I drive a 2008 base model Prius and it’s been great. I’m at around 243,xxx miles now and we replaced the hybrid battery once (with a refurbish) at about 170,xxx. Just a few weeks ago, all the hybrid warning lights came on, red triangle of death, check engine, warning light on infotainment screen. The gas mileage is still about the same - around 43-48, depending on how it’s driven. I did a Dr. Prius code read on it and shared the results with the guy who I bought the first refurbish from to see if I need another new battery. He said the results indicate that it’s still in good shape and the issue resides somewhere else, and discouraged from buying a new battery yet. I went and tested my 12v battery and it seemed to be time for a replacement, so I got a new AGM battery. While driving it around to get the battery and such, the acceleration lag got continually worse until it was in limp mode. I am college student so money is tight haha and I want make sure I am putting money in the right places. So I’ve come to the Prius masters - what should I do next? What should I check and what could this issue be?
I did a Dr. Prius code read on it and shared the results with the guy who I bought the first refurbish from to see if I need another new battery. He said the results indicate that it’s still in good shape and the issue resides somewhere else, and discouraged from buying a new battery yet. Share the codes with us? It would help a lot for us to give you an accurate assessment. P0A93 by chance? P0AA6?
Good point. The codes I got back were: P0A80 P3022 P3016 I've also attached some screenshots from the Dr. Prius app.
Those three trouble codes indicate problems with the battery modules in blocks 6 and 12. It is time for a "new" refurbished battery OR a new OEM battery. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
Yeah, that guy blew smoke. Those are 100% HV battery failure codes. It's a bit surprising that anyone who works on these batteries doesn't recognize these as HV battery codes. P0A80 is actually P0A80 and is "Replace hybrid battery" P3022 = Battery Block 12 weak P3016 = Battery Block 6 weak
73k miles on a used battery is pretty good. That kind of battery is worth maybe $900 with a warranty. Did he give you a “lifetime“ warranty? If so he is trying to avoid your claim.
You can monitor block voltages while driving - particularly hard accel and decel. You will likely see the "bad" block voltages drop 1.0-1.5V lower than others on accel, and go higher than the others on decel. This would confirm that the codes are condemning a failed Hv battery. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.