How degraded can a hybrid pack get before throwing the P0A80 and red triangle?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Technical Discussion' started by koukilights, Mar 11, 2025.

  1. koukilights

    koukilights Junior Member

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    I have a 2011, 315k miles on it. And I got the P0A80 code the other day.

    I got the Dr Prius app, looked at which blocks were weak, and it said block 7 and maybe block 8.

    So I got 3 modules off ebay and tore my pack apart.

    I'm reconditioning my modules with a hobby battery NiMH cycler, and I'm surprised at how low some of the capacity on these modules are. They should be around 5000mAh at this age, but 1 was down to 800 after 3 cycles on the charger. 1 was down to 1200mAh. Most in the middle of the pack were around 2500mAh. Most on the outside edges were around 4000mAh.

    So, I guess as long as the battery doesn't seriously get depleted with hard acceleration when low, the pack will hide any issues and you won't get a CEL?
     
    #1 koukilights, Mar 11, 2025
  2. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    I'm surprised that you're surprised by the state of the 13 year old modules that came out of a 2011 Prius with 315 K miles on its ODO.
     
    #2 vvillovv, Mar 11, 2025
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  3. koukilights

    koukilights Junior Member

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    I'm not saying that I expected 26 modules to be ripping along at 5500mAh right away. I saw on the Dr Prius app, 1 block that was consistently lower than the others, and with the P0A80 CEL only tripping once I thought that meant that the pack was good with the exception of 1 block (2 modules).

    But I was surprised to see that close to half the modules were underperforming in the 2000mAh range and I only got the CEL one time.
     
    #3 koukilights, Mar 11, 2025
  4. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    Yeah, I read that in your OP ! Is there a reason you repeated how surprised you were from the cycling results
     
    #4 vvillovv, Mar 11, 2025
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  5. MAX2

    MAX2 Active Member

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    When the high-voltage battery modules age equally and lose their capacity, it is not noticeable to the eye. A slight shortness of breath appears, like when climbing a high ladder, but the battery still works, even if all modules are equal to 2A x h. It only affects the deteriorated mileage per gallon.

    But if one module drops lower than the others, it does not matter how many 5A x h or 4A x h remain in the others. The error is guaranteed to appear.
     
    #5 MAX2, Mar 12, 2025
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  6. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    How did you determine that a 14 year old hybrid battery should have modules at 5000mAh capacity?
     
    #6 Brian1954, Mar 12, 2025
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  7. koukilights

    koukilights Junior Member

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    From videos that I've seen on reconditioning modules, it seems a lot of people are getting 4500-5000mAh out of a majority of their modules, even in gen 2's which of course are even older than my gen 3.

    Maybe it was optimistic to think so, but I didn't think I'd see almost half of the modules be at or below 2000mAh.
     
    #7 koukilights, Mar 12, 2025
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2025
  8. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Senior Member

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    Did the battery packs shown in the videos have 315k miles like yours does?
     
    #8 Brian1954, Mar 12, 2025
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2025
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  9. koukilights

    koukilights Junior Member

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    Not 315k, but up there in mileage. People typically don't tear into a pack unless the prius is old and/or higher mileage.
     
    #9 koukilights, Mar 13, 2025
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  10. vvillovv

    vvillovv Senior Member

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    It might help some if there were more videos about weak modules and how they differ from strong modules when reassembled and installed in the car.

    But if you think about it, how many likes and subscribes are those kinds of videos gonna get ?

    Seems these days, with the kinds of ads shown while watching many of the published tubes and nearly all channels pointing at the Like and Subscribe features for every tube in the channel, that that is the only reason for many of the tubes in the first place.
     
    #10 vvillovv, Mar 16, 2025 at 4:02 PM
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