I have a dog, who is adorable, but is now banned from riding in my Prius, because she sheds profusely. I recently took said dog on vacation with me, and spent most of today cleaning dog hair out of the rear seat and floorboard area as a result. The battery vents under the rear seat were fairly well clogged with dog hair. I managed to clean them to the point where they look clear from the outside, but I'm pretty sure if I was able to disassemble the seat/take the vent covers off I would find more dog hair in the vents. Is there a video or instruction anywhere about how to go about the disassembly process?
I would just follow your nose, to get to the fan. It's likely rear seat bottom needs to be pulled off? Also, what are the fan inlet grills like, any screen in them? If not you could add something, like window screen material. We occasionally transport our Shiba Inu, who sheds fine fur about 4~5 months of the year. Digging down to the fan every 2 years or so is enough to keep on top of it. And so far on our 3rd gen it seems like fine dust only on the fan blades. We've only had the Shiba about 2 years though, so time will tell.
And there is a second grill in the middle of the seat, but not shown in the Manual - it must do something, but previous discussion couldn't work out what - (it even seemed that some cars were missing it).
it might be advisable to purchase the service manual for a day. $15. it would have complete disassembly cleaning and assembly instructions. a clogged fan can have serious ramifications on battery health. it does sound like you get a warning if flow is impeded, but i wouldn't risk it.
Maybe... Sometimes the car is your best "service manual". Just look at the fan inlet, what it's part of, how that fastens. Then start removing fasteners, gently yoinking things, following the ductwork, you get there.
easy for you to say, i would end up with parts all over the driveway, and after getting it all back together, i'd find one more part, and no idea where it goes.
Mine doesn't have the vent in the middle, just one on each side under the back seat. I tried following my nose and gently prying the rear seat up. It wants to "give" but it doesn't. Not sure if I need to use more force or if I'm setting myself up to cause damage if I do that.
Curious. Mine has the same 2 ventsd as @alanclarkeau . I borrowed his picture. The area I circled in yellow appears to take a Phillips screwdriver, possibly to remove a cover for the right vent.
At the 2016 Prius reveal in Las Vegas, Team PriusChat (@Tideland Prius specifically?) did a surreptitious rear seat lift up, for inspection of the battery. IIRC that exposed the battery fan. Accordingly, I think it can be done with bare hands, hopefully doesn't damage anything. I believe there's two u-shaped tabs at the front edge of the seat, and if you run your fingers along and find them, yank up right there, it should pop off. Maybe Tideland will weigh in, regarding how to do it, what's visible once the seat's off, if the fan's then accessible, if there's any damage, etcetera. I suspect your fan's still going to be quite clean, but worth checking.
Rick-HTMLSpinnr-165 | PriusChat That links to Photo 165. Go forward through to photo 169 for battery photos. Rick-HTMLSpinnr-168 | PriusChat
