gen 3 hybrid battery cooling fan dust buildup

check out the site below. is this an issue with gen 3? if the gen 3 has a filter, how does one access and clean the filter?

Luscious Garage | Blog | Prius battery cooling fan cleaning, P0A82

No, that's Gen2.

I've had a look at mine a couple of times. Around the first time I also tucked a piece of filter material (actually a vacuum cleaner motor filter) behind the fan inlet, at the right back seat. When I recently rechecked it there was a bit of stuff on that filter, not much.

The fan itself looked pristine. I do think the filter helped, and we've only got about 14000km's so far.

The first time I removed the hatch floor in the area of the battery was a bit of a fight, there are some tenacious fasteners. I basically left them all off at re-assemble, and there's still plenty of tabs, and a single 10mm (wrench size) bolt, at the seat back side. It is still very secure, and much easier to open up now.

Here's some pics:

#1: View from the back seat area, dug down to the fan:



#2: View from the hatch opening side:



#3: Sim. to #2 (the black snorkel on the seat back runs from the fan inlet to the fan):



#4: the filter I put in the air inlet:



#5: Some tools for various fasteners:

wow! thanks for all the info and nice pictures. i'll try your method later.

what i did instead was to use the filter (actually the exact same filter you have shown in pic # 4) and cover the air intake vents near the rear right seat from the outside. i rarely have passengers in the back, so the filter never came off all this time.

i only drove about 2000 miles since the filter was "installed", and i don't see any dust yet. however, i do notice that with the filter covering the intake vent for the hybrid battery fan, my automatic climate control never adjust the AC fan down to 1 bar. the lowest the computer will go is 2 bars for the AC fan speed. however, if i remove the filter i "installed" to cover the intake vent for the hybrid battery cooling fan, then the AC fan will drop down to 1 bar.

Thanks for the great pictures.

It does not have a fliter.

And yes if your car is transporting dogs and is full of hair for years the fan will get clogged after time. If you don't have hair all over the place like me there is no reason why it would ever clog in the lifetime of the car. Maybe something to prevent dog hair is a good idea, but make sure it is not to restrictive(could cause problems and void warranty)

I also travel with my dog in the back occasionally and would appreciate any suggestions or instructions.

Picture links are not working.

did you click on 'lucious garage' link in post #6? it worked for me.

Thanks, but it is for a Gen II.

A genuine Toyota filter for the Gen III HV Battery intake:

G92DH-47010 Filter, HV Battery Intake, No. 1

It is a fine mesh plastic screen that snaps over the existing grill on the right rear seat bolster, any color you want as long as its black.
I suppose the color was chosen to make the dust and fur stand out better, alerting you to clean it.

This tread is very confusing.

It is for the Gen III but there are links to Gen II.

Someone posted pics of their Prius but the links do not work I do not know if they have a Gen II or a Gen III

The last post claims that there is a filter that snaps over the existing grill.

I have a Gen III and here is a pic of what it looks like. Nothing will snap over the grill. It looks like there might be a filter deep behind the grill.



I wish people that owned phones with cameras (99.99% of the people that post here) would just spend a couple more seconds and post pics of what they are trying to explain. Or use more words to make their point.

There are still some holes to fill (specifically, how to access the battery fan housing and disassemble so that you can clean the fan) in this thread. The original pictures you see above documented this procedure but apparently there was a site upgrade in the past which bombed all photo links and the OP has stated (in a different thread) that he hasn't had time to update.

The best diagram I can find of how the battery cooling fan / system is assembled in a gen iii is found here on page 12. You will see the shroud that connects the intake from the rear right passenger seat to the fan assembly (gen iii looks to be similar to gen ii).

There is no OEM filter in the system. Others above have stated that they've improvised or hacked their own filter at the inlet by placing a piece of sized vacuum cleaner filter either just behind the inlet or on the outside.

edit: just saw the post above that said there is a factory filter that you can buy. might actually pursue this.

Just came across a good Flickr set Prius Fan Problem - a set on Flickr showing the problem on a gen ii. well worth the view - might even be the pics from the OP above.

Re-attaching the fan cover by rondodog, on Flickr

Why do people keep posting Gen II pics in this thread??? The design on the Gen III is very different. It just makes it more confusing.

It would be nice if someone moved this entire thread to a Gen II forum and we should start a new one on how to keep the cooling fan clean on a Gen III with no mention of other versions of the car.

Take a deep breath. i'm searching for the same info you are - how to access the gen iii HV battery cooling fan so that I can clean all the dog hair out of it.

My research so far indicates that the gen ii and gen iii systems are very similar. so you could, with a bit of imagination, look at gen ii photos and maybe figure out how the gen iii system goes together or comes apart.

I fabbed a filter using a/c replacemn=ent availible at either the Home Depot or Lowes. The filters are easy to cut with scissors and fit in behind the seat filter grating on my Gen2. I check the filter every 2 - 3 months as I got 2 shedding dogs. If the filter is dirty, I replace with a new one.

DBCassidy

The filter is a new part. It did not come with the car.
It became available mid July 2012.
There is no other filter in the entire HV Battery cooling system.
Sorry I disappointed you. I took some photos at work, but don't have access to the files when at home.
Here is an image I was able to grab:

It doesn't show much detail, but there are claws on the back side of the filter that go in between the grill slats to hold the filter in place.
Hope this helps.

Looking at the photos, the grating or vent grill assembly should pop out. Be careful when doing this, use a plastic trim removal tool (availible at auto parts stores). Take your time and GENTLY loosen the grilll around the perimeter. Once out, you can install a disposable precut filter as I mentioned above. You will have to precut the filter first, then install.

DBCassidy