Prius (2010-12) :: Noise Coming From Back Seat Battery Vent?
Jul 26, 2014
A few weeks ago I started to notice that the battery vent fan was turning on way more than usual. I've had the car now for five years (34K miles) and I've only heard the fan go on a handful of times, even in the hot Las Vegas summers. Once I really started to pay attention to it I noticed the noise only started once I hit about 30-35 mph and got louder as I went faster. As I slowed down, the noise would get quieter and eventually stop as the car came to a stop.
This week I caved and brought the car in to the dealer to get checked out and they did an inspection of the vent, fan and did a complete diagnostic on the hybrid system and batteries. I was worried about damage to the traction battery if the vent fan was malfunctioning or clogged. I'm out of warranty with no extended coverage so I was pretty shocked that the dealer didn't charge me a dime to do the tests. All the tests came back clean and they said all the systems tested above average and that the fan was operating normally so I shouldn't worry about it.
But the noise still persists and it's starting to drive me a little batty. It has never made this much noise before. Is there something else that could be going on that the dealer missed? Maybe the noise I'm hearing is something else and it only sounds like it's coming from that area?
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Fan is pretty clean. Before re-assembly it will be blasted with ~100 psi from an air compressor. Driving around like this is fine for a while to check diagnostics. How noisy is normal? This is the first time I noticed the noise.
We've owned this silver 2011 Gen 3 from new and it now has 37K miles after about 3.5 years. Today it's ~70F in Atlanta, so not hot compared to how it will be soon. We had the s/w recall done about six months ago and I've possibly not driven the car since (have a few cars).. my wife drives it most days and did not notice probably due to music but I felt it was very loud like there was hole in the side of the car (first thought was some vent to the outside became stuck open but the vent near the auxiliary battery is fine).
Is there a way to read the fan speed via Android Torque and Bluetooth OBD? Should I disassemble the entire length of the venting? Might there be something inside there causing a blockage?
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I heard a fan sound coming from the back seat after driving in traffic for 45 minutes. It was coming from the vent in the back seat. I didn't know that that vent had an electric fan. I assume it was the battery being cooled. I have never heard this sound before.
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On more than one occasion, when I have gone in my garage at around 5 a.m., I hear a hum/buzz coming from the back end of my Prius. It has to come from the battery pack because the sound seems to come from under the back end of the car and is not as audible when I open the hatch.
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How the rear seat vent works? When you started your car and car was moving, did you notice that vent is always blowing? OK, I just notice that my rear seat vent just keeps blowing when my car is moving. Especially, it is loud as I hear when I turn off my radio.
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I sat in the back of my recently purchased 2011 Prius Three, not III, for the first time yesterday. I learned from this forum that the vent in the rear seat is to keep the hybrid battery cooled. However, while sitting the back during a ride, I noticed it was blowing air out instead of sucking air. I would think the vent should be sucking air from the cabin to keep it cool, but that does not seem to be the case here. After a 30 minute drive, I even felt the air coming out of it was warm and the A/C began to feel that it was not enough for my area in the back of the car.
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This is the second night in a row that we hear a noise coming from the back of the car. I know that some noises are normal but this is after the car is stopped/parked in the garage for some 5 hours.
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My toddler spilled an open bottle of water from her rear facing car seat on the passenger side of my brand new Prius III. From what I can make out, her car seat and the sides of the passenger seat took most of the damage. But there were a few drops of water on the spokes of the battery vent. I cleaned it up and tried peering inside the vent to see if water got in but I couldn't tell much as it was dark out. We had to drive it back home as we were 20 miles away. What should my next steps be? Should I take it to the dealer in the morning to have the battery checked out? Can I remove the vent cover and wet vac it?? What signs should I look for? Am I looking at having to replace the battery!
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I was driving today with no music on and noticed something strange. I heard something "roasting" in the backseat...and looks like the noise comes from the battery vents. It sounds more like "roasting" noise than fan noise. Do you know if the battery was overheating?
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Today I noticed a sound as I was driving almost like I forgot to shut a door. I believe it is coming from the vent which is located on the right side of the back seat. I'm not sure if I ever heard this before. It's been in the 90's this week.
