Thank you so much for doing this video. My prius was revving high especially on hot days and lacked power. I thought my battery was failing, yet no error codes. My fan was clogged up. I cleaned it as shown in the video. I connected it to a 12v battery to test first. Was running slowly due to build up. After cleaning, it ran much better. Now my prius 2 has more power and battery charges very quickly. Fuel cons. From 6.3l/100 to 5.1l/100 immediately. Mileage is 252,000kl. Much appreciated.
This all makes sense because if the fan is not working properly, the charger will switch off prematurely because of the battery temperature. You won't have full use if the battery increasing fuel consumption and drain in power.
Thanks for the great run-through. So nice to have a few pointers before digging in. My fan after 200,000 miles in my 2006 looked pretty much like yours. Not too bad, but certainly worth a cleaning. I first blew it out, but some of the crud was pretty tenacious (we've had a lot of wildfire ash.... When that is then combined with humidity, it quickly becomes like concrete. So I used a bit of cleaner and a round brush. Now all clean like new! I'm confident that I'm good for another 18 years or so. I found a few broken clips from other work that's been done back there, so I even got to improve a few items and perhaps even get rid of one of my annoying rattles. Thanks again for the effort!
Great video. Mine was absolutely covered in dog hair and mud from previous owner. I will re-install and see if it fixed the check engine light for hybrid battery pack.
Never had checked but appreciate the efficient video of how to git er done! Have to schedule a fan maintenance day. My large red triangle of death was on and had found a video to reset that. It's all about that battery!
Seen another video that said you needed to unplug the orange plug from the hybrid battery that disables everything. I noticed you don’t do this so I’m assuming it’s not necessary? Thanks in advance 👍
It’s not necessary to almost ever unplug it for most maintenance. It’s a safety precaution because the battery is strong enough to easily kill a human.
The Toyota service centre said they wanted to replace the filter on my hybrid battery fan when they replaced the battery (~$15)... in this video, is doesn't look like there is a filter... any thoughts on this?
Hey buddy The fan did you clean it up it Hass to be on all the time or sometimes turn it off by them self because on my Prius I don’t hear the fan it’s on
Should be a way to retrofit a filter box into the intake duct somewhere before the fan, like Toyota should have done to begin with. 3rd gen Prius' do have a filter as they figured this out by then.
@@paulfremes There are actually some after market filters available for some years. Cheese cloth, or something similar, would work well though would require more of a replacement than a simple cleaning and possibly need this rather often, depending on where you are driving. Good idea though.
@@WhoWouldWantThisName Thanks for your message. I live in an urban environment that is not dusty. The cheese cloth starts to darken every 6 months to a year. I bought the cheese cloth at a dollar store, folded it over 4x, pulled the filter intake off and installed the cheese cloth between the intake and body on the left side - and intake and seat back on the right side. I removed and cleaned the cheese cloth for the 4th or 5th time several days ago - washed it with soap and water, air dried and, re-installed. The 4th layer (closest to the filter intake) had very little dirt. I may replace this cloth with a new one after next removal because the fiber filaments are very delicate and starting to separate. I don't want fibers getting into the fan or batteries. However, the system only cost a buck and has worked perfectly. It should be noted that I run the fan full-time at top speed (using additional software code input to a ScanGuage). Car's on, fan's on. Running the battery fan full-time keeps the temps on my 15 year old battery around body temp in the summer, 60F in the winter. Winter outdoor air temp here is average 50F. Car has 150k miles, orig. batt. MPG's have certainly dropped since I bought the car - 2007 Prius, in 2013 but still getting 45 MPG.
@@paulfremes Wow, I had never heard of this software mod to run the fan full time. That's very cool, no pun intended. Impressive that the cheesecloth has held up so well for so long too. I figured it would get too dirty too fast and not allow enough air flow. Of course it's always about striking that balance of filtering enough dirt out while still getting enough air flow. If cleaned often not a problem though, usually.
