P0A08 and I have to pee! Can I drive at all?

My 2017 V with about 185k has had a/c problems for a little over a month where it would not cool very well while idling. I assumed fan and just kept driving. Works fine as long as i'm driving.

Today it is incredibly hot and incredibly humid, and I had to idle for an hour. It would occasionally blow a little cool air, but mostly I was surviving on the cool temperature from the drive before I was idling.

Then the car started to make a little tiny rattle/shudder that was not huge, but was unusual for this vehicle. I turned it off, and the engine was very, very hot. I started to see the attached message.

" Hybrid system malfunction. Stop in a safe place."

I plugged in my basic doctor prius, and I have no engine codes, only a battery code.

HV Battery ECU error code P0A08.

That is the only code I can see anywhere.

Even after a half an hour, the hood was too hot to open by hand without protection. Eventually, it cooled enough for me to try to check the inverter coolant, and there's definitely sufficient fluid in there, and it does appear to move slightly when engine is in ready mode. I unplugged any chargers in my cigarette lighter place.And I turned off the air conditioning and fans.

I have had no luck finding a decent hybrid shop. Only a DIY Prius guy that i've never used, but I met at an o'reilly's. Or the dealer who wants $230 just for the diagnostics.

Aaaaargh. A recommended prius shop is not taking any new customers until february. No lie. But that mechanic did talk to me long enough to suggest that it might be covered by a warranty campaign that he has seen before. Sadly, the dealer disagreed and said there was nothing covering that code for my car.

So I am about forty minutes from home and it is about ninety degrees and I really have to go to the bathroom and i'm sweating to death...

Anyone got any good options for me? I am in St. Paul, MN, but again, that's 40 minutes from my house... at regular speed with no traffic.

I have good coverage with AAA and I can tow up to a hundred miles. But of course, my car is filled with my son's bed because I was helping him move, etc.

 

Thanks. I think I found someone with ability to diagnose and fix... fingers crossed.

 

Hope not! I love this one but am aware it will have more issues than my Gen2 (345k now).

I will try to reach Eric, thanks!

 

I didn't drive except to get out of parallel parking spot for the tow truck. It is at a shop now.

Fingers crossed no long term damage.

 

The shop cannot get it to repeat... even after running 35 minutes.

As to a/c they say the fan is being told to turn on and told to turn off (along with compressor I think) so fan is not mechanically failing. But he said a/c operating pressure is very high, but he didn't think that would explain purposely turning the unit off when idling.

Other codes he can see were not obviously related to the P0A08, which he said just means it got too hot.

Inverter coolant pump is working, but might be an intermittent thing. He is willing to change it if I want. I declined for now.

He proposes a 12v disconnect/test/reset... and possibly cleaning radiator fins.

Logical? We will know more after battery test.

 

Asked. Will update when I get them.

 

I am not sure what that warning light looks like - I've never seen a thermometer type light on either of my Prii. The image in the original post shows nearly all lights on - including that lower right one maybe for electric power steering? My photo is not clear, but 2 lights on top (one is triangle of death) and five lights along right side plus BRAKE light abive fuel gauge. My manual is IN the car of course, so I don't have that with me.

 

Well, it's not a dealer - and they do not exclusively do hybrids, but had a fair number of them in the lot. The Foreign Service in Roseville? Minnesota. My dealer is so expensive... and they have a limited number of hybrid mechanics themselves, so I have had to wait until the right guy is available. But if this guy doesn't sound logical, I will need to bite the bullet.

Does not sound like the fan is failing if it is being told to turn off, yes?

External blockage is possible - lotta crud in the air from trees (just got back from a day trip to Michigan and back) and I have a Great Pyrenees dog who has fluff all over house and yard (YES, I clean the fan intake under the back seat fairly often, as I have seen that error before too).

Going to check services from the dealer who serviced the car before I bought it... I've driven 45k and one summer without issue...

 

Would inverter get hot enough to turn off ac without totally shutting car down? So that I'd notice ac was off, but not have any other issues?

 

Nothing much in car history except I am not sure what this is:

71k "20TA10 PRIUS - REPROGRAM PWR MGMT ECU"

 

Attached report, here are highlights:

P0171 - system too lean (bank 1)
P0A08 (x2) - the code I could read - DC/DC Converter status circuit
B1503 - Exhaust heat management warning detected
B2312 - Power window switch passenger side malfunction
B2312 - Power window switch rear left side door malfunction
B2311 - motor malfunction
B2312 - Power window switch rear right side door malfunction

Can you tell from the report image whether the shop is even using techstream or adequate reader software?

 

For the record the power windows have always worked except maybe when it was -20 degrees F there was a blip once. It quickly fixed itself and is not something chronic that I experience. That said, one dog has figured out how to get his window to go down by himself - grrr - and when he is standing on the button, I cannot change it from the front. So we battle.

 

Shop said the 12v battery appears to be original (2017) and not been touched. That would make it 9 years old... Seems I should probably replace that before winter even if it doesn't solve this problem or wasn't the culprit?