2006 Prius - A/C not cooling

Hello Folks,

I have been a lurker on this forum for some time researching this issue. My knowledge of this car has probably shot-up by 500% in the last few months, thanks to PC and its extremely knowledgeable and helpful members.

So, I bought a Prius from my Colleague (trustworthy) this winter. It had 63K miles on the clock and everything seemed fine during my test drive. Unfortunately, I never bothered to check the A/C since I live in the bay area and cooling was not needed at all for the first few months of ownership. On a recent trip, we needed A/C and found that it only blows warm air. I immediately checked on PC and found a lot of people with similar issues. I found a very minor crack (presumably from road debris) to the lower left front bumper of the car. Reading the threads, I thought that something my have punctured the A/C line and so refrigerant has leaked out.

In any case, I took it to the nearest dealer and they determined that there is no leak by reading the manifold gauges. However, they said that my compressor is not working and needs to be replaced. They quoted $1880 for the job with no guarantee that A/C will work afterwards. They said they need the compressor to be running to check if something else is wrong. They also recommended to replace receiver/drier in the condenser. That will be additional $50.

Some characteristics at A/C on Max Speed, LOW temp, 4 doors open:

The pressure in both the high and low side was ~85 psi
No bubbles/froth/liquid seen in the sight glass
Both HI/LOW pressure lines are at the same temperature
Condenser fan runs three times for a short period immediately after starting A/C and then stops
There is a constant whine as long as the car is on. Don't know if that was compressor whine.
There is also a click-clack-click-clack noise for about 5 seconds and then stops. Dealer said that was the compressor trying to run.
No codes

My questions:

1. How do I make sure that compressor indeed needs replacement?
2. Is the dealer estimate reasonable?
3. Where can I buy a compressor from a salvaged Prius/Aftermarket?
4. Isn't this too early in car's life for the compressor to fail?

I do not know the full history of the car so can't be sure if somebody tried to recharge it using the off-the-shelf can but it is unlikely. The car has always been serviced at the Toyota dealers and my colleague was not really a DIY type of person.

Edit: The dealer charged $150 for about 5 minutes of diagnostics and straight up announced that compressor is bad. That is one reason I am skeptical.

 

Thanks Patrick. I am planning to go to Art's Auto for a second opinion. They don't repair with a salvaged compressor though. It looks like the ownership of a hybrid beyond warranty is going to prove to be quite pricey. I am actually surprised since this is a Toyota.

Is this a rare occurrence to imply bad luck? I am seeing multiple threads with A/C issues.

 

Not sure. I called Luscious yesterday. Apparently, they don't do A/C work in their shop. They have a mobile A/C guy that gets called out to perform the testing. As far as compressor goes, I don't know if they will install a used one. Will have to check on that.

 

Just to update folks here. I have decided to take the risk and use a salvaged compressor for this replacement (if it is indeed the issue). Luscious can do the install and provided a very reasonable quote. Based on their reputation here, I have no hesitation in going with them. I am currently searching for a low miles compressor with return warranty and will update further when I have more details.

 

Good question. This is my issue/doubt about the diagnosis as well. They did not check for a DTC, at all.

This is what they did: Connect the system to their gauges to find out that it still had a lot of pressure on the low side (indicated in my original post) and concluded that there is no leak. Tried to start-stop the A/C a few times and see if the condenser fan works (it works momentarily three times and then stops). Compressor makes a noise and then stops (this was a really strange noise, I am not sure if it was compressor). Declared that compressor needs to be replaced. Once that is done, they will be able to further diagnose and tell if something else is wrong.

By the way, I have a simple OBD II code reader at home. I bought it in case I ever get a check engine light. Would that be able to read the logged information?

 

I just tried using my code reader. The instructions said to plug it in and turn on the ignition to power it up and then press enter to start the scanning process. However, it turned on as soon as I plugged it in the Prius port. It did the whole scanning with the car off. Not sure if this changes anything but it said "NO CODES"after scanning was finished with the car off.

Does the A/C need to be running for the fault codes to be detected?

 

I do not know if the code reader can read A/C codes. The manual only lists codes that start with P while I understand that the compressor related codes will start with B. So, probably not.

 

Dealer did not read the codes.
I will definitely ask Luscious to confirm the compressor needs to be replaced. Although I have already bought a salvaged one. It is arriving next week so let us see.

 

Yeah, I am not convinced either.

There is nothing related to A/C in the service history of the car. I can see all the oil changes and recall campaign stuff though so I am assuming it was always taken to the dealer (different one) for servicing.

 

Yes. The salvaged compressor is supposed to be from a 2006 Prius with 103 miles on it. It comes with a 30-day return warranty. Should work but we will see. At this time I am not even sure that the compressor is bad.

 

Hello Tom,

Thank you for the information and pictures. Helps to visualize things.

Yes, I am heading to Luscious for this repair. Already bought a salvaged compressor with very low miles. Also bought a new drier-receiver as advised by the dealership. If they are not needed, I will just return them.