I have a 2010 Prius. Several months ago I had rough start with my car, it was hesitating quite a bit and the check engine light came on. I reved the engine and it started to go. The code read that it was a misfire on cylinder 1. It did it again one more time several weeks later, but not since. About 2 weeks ago, my car decided to stop moving for a few seconds in a parking lot, about 30-45 seconds after pulling out of a parking spot. I turned it off and on and it started going just fine. Today, every warning light went off and a "check hybrid system" message came on. The code read P0A80. I have noticed less mpg and a battery that seems to charge more than before. My question is, can these 2 things be related, or is it time to throw in the towel and get a new car?
Welcome to Prius Chat . How many miles on your Prius? Have you done maintenance by the book, or done some other work (PCV valve, egr and intake system cleaning, etc.)? Ever cleaned the hybrid battery fan? Does your Prius consume oil? Keep us posted .
It has about 167,000 miles on it. I am faithful about all regular services, but have not had any issues before this, so I have not done anything else to it. It does consume oil, but I check that once a week and top it off. I have never cleaned the battery fan. Should I try that? Thanks for the welcome and the response!
Cleaning of the Battery fan won't help the misfire, but will help get airflow into the pack. Here's a how to video ( #20 in this thread): Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos They have all the videos there of how to do the maintenance yourself. Hope that helps.
What's the (rough) rate of consumption, amount per miles. Form what I've been reading here, and the miles you have, I'd second the possibility of clogging due to the EGR and PCV systems. Read up here, and for sure watch @NutzAboutBolts DIY videos here: Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | PriusChat Almost all the videos are linked in the initial post. In particular: 1 Day/Night Mode Adjustment for Navigation 2 Cabin air filter replacement 3 Engine air filter replacement 4 Changing the headlight bulbs 5 Changing the key fob battery 6 Tire rotation 7 Resetting the Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) light 8 Oil change & maintenance light reset 9 Oil change (HD version) 10 Transmission drain and refill 11 Engine coolant drain and refill 12 Inverter coolant drain and refill 13 Spark plugs replacement (HD)<<<<<(for windshield cowl removal) 14 Throttle body cleaning 15 PCV valve replacement<<<<< 16 EGR pipe cleaning<<<<< 17 Brake flush 18 Front caliper sliding pins - lubing 19 Rear brakes sliding pins cleaning 20 Cleaning the HV battery fan 21 Cleaning and air freshening the AC evaporator 22 Removing the positive terminal plastic cover inside the fuse box 23 Cleaning intake manifold<<<<< Also, there is a new video, specific to the EGR cooler removal and cleaning, is not linked at the beginning of the thread, like the others, but can be found here: Nutz About Bolts Prius Maintenance Videos | Page 6 | PriusChat Here's a couple of relevant excerpts from the Repair Manual too:
Dear JVTDC, welcome to the forum. Here are my comments and questions based on the information you provided. You say you had a rough start, and hesitation that caused the check engine light to illuminate. So for the 2010 there have been issues with oil consumption, intake manifold design issues, and also with head gasket failures that could be related to your rough start. Scenario #1-car has been sitting overnight, you turn it on the next morning to move it a short distance, like out of a garage, then you turn it off with the engine still running not allowing the computer to finish the engine warm-up sequence. The next time you start the car and the engine starts, you get a rough run and typically knocking noise from the engine for a few seconds. This scenario is usually caused by condensation from the EGR system being pulled into a cylinder. Since water does not compress like air, you get a knocking noise from the engine and also a rough run since water does not burn well. The rough run and noise usually only lasts a few seconds and typically does not cause a check engine light. Cure for me has been to make sure anytime I start the vehicle I make sure that the car completes the sequence of warming up the internal combustion engine (ICE) and it stops the ICE engine before I push the power button to shut down the car. Toyota released a redesigned intake manifold to address the issue, but I have never had it replaced and have never had more knocking by following my instructions above. Scenario #2-Car has been sitting for a period of time, typically overnight. When started it runs rough and continues to run for several seconds or up to a minute, typically enough to set a check engine light and misfire code. Customer also notices that coolant bottle has been going down very slowly for the last few weeks and has required topping off. This situation is typically caused by a head gasket beginning to fail allowing a small amount of coolant to enter a cylinder when sitting for a period of time. When started the ICE will run rough for a period of time until the coolant burns off and may set a misfire code. With larger amounts of coolant the customer may smell a sweet smell from the exhaust and may notice white vapor from the exhaust, but this situation usually requires a significant leak. If allowed to continue enough coolant may enter the cylinder that causes the cylinder to hydrolock, remember water does not compress, and will end up bending a piston connecting rod. Scenario #3-Car has been sitting for a period of time, and runs rough when started but clears up within a minute. Customer notes that engine consumes oil that is not seen leaking externally. Cause is typically due to coking of the oil control rings on the pistons causing oil to enter the combustion chamber and burned during the firing stroke. Excessive oil consumption will eventually coat the plugs and cause misfires. Higher consumption may damage the air fuel ratio sensor and eventually the catalytic converter. These are the 3 most common scenarios in my experience. I would ask these questions? When was the last time you changed the plugs? How much are you consuming in what range of mileage? How long has it been consuming? Have you been noticing a drop in the coolant level in the reservoir? As far as the P0A80 it is related the main traction battery. I would say that the two problems are not necessarily related. But if you have an ICE that has a problem and a main traction battery starting to fail it might be time to pull the plug on a new vehicle.
