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2010 Prius air conditioning not working

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Klayfish, Jul 30, 2014.

  1. Klayfish

    Klayfish New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2014
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    Location:
    Dallas, GA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Hey guys, first post. I just bought my 2010 Prius from a Toyota dealer a few weeks ago. It has 103,000 miles, so it's not under warranty.

    I thought the a/c was a bit weak when I got the car, but I always drive it in Eco mode, so I thought that was the reason. It wasn't terrible, just wasn't "ice" cold. Well, today it has completely kicked the bucket. Nothing. A/C light comes on, fans blow hard, but no cold air.

    My understanding is the 3rd gen Prius has a unique a/c system, but I just started looking into it. Anyone have any insight they can share? Is there a known issue with the a/c system? As much as I hate to spend the money, if the system is unique and complicated, should I bring it to a Toyota dealer? Yes, I'm going to contact the dealer where I bought the car, but I'm not expecting much because I've had it 3 weeks and put 1500 miles on it since I got it.
     
    #1 Klayfish, Jul 30, 2014
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Base
    welcome to priuschat! at 100,000 miles, there aren't any known issues, it probably just needs to be repaired, hopefully it's just a recharge or something cause these puppies can get expensive. get an estimate, don't authorize anything until you've shopped around. you'd think a dealer would give you a 30 day warranty or something. all the best!(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Jul 30, 2014
  3. Klayfish

    Klayfish New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 30, 2014
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    Location:
    Dallas, GA
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Thanks! Yeah, that's my concern that the repairs can get costly. I'm a "car guy", I even work in auto insurance claims, but don't have the skills/time to mess with the a/c system. I knew the system is different than a conventional car, since it can run with the ICE off. Hence my concern with bringing it to an independent mechanic. To make it a bit more complicated for me, I just moved to Georgia a few weeks ago, so I don't know anyone here. In my old area, I knew several independents that I would have full confidence in handling this. But I hate paying dealer labor rates.... Hopefully this dealer will help out. The car had 101k miles when I bought it, but it was real nice....one owner, religiously dealer serviced up to 60k miles (with that pattern, I'm guessing they found an independent after the warranty ran out), car shows every sign of having been super well kept. Heck, they even spent quite a bit of coin on having high end leather put on the seats , I have the invoice. It was really well done, you'd swear it was factory.

    Fingers crossed...
     
    #3 Klayfish, Jul 31, 2014
  4. MSA14

    MSA14 Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 9, 2014
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    Location:
    Metro Atlanta, GA
    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    It's just like a conventional air conditioning system regarding layout. The difference is that it has a variable speed electric compressor.

    This compressor is costly, but considering the car only has 100k miles, it shouldn't go bad this early. Hopefully it's just a fitting leak, or maybe a rock / foreign object penetrated the condenser and caused all of the refrigerant to leak out.
     
    #4 MSA14, Jul 31, 2014
  5. SFR-DSR-44

    SFR-DSR-44 Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 14, 2013
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    Location:
    Milpitas, CA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Persona
    If the A/C degraded over time, that's one thing. However, if it spontaneously stops blowing cold you might have taken a rock into your condenser (which is the first thing you see looking into the front of your grille -> that's not the radiator).

    My wife's did just that, and after having the condenser replaced I filled in all of the front holes with 1/4" stainless chickenwire. Some images from a prior thread:

    Is A/C failure common? | PriusChat

     
    #5 SFR-DSR-44, Aug 4, 2014
  6. RHFACTOR

    RHFACTOR Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    One
    My 2010 prius compressor went out at @ 50K. Run the self test using the buttons on the ac panel and go from there. I replaced the compressor myself. $500 for a reman compressor. Go back to the dealer and make a stink. It was prbably broke when they sold it. They just topped off the freon and shipped it. Good luck!!!!!!
     
    #6 RHFACTOR, Feb 11, 2015
  7. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    Touring
    Just going for the low-hanging fruit: get a good light and look through the car's front grill, see if there's any serious dings on the big front radiator, it's the cooling radiator of the air conditioning system.
     
    #7 Mendel Leisk, Feb 11, 2015
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