Climate Control Update

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Hybrid Hobo, Jan 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM.

  1. Hybrid Hobo

    Hybrid Hobo Member

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    I posted a couple months back about my climate control. It's noisy, and tends to work best only on higher settings. It will also stop blowing if left on for a long duration. It IS still operational, and I'm able to keep warm during this frigid outbreak in the northeast, but decided to bring it in to a mechanic yesterday.

    After balking at the $180 "diagnostic fee" they mentioned on the phone, and telling them I was 90% sure that it was either the blower motor or blower motor resistor - thanks to info cleaned from the fine folks on this forum - they decided to waive the fee and told me to bring the car in.

    About 30 minutes after dropping it off, the service guy walked into the waiting room where I was sitting and proceeded to whisper to the receptionist behind the desk...

    Technician: "It's working fine, I can't find the problem."

    Receptionist: "Sshhh, he's sitting right there."

    Are you serious?! :mad:

    He then awkwardly acknowledges me and says he "thinks" that the blower motor is the culprit itself. After asking how much it would cost to replace, he tells me $450!!!

    A new blower motor cost $60-$70. Which means they're charging almost $400 to remove some screws, take out the glove box, and pop in the new motor. Which takes 30 minutes to an hour...tops.

    I thanked them for their time and walked right out the door.

    I'll be looking for a different mechanic in the coming days.
     
    #1 Hybrid Hobo, Jan 7, 2025 at 3:01 PM
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    have you looked at the fan/filter area?

    that sounds cheap for the part, have you looked recently?

    does the fan change speeds with every control change?
     
    #2 bisco, Jan 7, 2025 at 3:24 PM
  3. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    The blower motor itself is probably very inexpensive and available from several outfits including four seasons One of the largest makers of air conditioning parts and whatnot and several others It's not rocket science is similar to the fan that's in the back with the hybrid battery in any of the generations you have so not a humongous deal I imagine from Toyota it's probably pretty expensive but I wouldn't really see a reason to have to do that but you can if you want to. But generally the blower motors don't go in and out unless they're wound tight full of hair or something they either working or they're not least in my experience with the heater blower motor or the HVAC blower this has been the case.
     
    #3 Tombukt2, Jan 7, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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