@@WhoWouldWantThisName Thanks for your message. Unless one lives in a very cold climate I don't see any reason not to run the battery fan full-time. Heat is the number one killer of these batteries and these batteries produce heat that can destroy the battery. Further, I believe the battery pack should be designed with small gaps between each module so air can channel past the entire module instead of just the top or bottom - the smallest surface on the battery. Even just a few millimeters would be way better because the heat from all these batteries squeezed together just multiplies and harms the functionality of the unit. Yes, it would take up a little most space but, there is room enough down there for a bigger battery module. Designed this way, the battery would practically last forever. When I bought my 2007 in 2013, the battery was damaged and performance was not that good. Through constant cooling I've been able to greatly decrease the normal battery degradation that occurs over a battery's lifetime. I just set and forget. I used to think about it and listen to hear if it was running. But, now I don't think about it or care. It just runs.
I was just wondering other then if someone has some high battery temps how do you know if the cooling fan is actually turning ? I just cleaned my fan and reinstalled it an ran my OBD scanner tool using Torque Pro and the hybrid battery gauge showed no rpm activity at all. I don’t know if that happens with some of the Torque Pro gages or not ? The dealer told me that if the fan was not working it would set off an error code. I don’t know if that is true or not. I have just replaced my Hybrid battery and I want to be sure it’s getting air to cool it as you know these batteries are expensive so I don’t want to take and chances hurting the new battery due to lack of cooling air. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thank You Louie IL 🇺🇸 USA
@@portxer Hi Ryan I was never able to have any of the apps and or adaptors that I tested, like the Elm 327 to even report the rpm speed of the battery cooling fan, even though it had a pid that was supposed to do that. so I finally gave up on that and just made an extra effort not to block the cooling input port next to the back seat. And check the fan about every 6 months to be sure it was clean and spinning and So I would have to say “ no “ I never got an error code. I hope that helps you with your question. I keep meaning to just disconnect the power plug to the fan, when I have the the panel apart, but I will do that the next time I have it apart and check for any error codes when I un plug the fan and report back to you the results. Thank You for contacting me about it, I’m sorry that I didn’t get back to you sooner about this subject. Take care Louie
@@portxer Yes, thats the the best way to be sure of course. If I was to guess I bet the check engine light would come on instantly. But I will let you know for sure.
normal operating temp from what I understand should be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit or so although it does depend on the incoming air temp from the cooling fan
I've recently experienced my car revving pretty high while driving. When I press on the gas to keep up with the flow of traffic on the freeway the engine revs up unusually high but yet the car stars stalls with little movement. Does that have anything to do with the HV battery? These are the max temp reading on my battery T1 124 T2 132 T3 127
Based on your temperature readings and the fact that your ICE has to kick on more to move the car, I'd say your battery pack is on its way out. My pack is bad and was showing the same symptoms. I have a vid that goes more into detail about it here th-cam.com/video/irddAVZaJb4/w-d-xo.html
Hi I also think that. Did your fuel consumption go up to when it was new? I live in Germany and now I'm getting errors about the hybrid battery. But the still runs. But check the vent maybe the bat is to hot. And if you need a new bat there are better and cheaper alternatives to the Toyota bat
Anyone else have difficulty with the white clip that’s attached to the bracket with the white push pin connector? Mine isn’t popping off like theirs did. Wondering if I’m missing a finger press somewhere, but can’t find any. Had to put the fan back in to try it before taking the 10 mils off.
