air conditioning recharge

[rshultz]

I haven't received my service manual yet but I would like to recharge my air conditioning system on my 2001. Has anyone done it who might be able to tell me where the low pressure connector is located?

[David Beale]

Before you go ahead and start, check the fluid type. I thought I read it was special due to the "high voltage" on the electric motor.

[rshultz]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll check that out.

[statultra]

hey rshultz the 2001 prius uses normal r134a with normal ester oil, dont worry about high voltage whatever.

From what i remember i think the high side is located to the left of the intake box.
Low side is behind the drivers side headlamp i believe not sure im right If you want the repair manual page for this jsut email me briansomaru@Gmail.com

[philmcneal]

hey guys, my NWH20 prius A/C is extremely weak (air is strong, but the air feel is not cold), so I was wondering if my A/C can be recharged? Or should I just change the air filter and that should fix the coldness issue?

Mine has over 100k miles, so I'm wondering if a new electric A/C unit is worth it. Well evenually I DO need A/C due to the hybrid battery needs cooling, does any NHW20 ran into this problem and found a solution?

edit : i changed the air filter (black and dirty) and the air feeling is stronger, but its not as cold as A/C should be? I highly doubt its enough to cool the hybrid battery.

[philmcneal]

oh man things are getting worse someone shed some light on my issue...

Canview is telling me my battery temp is reaching over 100F-40 degrees C, and the A/C is very lacking on trying to cool the passengers and the cabin ( me and 2 others ) , its just better to open the windows to cool everything down. Sometimes the air is cold and others times its not, I even cycle through the A/C button in the climate controls (yellow on/off) to feel the air difference and I can barely notice it. I think my A/C is shot and was wondering what would be the price for a new one :S

Right now windows can cool the cabin, but on days that's super hot what can I do? Is my battery going to fry if it sees 100 F+ temps on a daily basis?

Although I understand as stated in the canview manual, the temp displayed in the canview represents the hottest cell out of the whole battery pack and does not represent the temperature as a whole. Even when showing 40 degrees C (100 F+) I've not heard the battery fan come on... and I had passengers to confirm that.

If a/c is broken and can't cool the battery, I don't know what can I do before I start getting fried cells... help!

[tochatihu]

Hi Phil, it seems clear that your A/C needs help. The system is sufficiently 'conventional' that I do not see why a regular A/C shop should not be able to get it right.

As you know the NHW20 has an electric motor driven scroll compressor with a dedicated inverter. If any of those part$ need replacing, I would start by looking at the warranty status. If no help there, the salvage vehicle dismantlers can certainly find you stuff from a Prius crashus.

It is fair to be concerned about HV battery temperature, but the criteria may be a bit more relaxed. In the NHW11 I see 45 oC commonly in mountainous terrain. That is about when I start to think about doing supplemental cooling with the A/C. About 48 o C I get it going for sure, and above 50 oC (which has only been seen on big downhills), the A/C is on max.

NHW20 batt has a more clever electrode design and seems to not generate quite as much heat.

I don't know the temps that triger the HV battery fan/fans speeds. If they begin at 45 oC, believe it or not, you may not have got there yet. A Toyota shop could certainly test fan ops with the THHT. Also I slightly remember that there is a DTC associated with the batt fan not running.

[sktn77a]

Phil:

Given the electronics involved in modern AC systems (especially the Prius), I think it's time to break down and go to the Toyota dealer. They should be able to diagnose the problem fairly cheaply ($25-$30) and you can decide what you want to do after that. Risking that very expensive battery doesn't seem to be a good idea!



Keith

[philmcneal]

ok an update to my a/c problem

So I took it to where I bought my prius (local shop that fixes cars for a living and he knows a lot about prius sometimes more than the dealership!) and we got it checked out.

Apparently my A/C compressor isn't holding any pressure, and when looking at it more closey it seems one of the pipes from the compressor to the driver has been bent and there has been some damage. When taking it apart we saw one of those rubber rings has been broken and that the liquid (r194 refridge coolant?) has been leaked all out. On top of that looking at it closely my oil filter has been dented thx to the pipe ramming into it.

I have no idea how it happened but to guess I might have scraped the bottom of my car elsewhere or parking lot thingys whatever... but thank god my oil filter didn't leak!

Ok now the horrid part comes in, he thinks I might need a new pipe if I leaked all the frigiderant coolant out, if I were to pay for new coolant and it leaks then I lost my investment right there. So i call to see the price of the new pipe (from the compressor to the driver) and that quote was 400 + bucks ouch...

so for now my mechanic has pumped some pressure into the system and i godda come back within a week to see if they are still the same pressures, if yes then i might be able to get away with just filling the coolant and if not, then i might have to sell out cash for a new pipe or a used one since he can call up some salvage places...


so for now i have to wait, we refilled the air with a new rubber seal so hopefully maybe that was the culpit but i doubt it... im smelling new pipe...

be careful if you think your going to bottom out!

[statultra]

visit www.toyotapartspeople.com
they have the a/c lines for sale, btw the liquid coming out was most likely the oil used to lubricate the compressor and seals.