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2005 Prius A/C Problems

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Scott Dube, Jul 20, 2013.

  1. Scott Dube

    Scott Dube Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2013
    13
    0
    0
    Location:
    Clearwater, Florida
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Hello fellow Prius owners & mechanics. I previously wrote a post re: A/C problems and want to post a follow-up with video. Here is a recap on the problem. I had just warm air blowing back in May of 2012 and had the Toyota dealership do an A/C recharge with dye to find the possible leak. 14 months later I have warm air blowing and the service dept. tells me they found an extremely slow leak at the evaporator and that the repair cost would be $1100.00. Since I did not have the $1100.00 they told me that they would recharge it again for $170.00 and I should be fine since the leak held for 14 months this last time. Being in Florida where A/C is required I opted to go with this plan. The recharge lasted 5 days and I'm already blowing warm air. The service dept. advisor assured me it was an extremely slow leak and the recharge will work for a while. I really want to trust these guys but have a tough time trusting any service department of a dealership. I have a strong feeling that they did not do the recharge right or gave a me a cheap band-aid fix to now put the added pressure on me to go back and have them replace the evaporator and make the big bucks. Here is my big question though. Before the problem with the A/C I never remember having anything show up or be seen moving in my glass sight viewfinder on my A/C lines next to the "H" cap. Now, when I start the car and put the AC on I get a fluid movement in the glass sight viewfinder. I included a video. Since I see fluid here and what looks like a fluid flow or bubbles in this viewfinder yet do not have cold air is this a problem with the way the technician recharged the A/C unit?
    I can use any of your advise and expertise. Here is the video of the sight finder as it looks right now.

     
  2. BritBug

    BritBug Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2013
    20
    8
    0
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I doubt you are still seeking answers, but I have had the exact same problem and if anyone else is reading, I hope the additional information helps. My 2005 Prius smelled like electrical burning, would make weird noises, and eventually blew just warm air at around 95K. I was told the compressor was broken and replaced it at around $1,200.00. Not 6 months later, it was blowing warm again. I waited a while because I was upset and didn't want to find out it was another big ticket repair... The repair was under guarantee for 1 year, but when I went in, they told me it was a leak in the evaporator this time and that "newer parts are stronger and can sometimes put too much pressure on the older parts and break them". Not sure if I really believe it all (don't know much about cars, but that sounds like nonsense), but the dealership told me the repair would run me $2,000 (way over OP's estimate). They recommended I keep refilling it because it was a slow leak as well at $130 every few months, but I decided to trade it in for a 2010 instead. Now that I'm searching the web, I'm seeing that it is quite a common issue in the 2005-06 Prius, which is extremely disappointing. Hoping that my 2010 will not have any such issues.
     
  3. brucebee

    brucebee Junior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    84
    11
    0
    Location:
    vista, ca
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    II
    wow, dont know much about prii ac old cars used to work on. look for obvious, find good a/c guy, but go to pic a part, etc. and grab a/c parts off cars, pretty cheap. thousand $$ ouch