forum, and it would appear to be an inverter failure. But most of the cases I've come across indicated that the ICE was still operational, but the electric was disabled. My symptoms are the opposite: the car will still move (albeit slowly) on electric power, but the ICE will not start. After I cleared the codes, the ICE attempted to start momentarily, but then stopped, and now will no longer attempt to start -- electric power still works.

    I have not had the inverter recall done on this car. I believe I got the notice, but didn't take it in.

    I'd be interested in people's experience with this situation.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. 3PriusMike

    3PriusMike Prius owner since 2000, Tesla M3 2018

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    Dumb question: do you have gas?

    Mike
     
  3. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    No, but I did have Mexican last night. :D

    Fair question though. I thought of that too. The tank is more than 1/4 full, and the mileage is consistent with that estimation. (we reset the Trip-A meter at each fill-up)

    It's not that the ICE is cranking and not starting -- it's not even cranking.
     
    3PriusMike likes this.
  4. warferyn

    warferyn Junior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    You might have better luck posting in the Prius V forum. But you should be aware that there is recall out for certain Prius and the V for the inverter failure - P0A94. Just google J0V safety recall and click the link on NHTSA site.
     
    tvpierce likes this.
  5. Siward

    Siward Active Member

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    Makes me think about the Prius youtube video I saw last week. This guy went on a long road trip and still had 2 bars of gas on the meter but the engine suddenly dies with a hybrid error. I think he was still able to run on electric. It turns out he had a faulty gas meter and he ran out of gas.
     
    #5 Siward, Oct 2, 2020
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2020
  6. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    There’s really no guidelines here, just suggestions.
     
  7. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
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    Five
    Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of the safety recall -- in fact I have a copy of it in the file for this car. I had the car towed to the dealer, and they should be able to take a look at it Monday. I'll report back what they find.
     
    Raytheeagle likes this.
  8. tvpierce

    tvpierce Senior Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Update:
    Just to follow-up on this. It was indeed the inverter. It was covered by the J0V inverter recall for the Intelligent Powertrain Module (IPM). They had my car for about 10 days because they had to order the parts, but gave us a 2020 Prius AWD as a rental (free of charge). On a side note, while the rental car was perfectly fine, neither my wife nor I cared much for it -- we prefer our 2013 V/Package-5 (with 170K miles).

    Here's what the invoice says:
    1 - Installed 04899-47060 Plug Kit, Inverter D
    1 - Installed 04899-47070 Transistor Kit, Powe
    1 - Installed 08826-00100 Seal Packing
    2 - Installed 08887-02809 Grease x 23 7884 4
    1 - Installed 09430-18008 Gasket
    Replaced IPM & reflashed ECU

    While it wasn't convenient having the car die unexpectedly, I have to say I'm very pleased with the customer service by the dealer and Toyota. This is an 8 year old car with 170K+ miles and they made it right.

    I had never taken my car in for the re-programming. Is that re-programming supposed to keep this failure from happening?
     
    Raytheeagle and ASRDogman like this.
  9. warferyn

    warferyn Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Thank you for the update. I was interested in this myself as I mistakenly thought my P0A80 code was due to the inverter. (Turns out to be a bad cell block in the HV battery.)

    I believe the reprogramming is to keep this from happening as the all of the replacements you mentioned are mentioned as remedy steps for the J0V recall safety bulletin.I am absolutely far from an Hybrid expert but from what I have gathered from reading this forum, the ecu/ ipm logic had failed to account for scenarios that put extraordinary strain on the inverter thus leading to it's early failure. Good on Toyota to offer unlimited mileage warranty even though it took them 9 years to figure it out.