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Gen 2 Prius Battery Fan Cleaning Procedure?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by veggieranger, Jun 16, 2012.

  1. veggieranger

    veggieranger Junior Member

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    I have my 2004 Toyota Prius taken apart to replace the HV Battery. (waiting on a reman battery on its way from Fedex) I was reading Luscious Garage's post about cleaning the HV battery fan since it doesn't have a filter:

    Luscious Garage | Blog | Prius battery cooling fan cleaning, P0A82

    However, I can't find any Youtube videos or Priuschat posts on the proper procedure for disassembling the fan for cleaning.

    The fan is fully exposed right now and it looks pretty straightforward but thought I'd check to see if anyone has done this before and has any tips?

    I'm already videotaping the HV battery replacement so I'll do the same for the fan cleaning since it sounds like this should be mandatory when replacing a failed HV battery. (as well as a regular maintenance procedure every 60k or so)

    -VR
     
    #1 veggieranger, Jun 16, 2012
  2. veggieranger

    veggieranger Junior Member

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    I just searched in my Bentley's manual and there are no instructions regarding the HV Battery cooling fan/blower. There is just one picture on 2-33 in a cooling flow diagram.
     
    #2 veggieranger, Jun 16, 2012
  3. FirstFlight

    FirstFlight Member

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    There's no smoke and mirrors here. The hardest part is getting to the fan and since the squirrel cage is exposed, verifying if it's dirty or not only takes 10 seconds or so. I took mine apart at 171K for the first time. It only had a light coating of dust and would probably work fine for another 500K miles or so.
     
    #3 FirstFlight, Jun 18, 2012
    snead_c likes this.
  4. Silver bullit

    Silver bullit Right Lane Cruiser

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    I venture to guess that you don't carry pets in your car on a regular basis?
     
    #4 Silver bullit, Jun 19, 2012
  5. FirstFlight

    FirstFlight Member

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    Nope. It's a pretty obvious thought that the fan will become filled with crap if the air entering it is dirty.
     
    #5 FirstFlight, Jun 19, 2012
  6. Silver bullit

    Silver bullit Right Lane Cruiser

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    Thank you for your friendly response
     
    #6 Silver bullit, Jun 19, 2012
  7. veggieranger

    veggieranger Junior Member

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    thanks for the feedback. The reman battery arrived yesterday and I'm going to clean the fan and install the battery this weekend. Hoping for a good outcome and a clean blower fan so I don't have to worry about pulling it apart for cleaning regularly! (we have a short-haired Terrier that only rides in the car on occasion)

    -VR
     
    #7 veggieranger, Jun 20, 2012
  8. veggieranger

    veggieranger Junior Member

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    I worked on this yesterday. There are three black plastic tabs with center pins that hold the upper duct in place. My upper duct had two air filters on it but no obvious way to replace or clean the elements. (covers were riveted on) Once you release the three tabs with a trim tool, the fan blades are exposed. Mine were covered in lint and dust to where the blades were no long shaped in a curve. I cleaned them with a small brush and vacuumed out the lint and dust with my shop vac.

    This was definitely reducing the air flow to the battery pack.

    I'm going to clean it every 60k or so to prevent this buildup.

    I took video of the process since I was videotaping the battery replacement procedure. The reman battery pack is in and tested with about 40 miles on it. I just need to re-assemble the trim pieces and back seat so I can drive it next week to further test it.

    -VR
     
    #8 veggieranger, Jun 24, 2012
  9. snead_c

    snead_c Jam Ma's Car

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    Congratulations on your successful install. I'm looking forward to the video. :)
     
    #9 snead_c, Jun 24, 2012
  10. Oldwolf

    Oldwolf Prius Enthusiast

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    Me too but I hope I never need to use it!
     
    #10 Oldwolf, Jun 26, 2012
  11. veggieranger

    veggieranger Junior Member

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    I just posted the part 1 video on another thread.
     
    #11 veggieranger, Jun 26, 2012
  12. mfa-prius

    mfa-prius Old member

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    I just cleaned mine today at 125,763 miles. A light coating of fairly tough grime, I used a 1/2" bottle brush to go down between the blades and out the back of the fan to make it squeaky-clean. Probably could have been done without removing the fan if you were careful to suck the dislodged grime out of the ductwork with a Shop-Vac or some such. Would really pay to have a bunch of replacement trim fasteners handy.
     
    #12 mfa-prius, Oct 9, 2015
    bisco likes this.
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