Prius A/C Question

Hello all, I have been reading here for years and really appreciate the insight everyone has provided.

So I have an '07 Prius that has been running great since the day I got it. I get the oil changed every 5k miles at the dealership and do all other maintenance by myself with help from Amazon and the guides here.

The main issues I've had with the car has been the A/C, which I believe is due to living in Tampa and keeping the A/C on max cool set to temp Low at highest fan speed pretty much every time I drive my car.

3 years ago I had an issue where the fan wouldn't turn on unless I banged the plastic underneath it or used a stick to jumpstart it. I read on here that it was the blower fan most likely so I ordered one on Amazon for $45 or so and replaced it and sure enough it worked great. Fast forward 3 years and the same thing happened with the new one. I went through the same process recently buying a new one on Amazon and replacing it and the fan is working great again.

My only issue with the car right now is that the A/C is cool, but never really gets that cold. I believe this is the reason I need to run the fan on the highest setting while driving it since it doesn't get all that cold and takes a while to get there.

My budget is pretty tight so I would like some advice. I've read that I can either take it to the dealership and have them add refrigerant to the system and fix the non-freezing air issue, but this can cost $100's, which if I can avoid I would happily do any work myself.

The other option that worries me a little bit thinking about is buying a can of the special for hybrid refrigerant without oil and buying a gauge, and trying to do this myself. I haven't found a good guide and haven't found definitive opinions about how safe this is.

Like I said, currently the A/C is liveable with cool air on the highest fan speed, however I would greatly like to have the air colder as I live in South Florida and it's extremely hot!

Thanks for reading and any insight you may offer!

 

Thank you very much for spelling out what I need to do, this is exactly the reply I was looking for!!! I will update with how everything goes! I'm just nervous trying to find pure R-134a without an hidden added oil. I looked in Walmart and on Amazon the other day and there is plenty of R-134a out there but IDK how to tell if it has no oil, will it explicitly state that?

 

Thank you very much, I will go to the store tomorrow and buy what you recommended and attempt what you recommended.

 

This is what I purchased, will it work? I see no mention of any oil, just the r-134a refrigerant.

 

Thank you for the advice. I will attempt this when I get a free moment after work, this week. Will update.

EDIT: Also to answer your question, it looks like a simple screw on type nozzle so I'd assume it can be removed afterwards no problem.

 

UPDATE: So I did exactly what Patrick Wong said (THANK YOU AGAIN!) to 36 psi on the low side with the A/C on max cold/max fan and it felt a little colder, added a tiny bit more so it's still around 36 psi and now after driving around the past few days the A/C is much much colder! Can't be more happy with this $20 refill vs. the amount they would charge at the dealership. THANK YOU!!!

 

At most 2-3 ounces out of the 16 oz. can. The pressure when the car was off was over 100 psi, however with the ac and fan on max it went down to an estimated 28-30 psi. I added slowly and it only was noticeably colder close to the 36 psi mark, but it got there fast and the can feels basically full. Like you said the gauge had 36 PSI in the middle of the "adequate" reading, but it was cool and I stopped because I didn't want to add too much pressure like you said. Right now it's at 36 PSI and very cold. Even if it lasts like this for a year, unless the "leak" gets bigger I can use this can for a few more times.

 

Just wanted to update everyone: It’s been about 7-8 months since I “recharged” my A/C and it is still very cold!! The method outlined above works well and is easy and cheap. Thanks again for the help/advice!!