1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Maintenance on Prime battery fans, a little help

Discussion in 'Prime Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by estebinbin, Dec 10, 2020.

Tags:
  1. estebinbin

    estebinbin Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2012
    184
    47
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Hello, I have a 2017 Prius Prime and I would like some guidance, tips, videos, photos, anything to help with the maintenance of the traction battery fans in the Prime. I have seen other threads where other owners of other Prius models discuss this but little on the Prime.
    I keep getting bugged by my dealer about their maintenance service for the battery fan system but I am not convinced due to the price of their service and that my Prime has not notified me that service is needed, also since I am not sure when this service should be done.
    Through the manual, other threads and videos I have been able to get an idea where the fans are and how to get to them. I am not a very mechanic kind of person but I feel this should be possible at least to check the the fans are dirty.
    Any help will be greatly appreciated.
     
    #1 estebinbin, Dec 10, 2020
  2. estebinbin

    estebinbin Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2012
    184
    47
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Ok to continue on what I have been able to do. I have checked the two air vents on either side of the backseat. Pop those open and check the filters, all looks clean, I could assume that the color of the filters being gray or blackish is natural.
    Next I was able to take apart some of the coverings in the trunk to reveal the battery and what I believe are the two fans, one on their side of the battery, that move the air. Here is where it was interesting for me and my non mechanic skills. The fans are connected to vent tubes that go to the back seat vents and also to the back of the battery, by this I mean the part of the battery that is facing the back bumper. Each fan has a bolt clip and cover clips around it, 4 I think, that hold it into this whole vent tube mess. I am not sure if I have to try and take these tubes apart from the fans to be able to see inside the fans and their dirty condition. Or can they be slightly worked in a way to peek inside and check their cleanly ness? They are also connected to power and I was unsure of how to unclip the with force and fear of breaking something. Again any words or visuals of help would be great. Thank you for your time.
     
    #2 estebinbin, Dec 10, 2020
  3. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,518
    14,128
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    It's pretty simple to take of the cargo deck. I don't have pictures of the disassembly, but it uses the pop up plastic fasteners like the ones securing the panels under the car. Once you have that off and remove the plastic storage bins on either side plus the one at the back for the EVSE cable storage, they are easy to spot. Then unplug them and take out the mounting fasteners. The PiP was much easier, but these aren't bad.
    IMG_1758.jpg IMG_1759.jpg
     
    #3 jerrymildred, Dec 10, 2020
  4. estebinbin

    estebinbin Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2012
    184
    47
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Sorry I am not using the correct terminology or describing it badly.
     
    #4 estebinbin, Dec 10, 2020
  5. estebinbin

    estebinbin Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2012
    184
    47
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Thank you for the pictures. I did get to this point, that is when I started to question what I would have to do or how much more I needed to disconnect to see inside the fans.
     
    #5 estebinbin, Dec 10, 2020
  6. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

    Joined:
    Oct 28, 2016
    11,518
    14,128
    0
    Location:
    Tampa, FL
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Sorry that I don't have time to investigate. That's also as far as I went since I was confident they were OK based on how clean the fans stayed on my PiP. I just wanted to see how hard they were to access. They don't look to me like they are hard to remove.
     
    #6 jerrymildred, Dec 11, 2020
    estebinbin likes this.
  7. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2014
    1,612
    1,144
    0
    Location:
    Franklin TN
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    As long as the filters are somewhat clean, don’t worry about it, sure there may be a very think layer of very very fine dust that could pass through the filter.. but it’s not worth it.

    2017 is still like new to me! Change the filter and call it good!


    Older generation Prii were a different story since they didn’t have filters, and in the case of a dirty car or pets, it would almost be like a vacuum sucking in all the dirt.
     
    #7 Aaron Vitolins, Dec 11, 2020
    estebinbin, Salamander_King and jerrymildred like this.
  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,985
    8,886
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    AFAIK, the battery fan system maintenance is not listed on the scheduled maintenance. I don't think PP has any specific notification for the battery fan system maintenance. Just curious, how much is a dealer asking for this service? I am with @Aaron Vitolins on this that as long as the intake vent filters are clean I am not going to mess with the fans inside. The replacement filters are cheap, IIRC ~$5. If they are dirty, just replace them and call it done.

    Note: You will need Left and Right filters. They are different parts.

    part #G92DH-47080

    part #G92DJ-47010
     
    #8 Salamander_King, Dec 11, 2020
    jerrymildred, estebinbin and Aaron Vitolins like this.
  9. estebinbin

    estebinbin Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2012
    184
    47
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    I will try to find where I wrote down but I think it was around $270. The filters on the next to the seats were pretty clean, no hair and no major dust when I shock them. What is the part number or where can these be purchased?
     
    #9 estebinbin, Dec 11, 2020
  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    10,985
    8,886
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    Parts numbers for the filters with links are in my previous comment.
     
    #10 Salamander_King, Dec 11, 2020
    estebinbin likes this.
  11. Dael

    Dael Member

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2019
    128
    32
    1
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    most all filters are synthetic plastic and can be washed with soap and water. At least that's what I do.
     
    #11 Dael, Dec 24, 2020
  12. RockOnly

    RockOnly New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 27, 2020
    1
    0
    0
    Location:
    Boston
    Vehicle:
    2019 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Estebinbin - how did you pop the air vents below the back seats open? I'd like to look at my filters but I don't want to break the plastic covers trying to get them off...
     
    #12 RockOnly, Dec 27, 2020
  13. Dael

    Dael Member

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2019
    128
    32
    1
    Location:
    Ohio
    Vehicle:
    2020 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Limited
    upload_2020-12-27_17-48-19.png Page 570 2020PP manual
     
    #13 Dael, Dec 27, 2020
    Tideland Prius and jerrymildred like this.
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)