Hybrid cooling fan runs constantly

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Jan r, Jan 21, 2024.

  1. Jan r

    Jan r New Member

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    Replaced both batteries last year . Combination board is going bad but can get around that problem for now...warning lights all on and hybrid fan runs almost constantly...tried a different one. Same issue..what next?
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    Bad hybrid battery, buy a new one and not refurbished
     
  3. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Once you read and clear error codes you'll know specifics of what's wrong... One of these OBD2 readers: Panlong OBD2 Scanner Bluetooth OBDII Diagnostic Tool Car Code Reader Turn Off... | eBay allows you to connect your phone to your car and use apps like car scanner app & Dr. Prius app to read and clear codes. Great tool to keep in the glove box, may help you from waiting to be towed.

    The reason your fan is running is car has shut down hybrid system and turned on fan full blast for safety until you read and clear the codes.
     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    Basically it's time for a hybrid battery it sounds like or you have extremely frosted module nuts and bus bars could be like black instead of copper I'm assuming you're getting about 38 mi to the gallon and the ice engine is pretty much running constantly?
     
  5. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    That's an expensive conclusion to make without seeing the error codes first... Corrosion frying the ECU is a common problem and an affordable fix that doesn't require a new battery. Of course most auto repair folks will do what your doing and start selling an expensive battery pack before they look closely enough.
     
  6. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    No I don't want to sell him anything I want him to go out and look and he can read the codes while he's doing that too but usually like you say it's a bunch of corrosion usually for me along with the computer getting corroded the bus bars and nuts have long been corroded and usually I'm not cleaning those I just pick up the rack and I take it up to my buddy and for like 550 hands me another battery that's balanced everything clean new nuts whatever It's very nice when I pick it up He has a service where he puts them in this container outside of his shop so that when he's not there I can come there and drop one off and pick one up and go so I don't even fool with the cleaning up and the messing around with these things he has set up for all that and I let him do his business for 5:50 that works for me but they seemingly so far last very well so I'll keep doing that but yeah generally of course read the codes and more than likely you got hybrid battery problem is the number one problem with the car pretty much when it gets to this age and that's just what happens and your telltale is the 39 mi to the gallon and the ice engine running all the time. Which was not mentioned here
     
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  7. douglasjre

    douglasjre Senior Member

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    This is the easiest way to learn
    https://www.uti.edu/programs/automotive
     
  8. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Funny! I thought PriusChat was the easiet way to learn? But clearly you're right... Who wants to learn DIY when you can quit your job and go into debt paying for an education in a promising automotive repair career with a UTI.

    Note: that doesn't stand for Urinary Tract Infection. It's way more expensive and painful than that.
     
  9. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    That's kind of excluding the middle. There are lots of ways short of becoming a full-time student on a career track that a person can build some basic mechanical and electronic knowledge and competence. And there's no rule that says DIY has to be done without that. DIY just stands for do it yourself. It is not required that you do it yourself without knowing what you're doing. In fact, doing it that way tends to make DIY harder and more expensive.
     
  10. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Did you click the link and study what they're offering? It's not just some random class you can take, it's a full program for more than a year and their lack of pricing leads me to believe that it has more to do with selling private student loans to bury you under debt, rather than affordable learning to help free you from financial burdens.
     
  11. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Well, no, I didn't, because the point of my post was that linking to one deep expensive program doesn't mean there aren't other ways of improving one's knowledge and understanding by an amount that will make DIY easier.
     
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  12. PriusCamper

    PriusCamper Senior Member

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    Ok, now I understand what you're saying... And yes, if you're a lifelong learner, there are so many resources that can show up when you least expect it. Whereas if you're just doing vocational training it can simply be learning enough to get your certificate and get a job and then stop learning because you'd rather be entertained in your free time and never were inquisitive enough for more than that.