Clean HV fan when changing 12 Volt

Hello all. I recently came across some threads about cleaning the HV fan to prevent battery over-heating/failure. I had some free time after changing my Transaxle Fluid and decided to take a stab at it. I have a 2007 Prius with 91,000 miles and have been the only owner, no pets in the car and minimal passengers.

I found that my fan was quite full of carpet fibers from the interior and alot of dust. I removed the fan, blew it out with a compressor, and cleaned the fins on the fan with a toothbrush (no not the one I use for my teeth).

My fiance also has a 2007 with 81,000 miles. Now that I have done this, I will take pictures when I clean her fan. It is NOT difficult and I think this should be done everytime you change your 12 Volt, and more often if you have frequent passengers!

An hour of work may save your battery from unneccesary stress that can lead to failure from over-heating.

Tools: 10mm and 12mm extended socket and phillips screw driver

Procedure:

1: Remove vent in backseat by removing bolt located behind the seat cusion. It's black, just push down the seat cusion and look, presto there it is! Then, open your hatch and remove the carpet, floor and plastic bin and set aside. Your spare tire should now be exposed.

2: Remove the two bolts holding the passenger side plastic cover in the rear compartment. Note that when you put this back the long bolt closer to the seat is a little tricky. You have to use your finger to get it back into the hole because of the angle.

3: Remove the bolt holding the metal harness closest to the passenger side tail light.

4: Pull the big plastic panel off that covers your wheel well. It comes right off and easily snaps back into place!

5: Remove the screws holding the fan in place. There is a wire harness in the way. Disconnect the two ends, remove the clip that attaches it to the fan (it slides off) and gently move out of the way.

6: When removing the fan, make sure you disconnect the plug that is attached to the fan motor before you remove it all the way. (PLEASE REMEMBER TO REATTACH THIS TO THE FAN AFTER YOU CLEAN IT!) If you don't, the fan will not work and all this will have been for nothing and detrimental to the HV Battery Pack... The exact opposite of why you are doing this.

7: One of the black vent tubes is attached to the fan with a bolt. I left it on during the procedure.

8: Fire up your compressor and clean your fan. Follow that up with a toothbrush or other brush. Remember, the fins are plastic and don't like being cleaned with a wire brush.

9: Connect the power supply wire to the fan and reinstall. Make sure the vent tubes are properly seated. The vent tube plastic is quite plyable and thin so make sure there are no gaps.

10: Reverse the above procedure and bolt everything back in.

11: Now, take your Prius out for a spin. You may have just added a few years onto the life of your traction battery and in this economy, that's a good thing!