A/C only blows cold when driving

Are you using techstream?

If the Inverter pump has failed, the inverter may overheat, and will then try to protect itself by turning things off, like the AC.

 

In my Gen 3 both fans pull (through the grille and condenser/radiator into the engine bay), though they rotate opposite directions to do it. In mine (again Gen 3), the rotation is blade-top-toward-car-midline for both fans (and you can compare the blades and see they have opposite blade pitch to make this work out).

If I saw a pair of fans actually running so that one pulled and one pushed, that would make me suspect an oopsie somewhere, such as a motor that got replaced with an opposite-rotating one.

A 'pushing' fan would be starting with hot engine bay air, pushing it through the radiator to make it hotter, then forcing that through the A/C condenser.

 

Revving the engine wouldn't make any difference, as the compressor is electric.

I think you may be able to use Techstream to change the revs of the compressor, though I don't think I've seen any example of someone doing that in diagnosis.

 

I think I made a video on that and posted it before using Techstream driving the compressor up to 6000 RPMs

 

If you have 63 on the low side and 100 on the high side and you definitely can hear the compressor engage and you can watch the pressures move from a even point for example they were both 80 psi when you started and then the low side goes down to 63 psi and the high side goes up to 100 psi your compressor is bad.

And you have 15 ounces of refrigerant in the system when performing this test.

definitely nothing to do with a clogged condensers or fans not running

If the fans were not running or the condenser is severely clogged you would have a high side pressure approaching 300 or 400 psi.
What do you reached 440 psi the high-pressure limit would kick in and instantly shut off your compressor.

I have seen the expansion valves rarely but it has happened stuck wide-open.

This will give you a unusually low high side pressure and a higher low side pressure.

With a full refrigerant charge on your test vehicle you would use text stream and drive up to compressor RPMs and as you started raising the compressor RPMs you would start noticing the low side go down lower in the high side go up higher because of the fixed orifice that this stuck expansion valve has become.

Then immediately upon lowering the RPMs of the motor for the compressor you would see the high side and low side approach leveling out within a few psi of each other like you were experiencing now.

That is the other possibility I could not imagine in my wildest dreams what kind of substance would be causing the expansion valve to stick open
Do you know of some foreign substance in this vehicle that does not belong possibly ?

eBay compressors are extremely cheap nowadays even for Prius.

Replacing expansion valves no fun task.

when removing the old compressor before you replace it.
Put some brake clean or carburetor cleaner or any kind of thinner inside the openings of the old compressor shake it up and down and all around and poured into a clean glass or a white paper cup.

What we’re looking for is very tiny shiny metal particles.

If you see any at all whatsoever that means there’s 1000 times more stuck in your condenser which will now need to be replaced.

Of course with any compressor burned out it’s automatic to replace the expansion valve but people like to gamble and throw the dice and not replace the expansion valve and they are allowed to gamble it’s their dollar.
But it is highly recommended including flushing out all the hoses and metal lines and evaporator.

It’s kind of like cancer and the doctor says it’s gonna be this much work in this much money and we can remove all the cancer and you’ll live a long healthy life

Or we could just take out the bad spot of the cancer and remove most of the cancer just leave a little bit behind.

Which one do you choose

 

Nope, that's definitely ... not ... where it is.

 

Lots of bubbles, or just a slight swirl when compressor stops? If the first, maybe charge still lowish? Toyota says you shouldn’t see bubbles if charge is in correct range. Which is a little disconcerting: determining if it’s ok, or empty?

 

Callout 88515 here:



Once you have gained access to the evaporator, it's easy to reach.

By the same token, bubbles are about the only way to see anything happen in the sight glass. The R134a is colorless, so if there are no bubbles, it's pretty hard to tell any difference between liquid or absence.

 

I made this video especially for the bubble boys