2022 1500 e-torque eco charging variability - code P0DAF

[2022woodram]

On New Year's eve I drove from home from Phoenix to Denver. About 100 miles down the road from Phoenix had the red "low battery" light come on in the middle of nowhere. Watched the voltage slowly drop from 11.8 to 11.2 - battery save mode came on at some point. Made it to an O'Reilys auto parts store where they diagnosed it as P0DAF - Hybrid/EV Battery cell balancing Circuit "A" Range Performance issue. The truck barely started at this point. The truck only has 28000 miles in 20 months. Replaced the 12V battery and headed home. Over the 650 miles watched the voltage barely drop from 14.2 down finally to 14.0 with no electronics on. On a short drive the next day, voltage maxed out at 13.7 on ignition and then stayed constant at 13.6. Next day 13.2 max at ignition, dropped down to 12.7. Called dealer, made appointment, during drive to dealer, the voltage which had been sitting constant at 12.6, started jumping up to 13.7 during driving. It would then drop down to 12.6 during idle. Dealer verified code, said that everything is fine and that is the variable voltage system working fine. Drove home with voltage varying between 12.7 and 13.8 during the drive. Made a stop, when I restarted truck, check engine light came on. Back to dealer, same code P0DAF, reset system and said everything was operating properly. On the way home, voltage varied with acceleration from 12.7 to 14. Since then the varied voltage has gone away and voltage now stays fairly constant during trips around town but is slowly dropping. Max at ignition has gone from 13.9 to 12.9. During driving, constant voltage has dropped from 13.4 to 12.7 yesterday. I have noticed that voltage does increase now when the green "eco" light comes on, but voltage does still sit at 12.7 when not in "eco". The truck runs fine but I am concerned about taking it on an extended trip - just waiting for it throw another code. I am not sure what a proper voltage profile should look like during normal driving, but the inconsistency (and the 2 warning lights) point to a problem. Should I be concerned at this point or is this just the way the system works?

 

[Ellisstrong]

Some of that is how the system works. There has been some other discussion on that same code on this forum. Dealers have had different answers. Mine said they would need to replace my etorque battery if the code was active but mine isn’t.

 

[2022woodram]

Some of that is how the system works. There has been some other discussion on that same code on this forum. Dealers have had different answers. Mine said they would need to replace my etorque battery if the code was active but mine isn’t.

My dealer said the samething, get the code to stick. Today the voltage stayed constant at 14.1/14.2

 

[2022woodram]

My dealer said the samething, get the code to stick. Today the voltage stayed constant at 14.1/14.2

Check engine light came back on last week. Dropped off at the dealership and they determined that I need a new power pack. Good thing it is still under warranty, I saw an estimate that it is about a $4500 repair. Bad news is that it is going to take about a month to get the part.

 

[Darksteel165]

Check engine light came back on last week. Dropped off at the dealership and they determined that I need a new power pack. Good thing it is still under warranty, I saw an estimate that it is about a $4500 repair. Bad news is that it is going to take about a month to get the part.

What is a $4500 repair?

What truck do you have?

 

[DEG]

Good thing it is still under warranty, I saw an estimate that it is about a $4500 repair.

I'm not sure why but the invoice dealers prepare for warranty work often shows an outrageously high price. That's probably twice the cost a dealer would charge you for the work as a new eTorque battery pack is only around $1500.

I've heard that dealer service departments make less money from the manufacture for warranty repairs because the manufacture pays a lower labor rate. I've always thought the higher invoice to the manufacture was kind of like when a hospital sends a bill to an insurance company that's much higher than the bill they would send you if they knew you didn't have insurance. They know they won't get what they are asking from the insurance company, but they want to get the maximum amount the insurance company has assigned for that procedure.