Does Gen 3 high voltage fan needs cleaning?

you can't really go by others experience. it's all over the place. worth taking a look yourself.

it might just be a little buildup, but if you live in an area with dirty air, it might be worse

 

Watch the @NutzAboutBolts video, pinned in the 3rd gen maintenance forum. I managed it first time without watching the video, it's pretty much follow-your-nose, takes an hour or two. A couple of tips:

1. The hatch floor is secured to the top of the battery case with REALLY tenacious fasteners. Just take your time, have some decent pry tools, they will pop up. I left most of them off when reassembling, made the next time much easier.

2. Aforementioned video shows rear seat bottom being pulled off. That's a lot of hassle, could break fasteners, and really not necessary. Where the battery inlet grill is, push apart the seat bottom and back, get some light in there, and reach a long ratchet extension with a 12 mm socket to the one bolt that needs removal. Get fingers on it for when it comes loose, so you don't drop it.

 

I think the question is whether folks found debris in their fans after all the work. I looked at the fans in my Prius over the weekend. It’s a Plug-in, so it’s very easy to check them. It was the first time I’d checked them in three years. In that time, my girlfriend’s had her dog in the car dozens of times. That dog sheds like mad. Hair everywhere.

Except on the cooling fans. They were perfectly clean after three years.

 

Things to consider:
Are you the original owner? If not, who/what rode in the care before you got it (pets, hirsute, slovenly passengers, yetis, etc)?
Have YOUR pets (if any) been in the car?
The car is, after all ten years old.

Bottom Line: You won't know until you actually LOOK. Peace of mind, it's a good thing...

 

Did you check the rest of the system? The fan may be clear of fur, but it could be clogging up between
the battery cells. Think of where/how the air flows. That's where fur is!
So the fan may be clear, that doesn't mean it's not starting to build up in the rest of the system.
Though I would say it's a good sign the fan is clean. Do you have a filter on the intake?
Is the plugin version the same as the standard Pruis? The intake on the right hand side of the rear passenger seat?

 

The Plug-in is different. Same intake, but the hose goes to the rear of the car. Cleaning the fans is very simple on the Plug-in.

NutzAboutBolts doesn’t have a Plug-in, so the expert professional video is here:

 

Wow, that was just too easy! The Prius is like a big Lego!
So where does it get the intake air? My cargo area gets hotter when I have the
retractable cover extended. Is there a passage way to receive the cooler(in summer) air
from the cab area?

You do lose a lot of storage space because of where the battery is.

Thanks for the info and for the video!

 

It’s ridiculously easy!

The intake air comes from the same spot as the standard Prius — a vent near passenger side rear seat. And it exhausts the air straight down.

I love the Plug-in. My big surprise is that the bigger battery makes for much better mileage. I’ve gone very long periods without plugging it in, but still get 50 mpg regularly. I think the bigger battery captures and releases far more power than the standard Prius battery.

 

Yeah I've heard that. It's a little heavier, but there's a net benefit to the larger battery.

 

The Prime is no different .

Trade in the garage queen and very little fuel purchasing going forward as your driving is so minimal.

You should be able to get a fair bit on trade in, and the PIP rims would convey to the Prime.

Win-win-win.

 

It'll probably be regular hybrid, if and when that day comes.

 

I forgot about your spare tire requirements .

But there are solutions to that:



Ready just in case.

 

Plug-In is overkill for our needs. We're doing about 8K kms a year, lol. This year might end up under 5K, with COVID.

 

How many of your trips are under 25 miles or 40 kms?

My bet is most of them.

So you'd buy gas a whole lot less .

Just one benefit.

 

2012 Prius v. Did it myself at about 56k miles in 2019. From the complete lack of scratches on the blower, I know it was the first time ever. I did it soon after getting the car, after reading on here about it.

In my case, it was a waste of time. Very thin dust layer on the fan, which I did clean off after going through the effort to get in there. I will clean it again at 400k miles, or if I'm in there anyway to work on the traction battery. It does sound like different people have different experiences. Maybe if a pet always rides in the car ...

But I'll suggest it may be useful to at least familarize yourself with the intake for the fan so you can be sure it stays clear. That location is different on different years/models.

 

It's not a waste of time. It's peace of mind. Now you KNOW it's clean.
And you know how long you can go before you start thinking about cleaning it again.

 

Why does it keep posting me twice??

 

Thought there would be a check engine light with a message saying to clean the fan if fan needed cleaning.