A/C refill cost for prius 2006?

Toyota uses a special coolant that's pink in color. I would bring it to the dealer and have them drain and refill the coolant. It's suppose to be done at 100K miles anyways.

Check if the engine water pump is leaking. It's the thing that's driven by the belt in the engine, in the passenger side/half of the car. If it's leaking, there would be some crusty whitish/pinkish residue around the bearing area. It's easy to spot.

 

Well that's not a good sign with blue coolant. That stuff is made for Honda cars. Are you sure the car hasn't been in an accident?

It looks like the radiator might have been replaced and the wrong coolant put back in.

At this point, you can just add some distilled water into the radiator to bring it up to level. You will have to keep the engine running to purge the air out of the system (it's a bit time consuming to do), but eventually you will have to bring it to Toyota for a coolant flush and they fill the car with the proper pink coolant.

Does the inverter reservoir have pink coolant or blue? That's on the right/drivers side of the engine bay.

If you are checking for a leaking water pump, I guess in your case, if there is residue, it would be bluish color crusting around the bearing of the pump

 

That's probably the best to do right now. Get a proper inspection at Toyota and see what they say is wrong. They might charge 2 hrs labor to do the inspection.

I wouldn't agree to quickly do any repairs Toyota suggests/recommends, as they've been known to suggest many items that are not really needed.

 

You might also want to just go to the dealer and ask for a Coolant Flush. That will be approximately $100-$140. And while you're there, you may just ask them for a free inspection of the car. They often offer 24 point (or whatever point) inspection when you do a service. They love offering you service advice to get more money from you. At least then you won't be just handing money over to them for nothing.

 

Wow, blue wiper fluid!! Phew!

Are you looking in the radiator to determine it's full? You have to remove an engine area cover to get to the radiator cap. It's in the very front of the car, a plastic cover is covering it from view. Remove the cap (when your car is cooled and not hot) and see the level. There is also a reservoir next to that, that should be full as well.

There are 2 locations for the pink fluid. One radiator for the engine side, another reservoir for the inverter side. The one I'm concerned about is the radiator fluid level.

 

I suggest you take the car to Toyota and do a coolant flush and ask for an inspection of the ac and other issues you think it has. Get their findings and we'll help you fix the stuff you can do on your own.



SM-N900P ?