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Stuck Baffles Problem?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by ajayre, Jul 17, 2014.

  1. ajayre

    ajayre Junior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2010
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    Location:
    UK
    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    We set off on a six hour drive today. Hot temps outside. Initially the climate control seemed fine but during the journey we set the cabin temp to LO and noticed a problem.

    We had set it to: A/C on, recirc on, auto on, all air towards face. A small amount of warm air was dribbling out of the dash vents and there was a roaring sound from behind the glovebox.

    I stopped and tried LO, different vent positions, A/C on and off, recirc on and off, all with auto off. The result was a constant dribble of warm air from the dash vents and a roaring sound from behind the glovebox when set to LO -> 18C and 25C -> HI.

    So to confirm, even with auto off and set to HI it was a dribble of warm air.

    I set it back to A/C on, recirc on, auto off, all air towards face and turned the car off and left it for 20 minutes.

    When I turned it back on there was lots of warm air coming from the dash vents and no roaring sound from the glovebox.

    After a few minutes the air seemed to cool down a bit.

    We stopped and started our travels a few more times without changing the settings and after the third start we were getting plenty of freezing cold air from the dash vents, which worked fine for the rest of our journey.

    Is this a case of Stuck Baffles Syndrome?

    Thanks, Andy
     
    #1 ajayre, Jul 17, 2014
  2. nh7o

    nh7o Off grid since 1980

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    Dec 10, 2011
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    Location:
    Hawaii
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    II
    It certainly sounds like some other stuck baffle reports. You would need to look under the dash at the servo motors, as the controls are set to the various extremes, to see that they move as expected. No one has reported about going into the air box (big job) and seeing what the state of things was. I would guess that the foam around the edges of the baffles, which makes for a good air seal, is becoming brittle or sticky with age, or else it is falling off and getting stuck under the flaps and causing binding. (I've seen the latter in other cases.) The other possibility is that the potentiometers which indicate position are dirty and not making contact, and the ECU gets incorrect readings. In any case, exercise of all the controls is the only option until getting inside the unit to have a look.
     
    #2 nh7o, Jul 17, 2014
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