Yeah, I replaced some modules in the pack after this vid, unfortunately it hasn't completely solved my problems, so I'm going to have to look into replacing the pack as a whole or something along those lines
You think it would make a difference keeping the battery uncovered like that without all the plastics and drive around like that? Nothing covering battery for cooling purposes. As in an open PC case lol
That might work, it might not. I can't give you an answer one way or another. On one hand you'd expect without all the coverings it would be able to flow more air. But without the covers the stock battery fan doesn't have any ducting that it can send air through, and that may or may not throw a CEL
Thank you so much for doing this video. My prius was revving high especially on hot days and lacked power. I thought my battery was failing, yet no error codes. My fan was clogged up. I cleaned it as shown in the video. I connected it to a 12v battery to test first. Was running slowly due to build up. After cleaning, it ran much better. Now my prius 2 has more power and battery charges very quickly. Fuel cons. From 6.3l/100 to 5.1l/100 immediately. Mileage is 252,000kl. Much appreciated.
This all makes sense because if the fan is not working properly, the charger will switch off prematurely because of the battery temperature. You won't have full use if the battery increasing fuel consumption and drain in power.
252000 miles! You give me some confidence, mine is at 18xxxx right now, plan to drive it at least five more years!
lol, don't you mean "kilometerage?"
Thanks for the great run-through. So nice to have a few pointers before digging in. My fan after 200,000 miles in my 2006 looked pretty much like yours. Not too bad, but certainly worth a cleaning. I first blew it out, but some of the crud was pretty tenacious (we've had a lot of wildfire ash.... When that is then combined with humidity, it quickly becomes like concrete. So I used a bit of cleaner and a round brush. Now all clean like new! I'm confident that I'm good for another 18 years or so. I found a few broken clips from other work that's been done back there, so I even got to improve a few items and perhaps even get rid of one of my annoying rattles.
Thanks again for the effort!
Great video. Mine was absolutely covered in dog hair and mud from previous owner. I will re-install and see if it fixed the check engine light for hybrid battery pack.
How'd you go?
@@lsc66416 unfortunately it didn't fix it, but I still needed to clean all that dog hair out of it
@@bobbyd1089 Did you fix it? if so how?
@@esam7865 Had to refurbish the battery. Either way, i had to clean the fan or the battery would have likely gone out again
Never had checked but appreciate the efficient video of how to git er done! Have to schedule a fan maintenance day. My large red triangle of death was on and had found a video to reset that. It's all about that battery!
the dealer wants $600 buck to clean the battery fan. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge!
Man U just saved 350 bucks for me.
how can you tell what temp your batteries are and what they should be ?
Dr prius ob2
How do you know your batteries are hot?
I also washed the membrane filters on the ducting. Was very soiled. Made sure it was dry before I refitted it.
Would do it together with battery maintenance??
thank you for sharing!! Making it look as easy as can be
I bought an old prius that has a stale smell that’s strongest near the battery vent. Hoping this will get rid of it!
Thanks brother! Your video worked well. Mine (2007) was a lot cleaner than I thought it'd be too.
I’m stuck at popping out the snap holders… do you do it with your hands? I don’t want to damage anything…
How freely should the fan cage spin? If I spin mine by hand, it only rotates about half a turn after I release it. That seems stiff to me.
So what's the temperature before and after this work?
^
Seen another video that said you needed to unplug the orange plug from the hybrid battery that disables everything. I noticed you don’t do this so I’m assuming it’s not necessary? Thanks in advance 👍
It’s not necessary to almost ever unplug it for most maintenance. It’s a safety precaution because the battery is strong enough to easily kill a human.
Thanks for the video. Which products did you use to clean your fan?
The Toyota service centre said they wanted to replace the filter on my hybrid battery fan when they replaced the battery (~$15)... in this video, is doesn't look like there is a filter... any thoughts on this?
awesome DIY! Nicely done mate!
It's going good! Thanks for asking! How are you?
Hello, great video, How can you tell your battery temps are up ?
Bro your fan is super clean very normal
I heard my fan through the vent in the back passenger for the first time yesterday going to see if this is the issue
What should be the normal temp for the batteries? When is it too hot?
Hey buddy The fan did you clean it up it Hass to be on all the time or sometimes turn it off by them self because on my Prius I don’t hear the fan it’s on
Question: I've seen some videos where the mechanic takes out the backseat for this cleaning. Is that necessary?
