P0A80 vs PO505

Yeah that certainly sounds like classic symptoms of a bad HV battery. This is most likely unrelated to the previous accident and issues.

BTW. The air isn't blowing out of the vent in the back seat, it is being drawn in.

 

How many miles on the car?

I think you mean that you heard the battery cooling fan running, which has its intake at the side of the passenger seat. This is a classic sign of battery failing. If the weather is very hot, that can also make matters worse. It is important in a hot climate to use the AC, and window reflectors when parked, as that keeps the battery cooler as well. Most of the HV battery failures seem to come from southern states.

You can look into a rebuilt battery from Remanufactured Hybrid Vehicle Battery Packs, if you can get to NC. That will be quite a bit less than going to the dealer. Also check for local used batteries as well. The dealer is a last resort. You will be able to drive with a bad battery, but as you note the acceleration is poor. However, on level roads the HV battery is not used much so it possible to attain reasonable speeds.

The throttle code might be cleared with a simple throttle body cleaning. The dealer won't do that, but the can of spray can be had at the auto parts store. I would not worry about it at the moment.

 

At 200K miles, the throttle body can get an accumulation of oily, dirty gunk that can limit the throttle motor movement. It is probably intermittent and like the mechanic said, more likely trouble when cold weather sets back in as that gunk gets stiff. It is not a Prius specific problem, and most mechanics can deal with cleaning.

And at 200K miles in a hot place, it is not surprising that the battery pack is at the end, well used, and a calculation of the savings in fuel consumption over that distance should take the sting out of the cost of repair.

As far as a long trip goes, no one can say for sure. As you look at the energy arrows on the display, you will see that at a steady speed of say 55 mph, on level ground, there will be no arrows going to or from the battery. That means you can travel that way without stressing the battery, as long as you want. It is accelerating or going up significant hills that is the problem.

As an alternative, a mechanic following the procedures available on Priuschat can remove the old battery pack. If you can make the drive in a borrowed car to NC, they will take you old pack and you can come back with the rebuild. Then the mechanic can reinstall and you are good to go. The removal and reinstall is not a big deal mechanically.

 

Excellent. Glad it worked OK. I know from my own times driving in that area (around Research Triangle) that the drivers can be in a hurry, so hopefully you didn't get anybody's dander up by going slower than the speed limit.

This forum is filled with lots of enthusiasts of the Prius, a very knowledgeable group. Keeping them running can be very expensive, but the overall costs are still very favorable if one has good advice.

 

Nice story, thanks for sharing.

I hope the new battery works out well, and if you get a chance could you post a follow up here after you've had it for a while. Just to let everyone know how it's working out. Given that there's other members here are likely to be needing a battery replacement in the future, any feedback would be useful. Thanks.

 

Glad you had a good experience.

I doubt the assertion that the "reman" battery will last as long as your initial battery, since the "reman" process puts used modules from salvage vehicles back into service. Who knows how old those modules are, let's say 6 years old on average since the 2G model years are from 2004 - 2009.

Your original battery lasted 9 years, I think if you get 4 more years of service out of the "reman" battery you will be doing very well.