AC Leakage -Common?

So your refrigeration gas gets pumped up by the compressor It gets cooled by the front radiator which is called the condenser then goes into the evaporator through the firewall which is what your feet are against when you're driving the car and then the evaporator is where the expansion and refrigeration magic happens and then a fan blows across that cold evaporator and you feel cold there coming out the vents The damper door that moves you from heat to cold all of those little doors are electric sometimes the door will get out of position and it won't move back because that assembly is erratic or not working properly and you can have heat coming out the vents in the middle of the summertime literally burning you out of the car. Another thing is the evaporator cores are known to be problematic in the generation 2 Prius someone's already determined with an electronic sniffer that something's leaking and if it's leaking inside of the car it's usually the evaporator core which is the complete dash is going to be taken apart and it is a big job I mean it is really crazy. And we already know that there's a leak somewhere because your buddy found it. And if that's the evaporator that's inside the car the dash completely comes apart and that's that then the condenser which is in front of the radiator or the radiator that cools the freon gas to restart the refrigeration cycle all over again If that's eaten up by salt then that will need to be replaced this will be quite a repair for this old of a car when this happens to one of the four that I own here that car will become a winter car or a car driven on overcast days and the like. I probably won't do this repair since I have so many Prius and I feel for anyone that has to do it I have done it non Prius cars many times but none of these modern cars where you see guys with four rolling racks of parts out of the car and on these rolling carts like the wizard on YouTube never done one of those and not looking forward to doing it I hope I can skip past that.

 

Hello and welcome to PriusChat!

No, you have some good questions there. This is how you learn.

I have to ask a few questions as well. What size is the petrol (gasoline) engine in your Prius?

In U.S. markets 2009 is part of Generation 2 (2004-2009) - has a 1.5L engine.

In some other markets, 2009 is Gen 3 - 1.8L engine.

If there is refrigerant gas coming out of the tube where (condensate) water drains from the passenger compartment, that is a big repair. That means the A/C evaporater core leaks. You have to remove the (entire) dashboard and the heater- A/C box to replace the core.

It can be done but is very involved. You should have a copy of the factory service manual and take many pictures of each disassembly step as you do it.

It would be a very good idea to replace the condenser as well (looks like the radiator and mounts in front of it). The condenser has a big tube (the receiver drier) on the side with dessicate material in it (absorbs moisture from the refrigerant gas).

You would want to install the condenser as the last step before having the system evacuated and recharged. Other wise the dessicate will get "used up" by absorbing moisture from the outside air if it's connected to the system but left open for several days.

I had to replace the engine radiator as well as the condenser on my 2006. Both were corroded from salt.

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The performance of the AC on our 2010 fell off about 5 years back. I had the local dealership check it out and do an evacuation/recharge; it’s been fine since.

it does seem a little miraculous, but worth a try. Was around $165 CDN. They quoted in advance, and of course tried every trick in the book to pad the bill.

 

Any AC shop can do inspection and recharge for you. Pretty straight forward.
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My 2004 had a leak in the condenser coil when it was still a new car. The dealer said that it was rock damage and not covered by the warranty. My independent AC tech used some AC "stop leak" and the AC worked flawlessly for the next 12 years. I was lucky that the stop leak he used was compatible with the Prius AC (exposure to HV voltage in the compressor). Many stop leak formulas and standard AC oils are not compatible.

JeffD

 

wow - that's cold.

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Yes in American market this is a generation 3 Prius it has enough other problems that we never made it to the air conditioning The engines blow first generally so I guess maybe in the European market you guys are a little luckier. We haven't had a gen 3 on the road long enough for the air conditioning to fail but we have had two on the road long enough for the engines to fail this is not owner operator negligence this is head gasket EGR clogging or EGR absence and high temperatures in the number one or two cylinder taking out the head gasket oh well so they're just parked never to be dealt with again we're running the old models they never seem to fail although air conditioning can go bad and either. With the leak you describe that is not going to be sealed up with sealer that you just inject like you do the gas not going to happen. So don't waste money on that sort of thing If you're going to change the condenser that's not going to do you any good without changing the leaking part the evaporator inside of the dash so before you spend your money on the condenser wait until you're thinking is done by the evaporator and the condenser at the same time maybe you'll get a discount I think even these parts are maybe available in the aftermarket and good luck.

 

I don't remember it being that hot and Sweden at camp but that was many many decades ago I imagine climate change or what have you is changing that drastically.

 

Yes it would I will not drive a car without working AC or it becomes a car that is driven in the rain gray days and anytime but the summer and this is in North Carolina where it gets in the 100° f very regularly so we don't own any cars like this at the present time. I've had Toyota's for 45 years and have added air conditioning in December near Christmas time in the southeast to cars that didn't have it. But personally I have yet to see one of our Prius with the air conditioner destroyed and needing the evaporator case being removed from the dash and/or work or condenser replacement in front of the radiator but that's just me I know it happens. And personally I don't think I would be ripping the dash apart to fix it because I have too many cars to drive I would just relegate that vehicle to other work personally your work around will be different and suit you personally. It is a very big long job like the wizard get your tool carts out and lay everything out as you take it out if that's what you need to do because there will be lots of bolts pieces plastic it will look like you're working on a Dodge ram truck basically lots of stuff out of the vehicle.