Has anyone seen a diagram of how to access the hybrid fan in a Prius v? I been looking at my wagon and only noticed one bolt holding a plastic cover behind the seat and a possible snap on cover similar to Gen 3's Prius. I just want to make sure I do not break anything...done that before. I will post pictures for everyone if I am able to get to the fan... Thanks.
When I changed out my satellite antenna and amp, I had to get down to the area where the fan is located, directly to the right of the HV battery. Not all that easy with a lot of panels to remove. I have attached a pic of my 2012 v where you can see the fan. It is the white round shape bottom left corner. I have also attached a video link where a gen 3 Prius (standard) has the fan removed. It appears to be about the same setup. The video suggests that Gen 3 battery fans don't usually get as dirty as earlier Gen 2 fans, plus a trouble code will occur if it is bad. Still, the best solution might be to get a weekend subscription to TIS and then download the specific instructions. One caution on that route; often Toyota will have you remove more than absolutely is necessary to make access easier. Maybe someone already has a good video on specifically on the v. My 2012 v with fan shown left corner: Good video of removing and reinstallation on a standard Gen 3
This one page Toyota doc, T-SB-0162-13 has links to the paid removal procedures in TIS. You will have to get a day or weekend subscription to TIS, find this doc and then link to the procedures. https://www.carmd.com/Tsb/Download/101603/T-SB-0162-13 Note these cautions about cleaning the fan: • Do NOT attempt to clean the HV Battery Cooling Fan while it is installed in the vehicle. Doing so may cause dust or debris to enter the HV Battery Case. • Failure to secure the fan blades while cleaning can result in electronic circuit failure due to overturning. Link to TIS login: https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ti_home_page&contextType=external&username=string&password=secure_string&challenge_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechinfo.toyota.com%2FtechInfoPortal%2Flogin%2Ftechinfo&request_id=2635560107556629716&authn_try_count=0&locale=en_US&resource_url=https%253A%252F%252Ftechinfo.toyota.com%252Ft3Portal%252Fdocument%252Frm%252FRM1290U%252Fxhtml%252FRM000002XNW00LX.html Also if you want to see what was necessary to remove the antenna amp see the pdf in post 10 of this thread: Prius v Antenna XM Satellite Fading | PriusChat
I just hopped in, it's not that hard. Don't do any more removal than needed. For example: the third Gen video shows rear seat removal, which is not necessary. Also, the fan can likely be cleaned without needing to be pulled right out. A Q-Tip works well. Also clean ductwork. Compressed air helps, just avoid over-spinning the fan blades, hold with a finger while blowing.
Last weekend I ventured to clean all the vents in my Prius V. I have previously done this same procedure on my son's Generation III Prius and the Prius V is probably 5 times faster and easier. Here are some pictures of the sequence I followed 1. Cleared access 2. Removed back cover 3. Removed fan clip. I used upholstery removal tools from Harbor Freight. Those are the cheapest I found. 4. Remove filter first or the vent tube will not come off. This was kind of hard. The bottom lip was tucked under the rug and there is very little space to manuever. This took a lot of wiggling. 5. Remove the vent. Pull out from the fan first and then push to unlock the vent from a plastic knob located at the other end. See circled detail. This knob makes it difficult to reinstall this vent back in place. The third picture is a close up of the knob located under the rug. I did not try to remove it because there was no space for my tool to fit. It takes patience to re-install the tube back in place. I had to make a little cut in the rug to be able to fit my hand and lift this stupid knob to latch the tube. My Prius has 40,000 miles and it was supposed to be a recommended procedure in my next visit. This is the reason why I decided to do it. I also did not want to remove the fan to avoid damaging any wire connectors. So, I invented this little cleaning gadget. I taped a tooth brush at the end of my shopVac to brush the fan blades while sucking the dust. It worked very good. I only had a use a Q-tip to reach the ends of the fan blades. For the rest of the pieces I used a ceiling fan duster. These are some pics of the before and after the cleaning. Most of it was a very fine dust that gets stucked to all the plastic parts. Enjoy. Love my Prius and this forum.
There's a carpet fastener near the ductwork you can remove to roll the carpet back making the job easier. I removed the rear seats when I cleaned mine allowing easy access and also allowing the seats and carpet to be thoroughly cleaned.
With the Q-tip method, you're going to need a lot of Q-tips. I also recommend a 12-year old with some free time for the labor.
I also used compressed air but it took a ton of Q-tips. When my son pulled the blackened Q-tip out of the blade I told him not re-use them. Luckily Q-tips are cheap. At least they were the last time I bought which I'm pretty sure was during the previous millennium.
Yeah, apples 'n oranges. Our west coast air is a lot cleaner I think, near nil carbon particulate. Plus we're really low miles.
All good info above - thanks. I did this today on my 2012 v with ~54k miles. Turns out for me it was not worth doing. There was hardly any dust at all. But I did everything anyway ... removed motor, q-tips, etc. It was definitely the first time this was done on my car, and still very clean.
I looked at mine again around 200k miles. No dirt. I think it is a function of how clean you keep the car and if you transport pets.
