"Electrical" odor

Brand new car? First time driving fast up a long hill? Do you drive on reallly hot days without running the A/C (the battery gets its cooling air from the cabin)?

Make certain that the battery vent to the right of the rear seat is never blocked.

 

there is a sort of "electrical" smell if you have the heater temp up real high.

 

It's more likely coming from the MFD, and the stereo and NAV systems under the seats. There are a lot of electronics in a Prius. The MGs and battery are pretty well removed when it comes to making a smell.

Tom

 

Probably not worth worrying about unless it suddenly gets a lot stronger.

 

Re: "Electrical" odor...no worry ?

My '06 has a similar smell that as nearly as i can tell is associated with the AC; the smell is not consistent and i only notice it when i have the AC on. This is my concern: I volunteer with a parrot rescue and cart rescued birds around in my car. Birds are *extremely* sensitive to smells and can die from smells such as teflon. Does anyone know of a smell associated with AC and what it is?

thanks, pat

 

I think I know the smell you are thinking of. It sticks to my shirt after long drives, but I don't mind it at all. I'm fairly certain it comes from the battery vent located on the seat bolster between the passenger rear door and the rear seat. It usually emits this odor on hot days. If it seems like it's coming from your A/C vents, it might just be the smell recirculating from the cabin back through the A/C.

 

Re: "Electrical" odor...no worry ?

First guess for an odor associated with the A/C is mold growing inside the system. This can get started because the condensation drain is blocked or if you operate in a wet but not very hot climate; anything that causes the A/C system to get wet and stay wet for a time. A dealer can easily check the drain and clean it out if needed. You can try drying out the system by running the heat and fan on high for a minute or two just before powering OFF the car while bringing in outside air; or by bringing in outside air whenever the humidity is low.

 

Right, got it; I quoted and was addressing patdix's digression.

The odor in yours sounds like nothing to worry about, unless it suddenly gets etc.

 

is not running AC a bad thing in 105 weather? The heat really don't bother me, because i hate having the ICE on trying to strain to charge the battery, especially in crawl traffic when im coming home..

i should start running it i suppose, i would imagine the NIMH can only take 120F before it degrades over time.

 

If you hear the traction battery fan running at high speed in the back, that is a clue that the battery needs to be cooled down, and it would benefit from cool air from the passenger compartment. I frequently hear the fan running at high speed after my 2004 has been run in hot weather, parked, then restarted.

 

No...keep the interior cool as hot interior will affect the hybrid battery. 120F is really bad for batt. And the ICE does not strain to charge the battery.The ICE usually will not come on till your down to 2 bars.

 

Following is from ozoneapplications.com...

Ozone, (O3), sometimes called "activated oxygen", contains three atoms of oxygen rather than the two atoms we normally breathe. Ozone is the second most powerful sterilant in the world and can be used to destroy bacteria, viruses and odors. ... the "fresh, clean, spring rain" smell that we notice after a storm most often results from nature’s creation of ozone.


Back to me... When I helped with mainframe computers, we would be alerted to overheating in components by what the computer manager called "an ozone smell." Maybe there's some overheating -- wires, components -- happening in these cars that we normally wouldn't smell in non-hybrids.

 

Yes! The battery system gets its cooling air from the cabin (the vent is to the right of the rear seat). The battery system will throttle itself to keep itself from getting too hot, and that throttling will reduce fuel economy. The A/C compressor is electric, so running the A/C does not strain the engine in any way. Rule of thumb: if the average person would be too hot in the car then the battery is too hot.