Blower fan in dash

What happens is that the brushes in the motor become stuck, or they can be worn. Some here have DIY'ed the job. If you are comfortable removing the motor and looking at the brushes, you should be able to get it going again for a good long while. Otherwise, swapping the motor with a used one is not so expensive.

 

I had the same problem on my '07. Changing the motor is easy. It is located directly under the glovebox. Four screws and it drops out. You may have to take the bottom glove box door off for easier access. I had a local body shop do it for me while I was having my rear bumper repainted. They charged $160 installed. I had asked the dealer how much they wanted and it was well over $300.

After replacing it, I never had another problem with it...

 

The "Blower Moter" is the fan/motor that variably spins based on you A/C fan settings. It is repsonsible for moving the air through your vents. It is located on the bottom of the dash directly under your glove box. If you remove your cabin air filter you can reach in and spin it. If it is not spinning, you can do that to get it spinning again. The motor wears down and binds. That's why it works sometime, then not. However, it will eventually just stop. I used to slam my dashboard above the glove box to get it spinning again.

It's part 1 of 6 on this page.

Prius Parts

 

The motor is also available from parts stores such as Advance Auto, which with their online coupons turned out to be the better deal when I replaced mine. Mine started making noises before it died, then transitioned into needing to be kicked to start, until it just wouldn't start anymore. Simple DIY fix, just takes a little time and working in a tight space, but nothing very difficult. Good luck!

 

When yours was making noise before it died was it ULTRA loud in the cabin? Making a insanely loud whiiiiine.

Thats whats going on in my car.