Good, now I can do mine since I got all the time in the world.
Is there a separate video of how to clean up the filters
once every now and then. So every 10 years? Got it. ☝☝☝☝
Thank you for showing this!
Awesome thanks man
Do you have to disconnect the hybrid battery before cleaning the fan?
😮GREAT VIDEO 😮
Is there a way to test the fan with Torque?
Thanks!
I don't think so, I think torque is mainly used for reading data, not sending commands.
Should be a way to retrofit a filter box into the intake duct somewhere before the fan, like Toyota should have done to begin with. 3rd gen Prius' do have a filter as they figured this out by then.
cheese cloth over the intake
@@paulfremes There are actually some after market filters available for some years. Cheese cloth, or something similar, would work well though would require more of a replacement than a simple cleaning and possibly need this rather often, depending on where you are driving. Good idea though.
@@WhoWouldWantThisName Thanks for your message. I live in an urban environment that is not dusty. The cheese cloth starts to darken every 6 months to a year.
I bought the cheese cloth at a dollar store, folded it over 4x, pulled the filter intake off and installed the cheese cloth between the intake and body on the left side - and intake and seat back on the right side.
I removed and cleaned the cheese cloth for the 4th or 5th time several days ago - washed it with soap and water, air dried and, re-installed.
The 4th layer (closest to the filter intake) had very little dirt.
I may replace this cloth with a new one after next removal because the fiber filaments are very delicate and starting to separate. I don't want fibers getting into the fan or batteries.
However, the system only cost a buck and has worked perfectly.
It should be noted that I run the fan full-time at top speed (using additional software code input to a ScanGuage). Car's on, fan's on.
Running the battery fan full-time keeps the temps on my 15 year old battery around body temp in the summer, 60F in the winter. Winter outdoor air temp here is average 50F. Car has 150k miles, orig. batt. MPG's have certainly dropped since I bought the car - 2007 Prius, in 2013 but still getting 45 MPG.
@@paulfremes Wow, I had never heard of this software mod to run the fan full time. That's very cool, no pun intended. Impressive that the cheesecloth has held up so well for so long too. I figured it would get too dirty too fast and not allow enough air flow. Of course it's always about striking that balance of filtering enough dirt out while still getting enough air flow. If cleaned often not a problem though, usually.
@@WhoWouldWantThisName Thanks for your message. Unless one lives in a very cold climate I don't see any reason not to run the battery fan full-time. Heat is the number one killer of these batteries and these batteries produce heat that can destroy the battery.
Further, I believe the battery pack should be designed with small gaps between each module so air can channel past the entire module instead of just the top or bottom - the smallest surface on the battery. Even just a few millimeters would be way better because the heat from all these batteries squeezed together just multiplies and harms the functionality of the unit.
Yes, it would take up a little most space but, there is room enough down there for a bigger battery module. Designed this way, the battery would practically last forever.
When I bought my 2007 in 2013, the battery was damaged and performance was not that good. Through constant cooling I've been able to greatly decrease the normal battery degradation that occurs over a battery's lifetime.
I just set and forget. I used to think about it and listen to hear if it was running. But, now I don't think about it or care. It just runs.
I was just wondering other then if someone has some high battery temps how do you know if the cooling fan is actually turning ? I just cleaned my fan and reinstalled it an ran my OBD scanner tool using Torque Pro and the hybrid battery gauge showed no rpm activity at all. I don’t know if that happens with some of the Torque Pro gages or not ? The dealer told me that if the fan was not working it would set off an error code. I don’t know if that is true or not. I have just replaced my Hybrid battery and I want to be sure it’s getting air to cool it as you know these batteries are expensive so I don’t want to take and chances hurting the new battery due to lack of cooling air.
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
Thank You
Louie IL 🇺🇸 USA
Hey Louie,
Did you ever find out if it will set off an error code or not?
