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P0A80 - further diagnostics required?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by apigeon, Mar 14, 2024.

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  1. apigeon

    apigeon Junior Member

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    Hey everyone,

    I am the owner of a 2010 Gen III Prius with about 124K miles. Over the last few months, I have gotten the dreaded "Check hybrid battery" error which yields code P0A80 when interrogated with Carista. I have been able to reset the code a couple of times to buy a little more time, but it is becoming more frequent and I think it is time to fix it.
    I understand that there are multiple approaches to battery maintenance - in some cases, people will replace the entire battery at once and in others they will replace only certain cells at a time. I am probably going to go with the former, as I do not have much time nor tech knowhow to mess with the electronics myself.
    My question is: as someone who has gotten the P0A80 code multiple times with increasing frequency, is there any additional diagnostic workup that I could do to potentially avoid purchasing a new HV battery? Are there other problems that could cause this error to appear? I want to make sure that I do not invest a bunch of money in a new HV battery if other parts could be the problem - and I will happily purchase an app such as Dr. Prius if it might help avoid this larger cost.

    Thanks for any advice.
     
    #1 apigeon, Mar 14, 2024
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    P0A80 is a fairly specific trouble code. It gets set according to monitored voltages within the battery that give a good indication of its continued fitness for use.

    Don't go too long with the frequent clearing of that code. You can keep doing it until the bang and bad smells from the back of the car, and then you can't; no fun if it's a long walk home.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Mar 14, 2024
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    I think you already know the answer
     
    #3 bisco, Mar 15, 2024
  4. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    #4 Mendel Leisk, Mar 15, 2024
  5. apigeon

    apigeon Junior Member

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    Thanks for the advice folks. I will tend toward caution and run Dr. Prius to rule out other causes but will plan on replacing HV battery ASAP.

    For the record and in case any one finds this discussion useful in the future: I am actually asking this specifically because I don't know the answer. I am not trying to worm my way out of buying the battery (I already have a ProjectLithium replacement on the way). I just want to ensure I do not make this big purchase only to discover that a different part is the problem.
     
    #5 apigeon, Mar 15, 2024
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  6. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Active Member

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    Have you seen this recent thread? https://priuschat.com/index.php?threads/247446/
     
    #6 Brian1954, Mar 15, 2024
  7. apigeon

    apigeon Junior Member

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    I have. This story broke the same day that I made my order. I am waiting for the dust to clear a little bit to determine if a refund is appropriate. There seem to be high emotions on both sides currently.
     
    #7 apigeon, Mar 15, 2024
  8. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Active Member

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    What every you do, just make sure that the battery that you receive does NOT have a "signal soother" installed in it.
     
    #8 Brian1954, Mar 15, 2024
  9. Carall

    Carall Member

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    If the Delta SOC parameter in the scanner is higher than 0%, then be sure that the P0A80 code is related to the modules in your hybrid battery pack.
     
    #9 Carall, Mar 15, 2024
  10. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Is there a simpler way to phrase that?
     
    #10 Mendel Leisk, Mar 16, 2024
  11. Carall

    Carall Member

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    For sure.
    It will probably be the simpler way.
     

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    #11 Carall, Mar 16, 2024
  12. AzusaPrius

    AzusaPrius Senior Member

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    @Brian1954

    The soother is not installed in the modules.

    The soother is also not responsible for the issue where someone had smoke and melted plastic.

    Ask any fire fighter and they will tell you where a fire started and in that case the fire was in the module not the soother or else the guy would have taken picturs of the soother burnt.

    I recently created a thread on my Project Lithium soother test.

    You will find that I almost had the same results but the hybrid system protected the car and threw a P0A80 with the soother installed.

    Too bad the guy "gave" the fire department the burnt lithium pack and tossed the soother.

    Seems like a show where they get rid of the evidence after they pull a fast one.

    So again the soother was not the issue.
    Jack has tested these modules so many times and he knows what things look like when a certain event happens.

    He knew in my event what I would be seeing when I opened my pack up before I knew what the inside looked like.

    Sure enough he was right.

    Check out my thread on my test.
     
    #12 AzusaPrius, Mar 16, 2024
  13. Brian1954

    Brian1954 Active Member

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    I see that now. I did not understand where it was installed when I wrote post #8.

    There is a difference of opinion about that in the other thread.
     
    #13 Brian1954, Mar 16, 2024
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