Generic Freon in 2010 Prius III and Hybrid System error

You need to connect to odbd port to check dtc's. Otherwise is like buying a lotto ticket

 

Take it to an automotive AC specialist ASAP... The AC is a variable pressure system and amount of refrigerant and lubricant is measured by weight, not by pressure. Because your kid used generic refrigerant which is measure by pressure the system could/has failed. But lets hope you got it dealt with before you had a problem and the warning light is something else that's cheaper to repair.

Get yourself one of these so you can connect your phone to the car and use apps like Dr. Prius app and Car Scanner (ELM) app to read and clear error codes. It could one day be the difference in waiting for a tow truck versus arriving on time: Panlong OBD2 Scanner Bluetooth OBDII Diagnostic Tool Car Code Reader Turn Off... | eBay

Once you've read and cleared the error codes post some screenshots here and we'll walk you through next steps...

 

The air conditioning motor runs on high voltage.
If malfunctioning, it can cause a short circuit and the entire hybrid installation will stop working.
The inverter has a fuse. You can test it by following all high voltage precautions.
And yes, I agree with the top posts. You need an OBDII scanner so that you can accurately identify problematic error codes.

 

You have a good looking car. Keep in mind the 2010 is one of the years that are famous for losing head gaskets. Regardless, itlooks like it's worth keeping if everything is in as good shape as the exterior appears.

You are right, the AC charge may be completely unrelated to any codes you received on the car. THOUSANDS of cars everyday get some 'generic' refrigerant added to their systems. "Generic" refrigerant should just be a can of R134a with no lubricant or additives. Now, you can't just dump the entire can in the system, it needs to measured or monitored. I've done it to almost every one of the ~10 Gen 2s I've owned, and only had to do one time for any of them. Gen 2s have a sight glass that can be used to judge refrigerant level, idk about the Gen 3s.

The most important thing is to get the codes read before jumping to conclusions as to what is happening. Perhaps the HV battery got run down while testing the AC after charging? There's many possibilities, but that answer is needed prior to jumping to conclusions. If you have a trusted mechanic, then by all means, let him check it out.

A $425 repair bill from a shop for AC work would not involve much work. Most likely all they were going to do was to add a bit of refrigerant. It would be $1000+ for anything significant.