@@portxer
Hi Ryan
I was never able to have any of the apps and or adaptors that I tested, like the Elm 327 to even report the rpm speed of the battery cooling fan, even though it had a pid that was supposed to do that. so I finally gave up on that and just made an extra effort not to block the cooling input port next to the back seat. And check the fan about every 6 months to be sure it was clean and spinning and So I would have to say “ no “ I never got an error code. I hope that helps you with your question. I keep meaning to just disconnect the power plug to the fan, when I have the the panel apart, but I will do that the next time I have it apart and check for any error codes when I un plug the fan and report back to you the results.
Thank You for contacting me about it, I’m sorry that I didn’t get back to you sooner about this subject.
Take care
Louie
@@louietesta3752 thank you Louie. How do you check to see if the fan is spinning? Turn the car on while you have the back taken apart?
@@portxer
Yes, thats the the best way to be sure of course. If I was to guess I bet the check engine light would come on instantly. But I will let you know for sure.
What's the normal operating temp for the batteries?
Does torque have a way of testing he HV blocks amp?
normal operating temp from what I understand should be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit or so although it does depend on the incoming air temp from the cooling fan
Legend!
I've recently experienced my car revving pretty high while driving. When I press on the gas to keep up with the flow of traffic on the freeway the engine revs up unusually high but yet the car stars stalls with little movement. Does that have anything to do with the HV battery? These are the max temp reading on my battery
T1 124
T2 132
T3 127
Based on your temperature readings and the fact that your ICE has to kick on more to move the car, I'd say your battery pack is on its way out. My pack is bad and was showing the same symptoms. I have a vid that goes more into detail about it here
th-cam.com/video/irddAVZaJb4/w-d-xo.html
Hi I also think that. Did your fuel consumption go up to when it was new? I live in Germany and now I'm getting errors about the hybrid battery. But the still runs. But check the vent maybe the bat is to hot. And if you need a new bat there are better and cheaper alternatives to the Toyota bat
@@marcbeebee6969 Like what? I think there's a possibility that my battery might be in trouble.
@@alext8828 hello mate, my battery died seven months later
Cool thanks dude
Just had mine cleaned at the dealership and the fan went off again 😕 og battery replaced with a new one 3 years ago
Anyone else have difficulty with the white clip that’s attached to the bracket with the white push pin connector? Mine isn’t popping off like theirs did. Wondering if I’m missing a finger press somewhere, but can’t find any. Had to put the fan back in to try it before taking the 10 mils off.
How many miles did your Prius have at the time of doing this
about 190k miles
CtrlAltDefeatTV so what was the verdict did you ever have to replace the battery?
Yeah, I replaced some modules in the pack after this vid, unfortunately it hasn't completely solved my problems, so I'm going to have to look into replacing the pack as a whole or something along those lines
Thanks for the share
did the cleaning help?
because I don't get current to the fan of the battery criamientos where is the fuse
You think it would make a difference keeping the battery uncovered like that without all the plastics and drive around like that? Nothing covering battery for cooling purposes. As in an open PC case lol
That might work, it might not. I can't give you an answer one way or another. On one hand you'd expect without all the coverings it would be able to flow more air. But without the covers the stock battery fan doesn't have any ducting that it can send air through, and that may or may not throw a CEL
How do you do the compress air cleaning part...does it matter which way it turns?
how much does the dealer charge for this?
from what I've heard, they won't do it, will only replace the fan completely which costs several hundred dollars
does prius 2009 have a fan filter?
It is the same set up as mine, no filter, the blower motor itself kind of is the filter
The filter needs it more
what filter?
Maybe your fan dose not work at all, that why it could be so clean?
It does work, it wasn't exactly clean, just not terribly dirty
your's is not even dirty.
P01w
Shouldn't call this video "how to clean" if you're not showing how to actually clean it. You simply showed how to get to it.
Poor video, disassembly is way too fast and not explained well