Fur and dirt causing major battery problems

Thnks for your detailed info. I installed a filter on mine today.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I might try the same thing, but can you recommend any links on how to get to the fan to see if it's clogged up? I'd rather not take it to the dealer to get overcharged. Thanks!

 

This might help. Battery Fan Cleaning | PriusChat Go down to the service manual pdf.

 

Did this maintenance last night. (thanks for posting all the info!)
Moderately easy DIY job. (4 out of 10..... 10 being hardest)
With the small amount of debris found in the fan after 8 years and 90k milesof use (dogs included).....
Did not see the need for any type of home made filter. With my luck, ..... it would only get sucked down into the works, completely clog up the system and cause a full-scale battery failure.

Cautions.....
Only problems I ran into were:
-removing couple of the delicate plastic panel clips ...I ended up lightly prying them off w/ flat-head screw driver.
-The bolt to the chrome trunk area tie-down broke......mine "sheared-off" when screwing it back in....it's super cheap and can't take much torque.

I did not disconnect the 12v battery while doing this work.
I did not open the access panel to the hybrid battery compartment
I used an old paint brush to remove all the built-up dirt that had collected inside the hard to reach deep grooves of the fan shroud casing.
I also did my best to remove all the fine dust I could see inside the ducting. I used a wet rag pushing deep as I could down inside the duct.
Vacuum out the spare tire area....
Buttoned everything back up and called it a night.

 

how about if we wanted to clean under the battery duct? is it safe just to stick a hose down there hoping i don't contact anything?

 

Dealer made you pay for the diagnostic time....
Thanks for the info tho, I'll make a filter for the fan.

 

sorry to bump an old thread... new here after experiencing some issues.

triangle of death, followed by weird behaviour:

-battery was showing as charging but discharging
-when taking the foot off the ICE still running, almost never stopped
-battery fan making a racket (going very fast)
-after a while, total loss of power + ICE revving very high, i suspect this is what is referred to as 'limp mode', a restart allowed me drive again

i cleaned the fan, but the problem returned after 15min of driving on a hot day (29c).

i don't have a scan tool so don't know the error code, toyota is a long way away (and expensive).

my question is does anyone think this is what's causing the issue and is it worth doing a more thorough cleaning job by taking the covers off the battery? i live on a farm and often have straw/hay in the car and suspect that possibly there is more dust etc. around the actual housing. looks like a pretty big job and considering getting it towed to toyota if no one thinks this is the likely cause of the behaviour and possible solution.

thanks

 

i think your hybrid battery maybe on it's last legs. how many miles on her?

 

thanks for the quick reply! it's done 197,000km (122,000miles). actually after i posted i pulled the cover off and measured the cells.

they all hover around 8.02-8.04 except one at 6.76.

i read you're not supposed to try charging individual cell. (EDIT: without a particular type of charger) anyway, i had to move the car so did so without the service plug installed (rolled it in neutral as ICE did not start) and found the battery fan still kicked in. not sure if still warm from earlier (hours, but hot day) or if there's a sensor problem (in addition to the bad cell?)

 

I just cleaned my 2005 fan today at 125,763 miles. A light coating of fairly tough grime, probably no effect on fan performance, I used a 1/2" bottle brush to go down between the blades and out the back of the fan to make it squeaky-clean. Probably could have been done without removing the fan if you were careful to suck the dislodged grime out of the ductwork with a Shop-Vac or some such. Would really pay to have a bunch of replacement trim fasteners handy.

Basic "Torque" battery data looks good, I guess I'll stop worrying, although I did price a replacement battery today just in case, and was pleasantly surprised at the price for a rebuilt battery with a 3-year warranty.

 

Hi have a similar problem. In fact I'm noticing my ICE is barely shutting down at stops, it's getting more frequent. Could this be related to a clogged battery fan? Can anyone point me to a complete guide on how to disassemble the rear seat including what tools I need get to my fan and check everything please? I have gen3 2010 Prius.

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