Pruis Gen 2 Air Filter for Battery Fan

[broski499]

Hey guys and gals,

So my coolant valve went out but luckily I was under warranty still. Apparently because when the valve goes out it turns the engine light on which is covered under the drivetrain. Saved $600 bucks.

But of course the dealer gave me a huge list of crap I needed done. I discussed it with my mechanic and he said they were trying to make a quick buck off me.

The one thing he was curious about was some kind of filter they want to install in the battery compartment. Apparently when they built the car there is a fan that helps circulate air over the battery to keep it from overheating, but they didn't install a filter so it can get gunked up over time. They wanted to charge me like 300 bucks to clean out this area and then install a replaceable filter so it stays clean in the future.

They said that this helps prolong the battery life.

Since I'm in California my battery warranty is 150,000 or 15 years. If they are worried about a battery failing you would think they would want to pay for the install because 300 bucks is a drop in the bucket compared to a full battery service.

Anyway, has anyone been told the same thing?

[S Keith]

You can inspect the filter yourself. It's to the right of the right rear passenger's shoulder. It's a white fabric over the inlet to the fan duct. IIRC, you can shine a flashlight into the vent and see it. It is NOT replaceable.

I recently disassembled my friend's '08 with 143K miles of AZ dust in it. It was squeaky clean. If you transport shedding animals on a regular basis, it might be of concern.

In taxis and extremely dirty environments, fan clogging may be an issue, and not all years have the filter screen. I highly doubt you need it done unless you drive with big shaggy dogs everyday.

Steve