I own a 2015 Prius V 3 model with about 45,000 miles and I started getting the above message saying that my battery cooling system requires service, I've googled it and found some videos that show this is not that difficult to do yourself. I'm pretty tech savvy, but i just want to be sure this is a fairly easy cleaning job and that it will resolve the alert message I'm getting. If I do clean the fan and duct myself, will the warning message automatically stop appearing, or will it need to be reset by a dealer? I'm also willing to listen to any advice anyone here would like to offer in resolving this issue. Also I have one other question, since I've owned the car (brand new) the battery icon in the display has never shown the battery as "full" it's always 1 or 2 "notches" below the full mark, is this common for the Hybrid system? Or should I have the dealer check the battery? Thanks again for all the help you can offer in this matter.
how many miles have you owned it for. usually carrying shedding animals is the biggest cooling fan problem. yes, it is normal for the battery not to show full, but it can under the right circumstances.
One or two bars below the seeming max is normal. Go down a long steep hill with regen (B) on and you can light up the top bar. The general guidance is that, to assure max longevity for the battery, you charge to about 80% unless you need the absolute max. So the control system must be being cautious in weighing max charge against longevity. I'm at 47k, no such. So clean the cooling intake and fan area and see what happens. Can't hurt.
Unfortunately while this might be similar, it isn't the Prius V I have so the procedures are completely different. I have viewed many videos about this cleaning procedure I just have concerns that doing it myself might miss some things that a dealer might do to completely remedy the "service" warning about the cooling system for the battery pack. That's primarily my question.
In my post I mentioned that I have only about 45,000 miles on the car and I don't own any animals at all. I live in Southern California so the operation of the car is virtually 100% of the time with the windows closed and the climate system operating in "Auto" mode with the air recirculating. So it's not like there's a ton of dirt, hair or dust in the car, I have it vacuumed and washed regularly too.
did you check to make sure the intake grille isn't blocked? i saw the 45k and was just making sure there wasn't a prior owner who might have clogged it.
The "V" is even easier. I can't seem to find it but there is a video about either cleaning it or replacing it. I "think" the vents are under the seat? Is that correct?
How did we ever get anything accomplished before there was YouTube? I watch a lot of YouTube videos (doing a plumbing project right now, for example, and YouTube is invaluable), but really: if you want to get down to the fan it can't be that hard. Follow your nose: the car was assembled, it can be assembled, you just need to take it step-by-step.
