I did a search on this, but didn't find the answers I was looking for. I have a new-to-me 2006 Prius. It has 100K on it and has been well maintained. I've also gone through the car replacing everything from LRR tires to 12V yellow-top battery. My issue is this: I'm getting an electrical smell on occasion and am wondering if it's normal in these cars? I've only smelled it three different times, but it's unmistakable. Only lasts a minute or two and is gone. I drive the car in temperatures around 65 degrees and don't drive it hard. I haven't noticed any similarities in when I get the smell -- seems completely random. I took my traction battery vent fan out to inspect it, but it was perfectly clean. Also, the dealer found no unusual codes and the car runs perfectly otherwise. Any ideas what this could be? Is it normal in these cars?
I have smelled something a couple of times, both when the HV battery was being charged well going downhill. It seems to be something about the vent hoses, but as you say it is intermittent so not a real concern. Hobbit has also commented on this: Prius battery exploration
The odor I smell is like an electrical short, but there are no adverse effects on the car's performance and it's usually very short lived. Within a minute or two it is gone.
The Prius cabin heating system has a traditional heater core which receives heat via engine coolant. In addition, it has two PTC (positive temperature coefficient) electric heaters that supplement cabin heat. The Prius gasoline engine doesn't produce that much excess heat to begin with. Further, during periods that the engine is not operating, the coolant temp will drop. If you have the cabin heater turned on when you smell this odor, perhaps this is from the electric heaters burning off residual dust or dirt on the heating elements.
I can't say with certainty that it didn't originate from the vents, but I don't think it did. I also just went in the car, put it in ready mode and raised the climate control until the heat came on and then lowered it to engage the AC. Neither produced a significant smell. However, I will pay attention to the vents next time I smell the odor. It has a distinctive burnt wire/electrical short smell to it. Could it be caused by the traction battery being fully discharged or charged? No one else has experienced this?
