The blower was working perfectly until a few months back it started with a ticking sound. No Performance problems or anything. Now it stopped working or sometimes it works slowly. I checked it and nothings seems to be blocking it, the cabin filter has no more than 4 months and looks good. It starts if I rotate it by hand which makes me think it's the motor. Still could it be something else?
Here is a post about fixing the motor: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-...ht-vents-2007-toyota-prius-4.html#post1178104 Good luck!
I want to thank everyone for their replies on this question. It's May 26,2012 and I just had the same problem. I was all set to go out and buy a new fan when I thought I would check Prius chat to see if others had the problem. They did! After reading the replies, I took the fan out of the housing (fairly easy) and blew it out. There are 2 small screws on the motor housing itself, I removed them although I don't know what they do?? I then took a can of liquid air and stuck the long hose into each screw hole and blew them out. BLACK Sooty powder came flying out. I then took a normal air compressor hose and blew it all out wherever I could. I reassembled and the fan works like new again! THANK YOU!! If you are having the problem where the fan is running slow or sometimes doesn't even go on, but then suddenly works again, this is your problem!!
So it seems to be the cause although the brushes as mentioned elsewhere can be an issue. I will keep this in memorybank.
OK, I just had the same issue happen to me over the past 3 weeks: slow to start air blower, progression to no-start or starting intermittently, then finally lucky to get air. I"m in Phoenix, AZ and its hot + humid this summer. I have no tolerance for A/C troubles, so my first idea was to take the hit. Glad I found this forum, because it saved me hundreds of dollars. I proceeded with the advice to clean using my air compressor against the 2 screw holes at the bottom of the motor, cleaned excess dirt away, and re-installed. Funny thing is, that my Prius was also in the low-mpg personality mode and now its back in the high 40's mode. do not know what happened but I imagined the Transmission computer was somehow jarred when I moved it around ? Anyway, thanks guys , because now I have my A/C back, my wallet is still the same weight, and my MPG even went up! woohoo!
The improved MPG may simply be from more efficient AC? I'd been through the clicking (leaves?) and whacking the dash ("oh please don't crack....") for occasional relief. I was all prepared to dive into the blower, but I had neglected the filter so much the poor thing was jet black with leaves and pollen, etc. in there. I confirmed the fan worked well--even (carefully) stuck my finger in to see if I could slow it down---fan/motor seemed strong. I then cleaned the filter (temp fix) and replaced it. Air blasts now. We'll see if it lasts and I'll update if not.
Mine did this a couple years ago and no I didn't waste my money on replacing it. I just would give it a push and it would restart. About a year ago I got the idea of running the fan on high for about an hour or so and I haven't had any problems since!!!
