prius 2010 hybrid batteries dead at 126000km and up on atleast 3 taxis i know of

i was just alerted on hybrid battery deaths today talking to my neighbor !!! he is changing his battery at 170000 km!!! the dealer told him the problem was that the fan that cools the battery down got clogged up with lint and such thus not being able to cool the battery down !!!

now my neighbor which is also a taxi owner told me another cabdriver had the same problem with his and that i should look out for my own taxi and have my fan cleaned periodically !!!!!!!!!!

its needles to say that the first thing i did after i finished talking to him was call my service manager and tell him the run down ! he gave me some run around that no need to worry and that they would do that maintenance as scheduled anyway (yea ok!) and that that would not have being the cause of the default of the batteries in any ways !!

i started alerting fellow prius taxi owners and i came up one more cabby that had the same issue and changed the hybrid pack and fan at 126000 km and also was told that it was because of the fan !!!!!!!!!!

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IS GREECE THE ONLY PLACE WITH HYBRID PACK PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

How many months was the 126000 km (78k miles) 2010 Prius taxi in service before it had to have its battery pack and fan replace? There is a possiblity that the length of time your taxi was in service and not the mileage could be a better risk indicator when the fan & HV battery might fail. I have a ScangaugeII which I currently monitor the State of Charge (SoC) with it but I know it can monitor other HV battery components like the Inverter Coolant levels. Sofar I've had my 2010 Prius for about 19 months (+17800 miles/28646 km) and I haven't had any trouble with the battery; however, my Prius gets far less usage than one used as a taxi.

just a bit over a year

I would hope that toyota would at least partially cover those batteries under warranty. I don't think they thought the fans would get clogged, but neither should the owners. How long is the warranty in Greece, its 160,000 km here, and 240,000km in some states.

Thanks for the heads up. You may not be hearing it from other places as they don't get as warm as Greece though it is warmer here, and there will be fewer complaints if toyota is replacing the battery for free.

This is very common with Gen II, in Taxis and driving instructor vehicles. Gen III hv battery has the added problem of high power rating, which makes cooling even more important. I suggest you clean your vent once a month. Many people have constructed filters at the intake to capture lint.

EDIT: I have posted a TSB later on in this thread with the recommendation from Toyota to clean the fan every 25,000 miles for vehicles that experience severe usage i.e. taxis.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-up-atleast-3-taxis-i-know-8.html#post1451701

amazing that dealers all over the world are exactly the same. do they all train at the same university? :mmph:

160,000 km here

IF IT IS VERY COMMON WHY ISNT IT MENTIONED AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD??????

mind boggling !!!!!!!!!!!

It is a problem in taxis and other cars where the back seat is almost always occupied, also for people that travel with pets. But that is a very small fraction of worldwide ownership.

Any pics of such filters and how do you go about cleaning the vent.

Add to that the fact that it's more of a problem in places with high temperatures and you shrink the numbers further. Still, given the positive press Toyota gets from Prius taxis that they'd be keen to make sure taxi drivers are aware of their particular issues.

Where is the vent located? I'm guessing using a cut to fit furnace filter would work? Or what would you suggest?

I put a piece of vaccuum cleaner motor filter across the intake on ours. Doesn't seem to have caused any problems, and it has picked up some airborne lint and seeds. I also got down to the fan to have a look:

gen 3 hybrid battery cooling fan dust buildup | PriusChat

<Sept/2012 comment: the pictures in the above link are apparently lost since the site upgrade, sorry. May repost, but frustrating.>

I do think it's a good idea to check on it periodically.

A common complaint in taxis eh? You show me ONE complaint on here other than the op where this is the case.

I understood the Prius is supposed to be very reliable as a cab as proved by that cab company in Vancouver where a cab ran to 1,000,000 km without issue.

I am only at 63,000miles (101,000 km) and not had much issue with the HV battery - yet. It is much cooler here in the UK (30c or over is rare) and I have only heard the HV battery fan once. You can feel it running on low speed if you hold your hand over it though.

(Just a quick thought. Could it be people blocking the vent when they sit in the car? In the UK, a RHD country, the passenger will usually sit in the back on the opposite side to the driver or in the front. In a LHD car I assume they will do the same, but in doing so will block the vent? Most of my fares are individuals.)

Please look at the following blog post from Luscious Garage. How similar is climate in San Francisco compared to the UK? Anyway, Grumpy, I strongly encourage you to make periodic checks to your hybrid venting system. One a battery overheats a few times, its capacity is severely diminished.

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

Well it's the first instance I've heard in that it was a common problem to cabs and the only link you provided was to one website, however, it was a helpful link and the pictures on there were quite alarming.

I've just gone past the 60k mile service but will have the dealers take out the fan and clean it (and show me it) at the 70k service point.

Perhaps it's worth me for sending an article to the UK monthly taxi magazine so that at least owners are aware of the issue - and leave it up to them to sort as they see fit.

I'm still convinced it's a hot climate issue and that LHD passengers will block the vent more than over here. I do notice that if the vent IS bloked by a passenger on a long run, the HV battery indicator will stick up at 7/8 bars and the economy drops a little. If this is happening a lot in a LHD car, then sure it can't be doing the battery any good.

The photo on the Luscious Garage site shows a fan that's definitely accumulated a substantial amount of gunk. Cleaning seems like a good idea. If I get to mine, I'll take photos. I don't haul large dogs in my Prius, but I haul kids who might jam Crayolas in that vent.

Where is the cooling fan in Gen 2 Prius? Can someone take a picture of the position? Thanks!

With my Gen III coming up to 110,000kms, I just removed my fan and checked it. There was a thin film of dust on the blades but no lint etc. Quick blow with the compressor and re installed it. I travel very dusty conditions here in rural Oz but never have animals other than rellies in the car.

It just occurred to me that the cabin filter probably plays a part in reducing dust etc.

I think it's probably because some of the cabs don't change their cabin filter (or remove it completely) or that they don't vac their car out as often as they should. Also, it could just be that when you carry lots and lots of different people you're going to get lots of fluff from their clothing etc that you wouldn't get in a normal car.

I do keep my car looking mint on the inside and have often manipulated the vacuum hose to try and suck any dust/hairs from inside the vent.

I'll see at next service.

Here is the link how to clean the fan on GenII I would imagine GenII/GenIII owners would at least need some sort of the pollen filter applied at the entrance to the vent (self made of course).

I am going to look into this in my car shortly

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...-fur-dirt-causing-major-battery-problems.html


Here is mine at 146,000km's: