We took our 05 Prius to the mountains on Sunday. Coming down the hill from Lake Tahoe the temp climbed to 98. Suddenly we got the red triangle warning and the Hybrid system warning light. The car ran fine and showed no symptoms of any problems. We took the car to the dealer Monday morning. They Read the code P0A82. They said the Battery cooling fan was not coming on and blamed the problem on dog hair (we have lots of dog hair). They wanted $787 to replace the fan. I could not part with the cash right now and picked up the car. The warning light was off. The car ran fine going home with no warnings. My questions 1) Can/did the dealer reset the warning light? 2) Is there a way to verify that code P0A82 is a bad cooling fan. 3) Has anyone replaced the fan? How bad was it? I bought the service manual and it seems getting to the fan is much harder than actually replacing it. I can get a used one for around $80. Thanks for the help Jim
1) Yes, it appears that the dealer tech erased the code so that the warning light would be off. 2) DTC P0A82 means that the traction battery is not receiving sufficient cooling. It is reasonable that a fan failure has caused this, if you do not hear the fan running. 3) Although I have not needed to replace the fan I have gotten into the vicinity of the fan. This is not particularly difficult especially if you are motivated by the prospect of saving $700. Suggest you download repair manual info from techinfo.toyota.com if this is needed to supplement whatever service manual you have. Good luck.
Does anyone know how difficult it is to clean out the fan and air ducts for the HV battery? I'm a bit worried about mine getting too much dog hair in there as well. (look at my avitar and you'll know why ).
I seem to recall reading another thread on this topic and someone added their own pre-filter if you will. They used some kind of material right behind the intake grill so they could relatively easily clean that out periodically.
Yeah I've been thinking about trying something like that too. I was wondering what would be involved in checking out whether anything was clogged already. Would I have to get to the HV battery and open the metal case to check or would there be an easier way?
I would say that you would need to get to the traction battery fan and see what debris if any is present on the blades and behind the fan. If you see debris then remove the plastic ductwork and see if debris is present. If you find debris in the ductwork then open up the traction battery case (first removing the orange traction battery interlock.) Carefully note how you remove the interlock so that you can replace it without a problem, and be aware of the high voltage shock hazard that exists when the case cover is removed.
Thank you Patrick for the info. It was very helpful and much appreciated. If the code DTC P0A82 means that the traction battery is not receiving sufficient cooling, the fan may just be plugged, not ruined. The dealership said the fan is definitely bad. Now I am really curious. I'll tear into it over the weekend and report back next week. By the way, 3 Labradors and a German Shepard really do fit in the back of a Prius Thanks again, Jim
I procrastinated all weekend but I finally got around to attacking the fan project. I had studied the manual and was ready to go. I had the car apart and the fan on the workbench in less than 30 min. The fan had a good bit of dog hair and was about 50% obstructed. The dealer had said the fan was definitely bad. It was labeled 12 volt so I connected it to a 12 volt power source. It ran fine, smooth and quiet. I blew the fan out with compressed air and vacuumed the car and the various interior pieces as I put them back together. There was no hair evident in the duct past the fan so I did not get into the high voltage area. I had the fan out, cleaned, back in, and the interior vacuumed and wiped down in 1 1/2 hours. And I saved $787. A good end to a holiday weekend! Jim
Wonderful. Good for you and your wallet. Multiply that times the other members that may be able to use that info and the savings are very substantial. Sort of puts the "Independence" back into Independence Day celebrations!
I thought you were going to say divide the $787 between the members above who helped out and everyone's happy
OK, I think I've got the same problem with dog hair/hay/dirt in the fan. Opened up side to expose fan, and am happy to take it out and vacuum/blow it out, but can't figure out how to get the fan off. I dont think the fan is bad because it comes on and I can hear it. A couple of weeks ago, a bunch of diagnostic codes came up and the dealer said it could just be a "glitch" and reset the codes. Drove fine for a couple of weeks, but panel lit up again yesterday. I want to try this fix before I get a significant shocker dealing with the battery. Any thoughts?
Take a look at the following thread Kinsemfarms. It's got some really useful links. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...oubleshooting/82092-battery-fan-cleaning.html
Dog hair, dirt and hay? Sounds just like our Prius. I cleaned out my fan a couple months ago. I got the service manual at the local auto parts store and followed the instructions. It was much harder to get to the fan than to remove the fan. Once you have it exposed just slip the ducts off each end, unplug the wires and remove the 3 nuts that hold it in place. It had a good bit of dog hair but was nowhere near plugged. The dealer diagnosed the cooling fan to be the problem, but the warning lights came back on and it turned out to be the Inverter cooling pump. That seems to be a very common problem. Jim
Did it!! You're right, harder to get to the fan than remove it. The pictures posted by rondodog on 10/6/08 titled "Fur and Dirt causing major battery problems" could have been pictures of my gunk and filter. Practically identical. The light (triangle w/ exclamation point) was still on after I cleaned it, and I went to Advance Auto to see if the codes had cleared, but the scanner didn't work. Should I get it in to the dealer to see what if anything is still wrong, or should I see about clearing the codes and drive it again to see if the warning light/s come back on? I won't give up traveling with the dogs, or hauling hay from time to time, but I also don't think Toyota intended the Prius as a farm vehicle. And, almost everyone else I know who owns a Prius does seem to keep them clean and neat. Couldn't have done a thing without this forum! Thanks!! Kathy
Hi Kathy, Mine looked just like the picture too. But cleaning it didn't solve the problem. Hope it does for you. When the dealer diagnosed the (wrong) problem, they cleared the codes for me. This time, I borrowed a code reader from a friend and was able to read and clear codes with it. You can also clear codes by disconnecting the 12v battery but you will need to do some research because I believe it requires you to do something special with the power windows. Good Luck Jim
my daughter is a farmer. she built a little trailer for hay and produce and such. dogs are a whole nuther issue. poodles?
Jim - based on your note, if this cleaning the cooling fan didn't fix it, I'll check on the inverter cooling pump. Was it an expensive fix? And did that take care of it? Thx. Kathy
Hi Kathy, We took the car to the mountains on Sunday. Lots of climbing. No warning lights. I'm pretty sure the problem is solved. The Pump was around $120 at the dealer. You can get it for $88 plus $10 shipping from Toyota World Champion ToyotaWorld but I needed the car and couldn't wait. There is lots of good info on the forum including very good step-by-step instructions. If you start the car and wait for the engine to stop, then put your hand on the pump you can feel the vibration of the pump running and see turbulence in the coolant reservoir. Mine was intermittant. I hope this helps. Jim
