Ac kick start

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Gino Veltri, Sep 7, 2025 at 4:47 PM.

  1. Gino Veltri

    Gino Veltri Member

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    So the AC in my 2009 prius seemed to go out, then i read somewhere that if you kick the passenger side under the glove box it will start. Ill be damned if that worked for several months, not everytime, but whenever it went out all i had to do was kick. Now the AC seems to be working but with diminished airflow and an audible increase in noise from the blower motor. Does anyone have any idea what going on with this?
     
    #1 Gino Veltri, Sep 7, 2025 at 4:47 PM
  2. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    When you say the air conditioner went out you actually mean the air blowing out the vent stopped so you're kicking under the glove box nets you kicking s plastic housing that houses you're fan . So now you'll pull the fan maybe see all the carbon and replace maybe you kicked the plug to death ?
     
    #2 Tombukt2, Sep 7, 2025 at 7:07 PM
    bisco likes this.
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the poor glovebox
     
    #3 bisco, Sep 7, 2025 at 9:12 PM
  4. spdracrm3

    spdracrm3 Member

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    Replace cabin filtet

    SM-G960U ?
     
    #4 spdracrm3, Sep 7, 2025 at 10:10 PM
  5. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    A motor that's commutated with carbon brushes eventually becomes unreliable when the brushes are worn down and not contacting the commutator very well. Smacking the motor works for a while to get it to spin.

    The fix is just replacing the motor, except for folks who want to try opening it up and finding compatible replacement brushes.
     
    #5 ChapmanF, Sep 8, 2025 at 10:44 AM
  6. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    So, if "the A/C goes out" means that there was no airflow (the blower motor is inoperative), then kicking the dash makes sense.

    The motor can have a bad spot on the commutator where the brushes don't conduct electricity. If-when it stops there, it can't start up again. Kicking things can jar the motor and move it enough to let the brushes contact "clean" metal on the commutator.

    Once it's spinning, momentum carries it past the bad spots. Until things get really worn. Then it can get noisy and slow.

    But all of this is a guess. You would have to do testing to confirm this. Or just replace the motor if that's your thing.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #6 mr_guy_mann, Sep 8, 2025 at 11:11 AM
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