A member posted today that he took his Prius into the dealer and they charged around $180 to clean the traction battery fan and change the filter. As far as I know, and from Luscious' Web site, there is no "official filter" for this -- although many folks have made their own from posts I have seen on Prius Chat. I then found this shop in Arizona that says they clean the GEN II fan and install a filter.... How to make your Prius Hybrid Battery last longer I last checked ours about 40K ago and it was clean as could be -- of course, it is mostly my wife that drives the car and she always has the windows up and very seldom has other passengers. But, I should probably check a few things, including that fan, and if I get into that, I might as well throw in a filter, if there is one. I really am not too enthused about making one, although I guess I could.
On my Gen 4 if you remove the fan cover, there appears to be a filter but it is not mentioned in the manual. It just says to vacuum the fan cover. So, I guess there is a filter now. I do not know of one for Gen 2 though
Yeah, that poor guy unfortunately knows very little, automotive wise, and listens to the service sales person ("service advisor"). Gen2 Prius never had an OEM HV Battery fan filter. Anyone who sells one is making their own from some material (home HVAC filter or home window screen replacement netting from Home Despot/Lowe's/etc). IIRC, Gen3 eventually came with an OEM HV Battery fan filter, beginning 2012 model year and later. See post #26 for picture; gen 3 hybrid battery cooling fan dust buildup | Page 2 | PriusChatAs you can see, Toyota is using a net type material. This was probably a compromise between maximum air flown vs blocking particles. If they used a HVAC filter like material, lots of particles would be blocked, but air flow greatly reduced. Since the wife's Gen2 doesn't carry rear passengers, is not used as a ride hailing vehicle (Lyft/Uber), does not transport fury animal(s) (dog/cat), and pretty much drives with windows up and A/C on, there is really no need to make a filter. I base this on my experience when I changed out the rear struts after 7years, 127K miles, as the car was used under the conditions just mentioned. The fan was slightly dirty; say 3.5 on a 10 point scale, where 1=spotless, 10=clogged. If you make a filter for your Gen2, I would go with a screen type mesh net. Less restrictive than a HVAC filter. But, you would still want to periodically clean the HV battery fan irregardless. Maybe just clean the fan every 5 years, as this would coincide with strut/shock manufacture's recommendation of changing strut/shocks every 5year/50k miles, to maintain optimum suspension characteristics. As you know, getting to the HV Battery fan requires removal of the right rear paneling, which is also required to replace right rear shock; kill 2 birds w/ 1 stone. Here's a picture of a custom filter for a Gen2. Prius Fan Problem | Flickr
There was a genuine Toyota filter that came with my new Toyota HV battery when the original HV battery went toe-up. It just fits under the intake grill.
I use a coarse mesh screen (residential window bug screen) directly behind the intake grill. Every 2~3 years I dig down to the fan, clean it's fins, and dust the ductwork. You really don't need to pay someone to do this, if you have a few tools and all your fingers.