1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

HV Battery Fan Service?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by AJTrenkle, Aug 6, 2015.

  1. AJTrenkle

    AJTrenkle Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 2, 2014
    1
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Stopped by the dealer today for an oil change / tire rotation service because I had a coupon.

    This dealer always tries to sell me add on services which I typically decline but one did pique my interest. He said that the fan that cools the hybrid battery can get clogged with lint and dust and cause a failure and that this voids the warranty.

    I have a 2010 Prius and in searching the web it seems like this model year was the first with a fix for this issue. I also don't see anything in the manual about a service interval to have it cleaned.

    So my question is, is this worth doing or should I just ignore the advice as an attempt to upsell me for more services than I really need?
     
    Longinus876 likes this.
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    The fan actually keeps pretty clean, unless you have pets that shed alot or are a really dirty disgusting individual......;)

    I cleaned my rarely used 2008 at 130k miles and there was very little of anything to clean out.
     
  3. Priusguy78213

    Priusguy78213 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 10, 2015
    94
    30
    0
    Location:
    San Antonio, TX
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Yeah, just another way the dealerships try to make money. Just drive the car. Do the oil changes every 10,000 miles. Check the fluids and tire pressure when you tank up. Do the transmission fluid change. Nothing specified in the owner's manual until something like 100,000 miles??? Just change it at around 50,000 or 60,000 miles and about at around 120,000 miles or so. Other than that, really not much to worry about!! Again, just drive the car.
     
  4. Eclipse1701d

    Eclipse1701d Prius Enthusiast

    Joined:
    May 12, 2011
    645
    223
    0
    Location:
    Nature coast, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2016 Prius
    Model:
    Three Touring
    The HV Battery Fan is often over-looked. It IS important to keep the battery fan in clean, working order, to help prevent premature battery failure. The Gen III fan is pretty easy to access and is worth a check, but I wouldn't pay to have it done...
     
  5. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2012
    1,391
    543
    0
    Location:
    Santa Monica, Ca. 90405
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    I'm sure that somewhere on this site is a how to for cleaning the fan, if you want to try it yourself.
     
  6. gdanner

    gdanner Member

    Joined:
    Jul 29, 2007
    86
    39
    0
    Location:
    Central Illinois
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    • Do you have a dog that rides in the rear seats?
    • Do you have children who ride in the rear seats?
    If the answer to either question is "yes" then it's reasonable to pay for cleaning the HV battery fan once. Ask the mechanic "How dirty was it?" afterwards.

    Alternately: Watch a YouTube DIY video for cleaning the HV fan, and if you are comfortable with the job, do it yourself.

    One month ago I did a DIY repair of the HV battery pack on my 2005 Prius (83k miles). My HV battery fan was clean. But when I looked up my service records I noted that the Toyota dealer did the "HV battery fan service" procedure about 5 years ago. So that means my HV fan stayed clean for 5 years. Disclaimer: My dog only rides in the car for occasional trips to the vet, and my youngest child is 25 years old.

    -EB
     
  7. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,571
    48,862
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    how much $$$ did they want?
     
    Mendel Leisk likes this.
  8. mrbigh

    mrbigh Prius Absolutum Dominium

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2005
    3,686
    699
    2
    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Vehicle:
    Other Electric Vehicle
    More likely a ridiculous amount ................:censored:
     
  9. southtxprius

    southtxprius Junior Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2014
    78
    9
    0
    Location:
    South TX
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
  10. grantb3

    grantb3 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2009
    60
    20
    0
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I can tell you how much they want ... $391.60 !!!

    They also included these other items is the "Summary -- Additional Items Not Performed This Visit"
    - Cabin Air Filter $72.72 (this one I know I can do myself for $10 or so)

    - Fuel Injection/Induction service using MOC products optimizer $154.43

    - A/C Evaporator cleaning using dwd2 cleaning system $153.99

    - Throttle body service $106.76

    Really exciting to show up for my next service which is due the next week or two.
     
  11. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2013
    16,463
    8,377
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I don't think you need any of those services
     
  12. grantb3

    grantb3 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2009
    60
    20
    0
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    That HV Fan Service went up to $479.71 at one point then today down to $303. With the passing of my beloved labrador retriever and the lowest price I've seen, I opted for the $303 service. I'll see what other humdingers they have in store for me in the future. I don't think they charge $70 for the cabin filter anymore. Pretty much everyone knows how to do that for cheap now. I've always done that one myself.
     
    bisco likes this.
  13. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,470
    38,103
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Cripes don't do that again. You seriously can do this yourself, in about an hour:

    1. Pry off the hatch floor over the battery. Use pry tools, the fasteners are tenacious, but they WILL pop off. Leave most (if not all) of them off, to make it easier in future.
    2. Push open a gap between the rear seat and seat back, directly below the inlet grill, reach in with a ratchet with 6" (mininum) extension and 12 mm socket, remove single bolt holding the grill piece. Use care: you do not want to drop it, might be pain to recover, possibly involving seat removal.
    3. Release seat back latch, rock it forward a bit, and wiggle waggle the end piece of seat back (with grill) up and out.
    4. Roll back and release the velcro holding back of seat back carpeting.
    5. There's another 10 mm (socket size) bolt to be removed in that vicinity.
    6. Pull off the ductwork leading to the fan. It uses easy to remove "christmas tree" style fasteners. There's one down deep, hard to get to, I would suggest just leave it off for future.
    7. Fan is now accesible, no need to remove or disconnect to clean it. Run a q-tip between the blades, blow compressed air around the entire area. Run dusting boa through the ductwork.
    8. Reassemble in reverse order.
     
    #13 Mendel Leisk, Jun 14, 2017
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2017
    milkman44 likes this.
  14. Jmack111

    Jmack111 Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2009
    370
    78
    0
    Location:
    Tacoma wa
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    You could it all your self including replacing fuel injectors for under 160. My be less injectors are most of that cost

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  15. NutzAboutBolts

    NutzAboutBolts Senior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2013
    1,476
    1,551
    0
    Location:
    Bay Area
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius
    Model:
    Four
    or just watch this video and do it yourself to save you all that $$$
     
  16. 4md

    4md Member

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2017
    97
    55
    1
    Location:
    Sofia, BG
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I fully disassembled it (rotor from stator, there was a circlip and few washers) to clean it completely with some degreaser and it became like new. Lubricated the bearings with some fresh engine oil and now it spins without any noises at all. This was at 100k miles and it had little dust buildup, nothing major. Disassembling and cleaning was easy job and it cost me $0.
     
    SFO and Lightning Racer like this.
  17. CanTG

    CanTG Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    20
    11
    0
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Base
     
  18. CanTG

    CanTG Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 20, 2019
    20
    11
    0
    Location:
    Canada
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    Silly question - do you need to remove the clip to “disable” the hybrid battery to take out the fan? One video says you do (gen II), but the other don’t show this?
     
  19. markjosh51

    markjosh51 Junior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2019
    42
    8
    0
    Location:
    North Hollywood
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Did a message pop up when driving such as the cooling performance low? Try checking it by locating the vent on the right rear passenger side. Use a flashlight to see the vent. If you start to see dust bunnies then use a vacuum. If it’s clean then there is no need for a service. Yes a clogged vent can cause the batter to overheat and fail.
     
  20. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 17, 2010
    54,470
    38,103
    80
    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    I didn't. Didn't remove fan either; just cleaned it in place.
     
    CanTG likes this.