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AC compressor replaced 3 times with new toyota parts in 6 months

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Beachbummm, Sep 18, 2013.

  1. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    The 2005 Prius I bought has had the AC compressor replaced 3 times in about 6 months with new toyota parts, the repair shop told the man I bought the car from not to bring it back there anymore they cant find the problem and toyota will not replace the compressor again for free...I guess 2 replacements is their limit.

    The AC blows warm and Im not sure how to tell if the compressor is working or not, the inside fan works on all speeds, the fan by the radiator comes on but is VERY loud....of course I dont leave it on, only for testing to try to find the problem.

    Any ideas where to look or why this car is burning up compressors.

    I know fall is here but Im in Florida and the Prius is black so it will be an oven until October :mad:

    Thanks :cool:
     
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I am assuming that "the repair shop" is not a Toyota dealer's service dept?

    If so, maybe you need to have your local dealer check out your car's problem. The problem may be an installation error, for example use of the wrong compressor oil.

    Good luck.
     
  3. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    No but he did take it to well known shop with a good reputation. then he had the local dealer go through the system, they checked wires harness, fuses,relays ect...but he says everything checked OK.No shorts that they could find. I just dont want to pay for hours of labor on something that has been checked out already.

    How can I tell if the compressor is working? does it make a noise or vibrate when on??
     
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    If you open the hood and stand in front, you will hear the air conditioning compressor running when on. It makes a whining noise, is powered by a three-phase AC motor located within the compressor housing, has an large orange high voltage cable connecting it to the inverter, and is located on the passenger side of the engine compartment, mounted to the engine. At least one of the two radiator fans will run when the compressor is on.
     
  5. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    Ill check it out this morning, I know one raditor fan comes on and I thought the loud noise was coming from it but maybe its the compressor kicking on...when I didnt get cold air I shut it off to avoid damage.
    Thanks again:cool:
     
  6. lech auto air conditionin

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    Toyota should not have replaced any compressor for free the the shop that installed it did not know what they were doing like so many other shop that burn up electric compressors . Go to my photo album page about shop burning up compressors. When they replace your compressor they replaced the condenser that was full of metal ? they flushed out all the lines ? they removed the evaporator and flushed it out to that was full of tiny metal flakes? and of coarse they replaced the expansion valve. Did the shop that replace the compressor add more oil to the a/c system that the compressor all ready comes full of oil for the a/c system and of coerce they used the proper DENSO ND 11 oil not some universal oil or worse yet PAG oil that i'v seen installed by shops too many times.
    They used a dedicated a/c service machine that only gets used on hybrids that only use ESTER oil in the electric compressor. You were not having your car serviced by a auto shop it was a Auto HACK,
    If I owned that Toyota I would have fired the parts person or manager if they did not also sell you all the other parts needed for the job to be done right. DENSO ELECTRIC COMPRESSORS DO NOT JUST BURN UP!!!

    I here your same story over and over again about incompetent shops cooking customers compressors. and on top of that charging them money to butcher their car. Owners of cares with electric compressors are just getting raped in the bank account by shops the just do not belong in this industry and give all shops a bad nave because of their ignorance and being CHEAP! with tools and training of their TECHs.

    Just go to my photo album read and look at photos of bad parts from compressor burn ups caused by so called repair shops. I do have another question? is the owner of this shop work on cars out in the shop or just tell his guys what to do? answers the phone only kind of guy ?
     
    alekska likes this.
  7. lech auto air conditionin

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    Using Toyotas TECHSTREAM factory scaner [​IMG] you can drive the compressor on and control the RPMs of the compressor turning it up or down 100 rpm at a time and preform many other HVAC A/C related test.

    This is so simple of a A/C system, open the a/c system take photo like i did of the parts post them here or just compare to my photos in my album, pour out the oil of the compressor is should be Crystal clear, looking in your sight glass should be clear, when removing the drier shock it should be white clean, you will see example of all this in my photo album. Real and look at the tools that I use on a Pruis a/c system did you see them use any thing like I do ? good luck I would like to hear more after you get it fixed.
     
  8. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    I borrowed a set of gauges and the low side read about 50 and the high side about 150 psi, the compressor seems to be working as-in its making noise, the lines DID NOT get cold and there was no cold air in the car..its hard to tell if the freon is moving through the glass window..my neighbor seems to think its the expansion valve but he has never worked on this system, just older R12 systems..
    the cooling fan on the radiator comes on, the inside fan works on all speeds, the system switched from heat to ac to defrost...

    i have not taken anything apartt since a new compressor and dryer was installed in April and the car was back in the shop in may..
     
  9. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Per the Toyota repair manual, here is the spec:

    Gauge reading:
    Low pressure side:
    0.15 to 0.25 MPa (1.5 to 2.5 kgf/cm2)

    High pressure side:
    1.37 to 1.57 MPa (14 to 16 kgf/cm2)

    0.2 MPa = 29 psi
    1.47 MPa = 213 psi

    Looks like your compressor is not working very well.
     
  10. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    thats bad news this is the 4th one...it sounds like its running....could there be a blockage?
     
  11. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I think the compressor is not working properly, as Lech indicated you need to go to a shop that knows how to work on electric air conditioning systems. Unless you want to suffer the rest of the summer and fall I suggest you visit your local dealer for help.
     
  12. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    It does not sound as though this is your main problem, but you say the radiator fan is noisy.
    Does the air from the fans blow towards the engine or out through the front grill? Standing by the front of the car with the AC turned on will confirm this. These fans counter rotate and if fitted in the wrong position blow the wrong way and become noisy. They often get fitted incorrectly in front end damage repairs. If they are wrong the fans must be taken off the motors leaving the motors where they are and swapped.

    John (Britprius)
     
  13. lech auto air conditionin

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    thats why condensers ALWAYS!!! get replaced on a burn up. and yes there is a expansion valve that works vay well on your Prius using refrigerant R134a. the expansion valve is under dash 7 hour job to replace it
     
  14. Eclipse1701d

    Eclipse1701d Prius Enthusiast

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    That happened on my '07. Fans blowing out, compressor overheats, a/c shuts down. However, I did have working A/C when I first started the car. If the fan is backwards, it will eventually burn out the compressor, or two, or three, or four...
     
  15. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    the local toyota dealer had the car one month after the last compressor was installed, they flushed the system,checked all relays,fuses ect didnt find the issue and the last owner didnt want to waste more money checking into it.... after $1600 and two shops and two months I dont blame him..

    Does anyone know what this part does? TOYOTA PRIUS A/C AMPLIFIER MODULE some people say it fails without a code and its the last thing anyone checks...
     
  16. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    I thought it was the fan but it was the compressor starting up...Ill check the air flow when it stop rainning..it does not look like its ever been removed but I will check, thanks
     
  17. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    all the work was done before I bought the car by a local shop then checked at a toyota dealer..after the last owner spent over $1600 with no results he gave up..being an older man he needed working AC and bought another car..do you know what this part is and does ? TOYOTA PRIUS A/C AMPLIFIER MODULE.. i see some have found this to be the problem and its the last thing changed..thanks
     
  18. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    That is the electronics control module for the air conditioning, and that module is what logs DTC associated with the AC system.
     
  19. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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