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Not all code readers work on the Prius

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Emm, Jul 17, 2021.

  1. Emm

    Emm Junior Member

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    Toyota and a local hybrid shop told me they don’t see any codes on my Prius. My Bluetooth obd2 reader (valpeek) and the one at autozone pulls up the code p0a80. Tried asking in a Facebook group but admin declined my post and said not all code readers work on the Prius. Does this mean that I can only rely on techstream and not any other obd2 Bluetooth readers that are recommended here?
     
  2. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Is there a particular reason you want to read codes?

    It's true that not all code readers work on the Prius. It has way way more computers than the average car.

    If Toyota didn't see it, it wasn't there when they looked. But I don't know that I've heard of an intermittent P0A80.

    There are many bluetooth and wifi adapters that work on the Prius. And quite a few excellent phone apps to go with them. And even more threads about such stuff here on PC. Here's one quick Google search result.
    priuschat obdii readers - Google Search
     
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  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Yeah... There's this one dude who moderates a Facebook group for Prius who who is a first rate jerk to people with rejecting requests for help because he thinks they don't deserve it. It's a wonder he hasn't kicked me out of the group for how many times I told him to stop bragging about why he feels good about rejecting posts from people who need help. FB is so toxic! Or as the president said yesterday, "They're killing people!"

    You don't have to worry about that at PriusChat... Though you might consider hitting the "ignore" button on some of the more annoying commenters. Many do this for me especially, because clearly I don't know anything. :)

    Anyways, in general there are subcodes specific to the vehicle you're reading the codes from that only certain software like Techstream can read. Dr. Prius App allows you to read much of the subcodes related to the hybrid system.

    If Toyota and auto shop with access to Techstream both said you didn't have any codes than that was probably true when they looked at the car. But when you went to autozone they found code that indicates hybrid battery subcodes have been stored.

    So you need to get the subcodes of p0a80 to find out what in your hybrid battery pack needs to be repaired. You can do that with Dr. Prius App or take it back to one of those shops that has techstream.

    Also one last challenge is that some OBD2 code readers are garbage and won't work properly. Here's a buyer's guide to make sure you got one that's supposed to work: Hybrid battery diagnostic and repair tool for Toyota and Lexus But be prepared to by another...
     
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  4. ASRDogman

    ASRDogman Senior Member

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    Did auto zone clear the code? Maybe that's why it's not showing up.
    Give it time, it will probably come back up.

     
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  5. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    :whistle:
     
  6. Grit

    Grit Senior Member

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    ignore button?
     
  7. Emm

    Emm Junior Member

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    As I was driving home, these subcodes appeared. When I turned the car off then on again, the C codes were gone!
     

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  8. Emm

    Emm Junior Member

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    As I was driving home, these subcodes appeared. When I turned the car off then on again, the C codes were gone!
     

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  9. Emm

    Emm Junior Member

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    Sub codes came back. When I turned car off and back on, the C codes went away
     
  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    are you seeing any trouble lights?

    how many miles on her?
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The P0A80 is the main thing.

    The C codes happen this way: the "hybrid engine system" says to "ABS control unit #2": hey look, I've got an issue here, don't count on me for regen braking.

    "ABS control unit #2" sets the C1259 and C1310 as its way of saying: roger that, I understand I am on my own to brake the car.

    It's possible the power cycle made those go away, until the brake unit got the notification from the HV ECU again.
     
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  12. Emm

    Emm Junior Member

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    yes. The whole car lit up. Told me to park in a safe space. Drove it home but it wasn’t using the hybrid battery because I heard the engine on the whole time. The dealer didn’t want to put a new battery because they said they didn’t see any codes. I left the dealer and 2 hours later, the c codes pop up but then I get home and turn on the car again and the c codes are gone. Just the P0a80. I just don’t want them to say it’s the actuator when it’s really the battery (try to upsell me).
     
  13. Emm

    Emm Junior Member

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    I don’t want the dealer to say it’s the actuator but it’s really the battery. When I took it today, they didn’t want to change the HV battery because they said there were no codes but codes came on later on my drive home after dealer closed.
     
  14. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    None of those are sub codes. As @ChapmanF said, the P0A80 is the code that's reporting the main issue, which is that your traction battery needs to be replaced (or it could possible be corroded connections in the sensor wires). Sub codes then give more detail. It appears that your OBDII app isn't capable of showing them.
     
  15. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    The only brake system codes that you have seen are C1259 and C1310, and as already explained, those are just codes that mean the brake ECU has been notified by the Power Management Control ECU of some problem in the hybrid system, in your case the P0A80 battery code.

    So if you went to a dealer and they saw that and tried to sell you a brake actuator, that would mean there was a dealer technician there who didn't know what C1259 or C1310 mean, and wasn't capable of looking them up in the repair manual, which the dealership obviously has online access to, and that would be pretty weird.
     
  16. privilege

    privilege Active Member

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    nice explanation