A/C died mid road trip in 98 degree Bakersfield...

Great service and trip.

SCH-I535 ? 2

 

Hmm, might seem moot but I'd check circulation in inverter coolant tank, no ac is a sign of it's failure, just sayin..

 

that's pretty decent for a dealer who had you by the culiones! glad it worked out, i can picture my kids in the back seat in that temp, not a good thing!

 

Came in expecting a horror story. So glad it worked out for you and your family!

 

A million miles or too many 1's?

 

That seems like a great price. I called my local dealer (Renton, WA) and was quoted $250 for a simple recharge.

Does anyone have any Seattle area recommendations for inexpensive, Prius qualified, AC work? The AC is functioning but it isn't blowing super cold. It's good enough for the Seattle area where we don't get very warm, but it seems like it should be blowing colder.

 

I know $250 sounds high but what a Pruis owner or any electric car owner or even most auto shop owners do not know. The qualified competent shop owner and TECH will have to purchase a second dedicated A/C recharging machine just for hybrids, a cheap one at about $3800. and a good one at $6800. on top of that they will have to purchase a refrigerant identifier for around another $1200. top grade hybrid only trace dye and the different electric compressor oils for the different compressor manufactures. All this for a shop that will only see a small fraction of this type of electric or hybrid car as part of their yearly business. The majority of shops are not doing this and the customers are getting the cheaper price at first but paying a higher price in the long run and they do not even know it. Wait until you see the price of the new refrigerant that the shops will have to buy another new refrigerant A/C machine for and all new oils for both the electric compressors and new oils for the conventional compressors, YES I did say oilS more then one type being added to the already long list.

 

... I would've just went to an auto parts store and got some EZ charge 134. AlsoI'd suggest having the A/C on recirc. anytime it's 90+ out. It's much easier for it to keep cool air cool than to make hot air cool.

 

I was under the impression this was a bad idea because standard oils would damage the HV exposed compressor.

 

That's a lot of miles!

Grapevine is a car killer, it's certainly the toughest stretch of freeway I've ever encountered and the shoulders are always littered by cars with flashing hazard lights.

I just drove the Grapevine (Southbound) this Sunday evening. The Prius impresses me with it's ability to keep up speed on steep inclines without taxing the ICE too much (<4,000 rpm), presumably due to good torque from the electric motor.

Prius also handles long downhill grades with ease, applying a good amount of deceleration from regen braking without need for physical brakes. When the SOC gets to ~80%, then regen brakes still decelerate but energy is shunted.

I wonder though, do long periods of regen braking cause the transaxle to get dangerously hot? I don't think ScanGuage has an inverter coolant temp gauge (??).

Anyway, sorry to hear about your A/C. Glad you had a good service experience.

 

Regen braking will make for transaxle heat. At what point the temp gets to be dangerous is an open question. Toyota specs allow temps up to 110C before error codes are stored, which is much hotter than I would ever want to see. Going down a long hill will eventually fill the batteries up to all green bars. At that point the engine braking will come on (B mode) which will absorb the energy that can no longer go to the batteries. That will happen before the transaxle gets too hot, as the batteries don't have all that much capacity. If on the long coasts downhill you don't hear your engine starting to rev higher (going into B mode) then you are not regenerating all that much and temps are going to be OK, which for my preferences is less than 70C.

 

Is this right? In my experience when batteries reach full SOC the engine never switches to B-mode and the effect of regen braking is still felt. I think that when batteries are full, the extra energy is simply shunted instead of being used for charging.

Plus, I personally don't like using B-mode on long downhill grades since it induces considerably high rpms (wear & tear) and doesn't provide very much deceleration. Sometimes, for short periods, I'll shift into N and use normal friction brakes. Clean off the rotors!

 

Shunted by what? Shunting implies energy dissipation, and there is no big resistor bank to perform that role. It is the engine which is spun to do that. On the slow and steep mountains here the car goes into B mode all the time. Yes, the deceleration in B is not so much, and the friction brakes work harder then. In fact the biggest disadvantage to the Prius for my uses is in going down long twisting descents. I am sure I won't see the brake pad life that others report.

I think most people don't see B mode because their roads are fast and not so steep.