How to clean/replace battery fan filter

I put a piece of household window screen material on the back of the stock filter; looks to be about the same grid spacing as the Toyota filter. It was a little "bowed", and I installed it with a couple of loops of thread, so that it's tensioned against the back of the grill.

 

I used the extra foam to make sure NO fur got into it! The fur, or dirt, has to go through a lot of paths
to get through to the fan.
I don't see the point of putting the screen in if it's the same size.
But it's your filter, use it as you wish.

 

My stock grill has dividers space around 1/2" (nothing else), and the screen mesh I added is around 1/16". Definitely tighter. I'm nervous about reducing flow, opted to mimic Toyota's filter, which seems to be similar "coarseness".

 

As I said, I'm concerned with fur and dirt. My filter gets dirty, and furry. It goes PAST the basic screen toyota uses.
No lights or codes saying the battery is over heating. PLENTY of air flows through it.
But do whatever YOU want. I'm just sharing my experience.

 

I just opened up my cars fan to check if the dealer did a good job and I noticed there was no filter. Is that normal? Mine is a gen3 Prius. There was just a frontal grille.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Far as i know they didn't come with any screen or filter. But this cover is inexpensive.
And the foam I used was $3 I think, or less.

 

Yes, that's how they come, a grill with spacing about 1/2". There is an add-on screen that clips on the front, as @ASRDogman's picture:



I just opted to put screen on the back of the of the stock grill:



@ASRDogman went with the add-on screen, and supplemented with foam filter material.

What you need to do is check the condition of the fan itself. It's a "hamster run" design, and dust can build-up on the fins. If the dealership did their job they would have cleaned that, and all the ductwork leading up to it.

This is something best done yourself, not that hard. Every two or three years.

 

He said he took it apart to see if it was cleaned as they said.
I was going to just put the foam in the back, but dreaded having to remove that cover ever few weeks to clean it.
For less than $15 it was worth it for the cover. I just pull it off and pull out the fur and I rinse out the foam, shake it several times then put it back in.
I drive about 600 miles every week and dogs are in the car for about half of that, and they shed!

 

We have a Shiba (major shedder, half the year), but he's only rarely in the car, and we're putting on the miles VERY slowly.