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Leak in the passenger door that blows cold air on the unsuspecting front seat passenger that is intended for the back seat door frame vents? I say 'the' leak because we checked other Tregs at the dealer with similar gaps between the door and gasket on the passenger side.
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I have been noticing a rattle noise coming from the a/c vent with the setting on the lowest. What this may be?
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I recently purchased a 2009 Camry with 95,000 miles. The Camry was purchased new at the dealer that I bought it from and all of the maintenance had been done at the same dealer so I have records of everything.
I did not notice any rattles when I test drove the Camry but driving it the next day I noticed two rattles. The first rattle was the deck area behind the back seat. That was easily fixed with some card board shims placed the right places. I will do a permanent fix later.
The other rattle was driving me crazy. It did not do it all of the time and to me it sounded "exactly" like it was coming from the area around or in the glove box. I took the glove box and the area around it off and could not find the source of the rattle. I had my daughter drive the car while I set in the passenger seat and the rattle never occurred.
I finally found the source of the rattle. It was the lid for the center console. The lid originally had two rubber bumpers. Both of the bumpers were either missing or worn completely down. When I had my elbow on the center console lid the rattle did not occur. I fixed it with stick on drawer stops.
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Got my Prius v 5 in June and since then, there is the most obnoxious rattle coming from the back seat (passenger side). It's intermittent, depending on who's in the car with me. When I'm alone, it happens about 80% of the time. When my kids are in the car, it depends on which one and what seat they choose.
I've taken it to Toyota twice, and they're unable to detect the problem. I'm convinced that this is because the weight distribution is difficult to replicate. It is seriously making me crazy and I'm ready to turn the car in and get another (NOT a Toyota).
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I have a 2014 Prius v that I bought new in January 2014. I've had this persistent rattle which seemed like it was coming from the back seat behind the driver. I've taken the rear seat partially apart and glued and shimmed things to no avail. I've emptied the entire contents of the rear storage area and it still rattled on. Anyhow I've had this rattle for six months now. Turns out the noise is coming from under the car just ahead of the rear tire where some body type plastic which juts down about 2". This piece rattles when against the frame just ahead of where one would put a jack for lifting the car. I've temporarily stuffed some old paper napkins, which were handy, between the plastic piece and the frame. Noise is gone! I'll eventually remove the napkins and then load up the area with silicone. I'm doing both sides of the car just in case.
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I own a 2005 Prius with about 145,000 miles on it. I love it. However, I've noticed that lately, the vent in the back by the window will come on and make a lot of noise. Some research has told me that this is the air vent for the battery that is in the back, and usually comes on when the temps are higher and the battery is starting to get a little overheated.
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I recently took a ride in the back seat of my 2010 Tiguan and noticed that the muffler noise is loud enough to cause headache on long rides. Also I noticed that the back seat vibrates a lot with any tiny imperfection on the road while the front seat you barely feel any vibration on rough roads. Is it only my car?
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I got some manual of the internet on how to take out the bottom off the back seat. I got it off and installed the seat covers. How do I reinstall the seat. Instructions say attach rear hooks then push down to attach front. I attached the rear hooks but can not just push down on the seat to install the front. Sitting on it does not let it latch on. How to make the front latch on? This is on 2010 Prius. I got the u tubes going inside the white connectors but they will not latch on. Is there a trick? Seat is faom and Styrofoam so I don't want to just push down as I might break something. It's GT covers that I am installing.
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I have a '10 IV and my drivers seat clicks in the middle of my back. It seems that it may be the top of the lumbar cushion going bad.
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is there a fan in there...I was driving home no music and in the quietness of my Pri...I hear this sound....
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In my mom's prius V, on the front passenger seat, under where you put your legs, the plastic panel is like coming off, and when i am sitting in it, i can feel the panel hitting my feet. I don't know exactly how to put the panel back together. Also, Whenever I drive her Prius around I am always tempted to put it into reverse when I am driving around normally. I know I won't do it, but I just feel tempted too. What would happen if somebody actually put it into reverse while I am driving at high speeds? would it just not allow the car to switch gears or whatever? I was going like 3mph and switched into reverse once, car just slowed to a stop.
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