Air Conditioning

Our 2002 with 102k miles also just lost the AC. We took it to an independent mechanic who said that there is coolant (freon?) and the compressor works, when jumped with power. For some reason, there is an electrical break under the dash somewhere. That was $170 for the 2 hours. These guys said it would be another $600 to rip into the dash with no guarantee of a fix. Hmmm, guess we don't have AC for a while.

I, too, am extremely interested in the outcome. Knowing that we have no fear of driving on dirt roads, I'm wondering if a connection just worked itself loose?

 

<_< Howdy Salt Lick

??An *INDEPENDENT* mechanic disassembling the dash of a Prius?? Sure sounds risky to me. I believe in this situation I'd want a well-trained Prius mechanic. There's lots of complex wiring, etc. there. Your post sounds a whole lot like he's "guessing" at the problem.

 

On a 2002, the A/C is mechanical, belt-powered, so how is he "jumping" the compressor??

The first thing that should be checked is the fuses obviously.. The A/C needs the ECU-B, the Gauge and all the Heater fuses (there's about 4-5 of these, some are under the hood) to be intact. The next thing is to verify if there is R134A (not "Freon"), and that it is at the correct pressure as the system has a pressure switch that does not allow the system to operate if it is too low or too high.. If the pressure is low, then you've just identified the problem and the system should then be evacuated and a pressure test done to identify the source of the leak- generally it will be one of the pipes that has corroded around a joint and is slowly leaking refrigerant..

If the pressure is OK, then the switch should be checked as the next step, and if it's OK, then the relay packs in the fuse boxes under the hood should be checked out. Failing that, the A/C ECU is pretty much the last piece in the puzzle that could fail and it's somewhat of a pain to get to if it turns out to be the problem and you have to replace it..

 

By 'jumping the compressor' they probably injected 12V to the clutch to test. That's proper start of diagnosis procedures to me, and is certainly valid for verifying that the mechanical parts of the AC are working, IE has adequate refridgerant and refridgerant circulation is not impeded.

Considering that the problem happened suddenly, I'd venture the problem is electrical in nature. If it was gradual, then slow leak. If a sudden large leak, the leak would have probably been heard.

 

No, a leak of any kind would still have resulted in a sudden non-functioning of the A/C- it would have continued working, but at degraded capacity until the pressure went lower than the switch threshold, and then the A/C would have died.. What would have happened prior though, that may or may not have been noticed was the aforementioned system degradation: the A/C would have still functioned, but the air may not have felt as cold, or the system would have run for much longer between shut offs or the fan speed would have been higher (if in auto mode)..

In my old Corolla, my A/C was working one day and the next day it didn't, and I went through the entire electrical system, check wiring and relays which were all fine; it turned out that was a slow refrigerant leak at a corroded pipe- as described, everything worked, but it wasn't cooling quite as effectively, until one day enough refrigerant leaked out that the pressure switch cut out and stopped the system from running at all... Adding a can of A/C sealant (as the car was old enough at that point that it wasn't worth a proper repair which by law in our area would have involved a retrofit of an R134-based system to replace the leaky R22 system) and a recharge of a non-ozone-depleting alternative refrigerant (Propane/isobutane mix equivalent to the R22 vapour pressures) brought the system back to life..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rblackma @ Jul 31 2006, 09:55 PM) [snapback]295553[/snapback]</div>

hey did you ever fix the problem? what was it and how much did the dealer charge you?

 

A/C problems, Phil?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brick @ May 9 2007, 06:59 PM) [snapback]438742[/snapback]</div>

oh yeah......... if you check the "a/c recharge" thread my problems could elcalade...

damn prius taxies... always getting the crap beaten out of them... I'm more worried the A/C is not powerful enough to cool the hybrid battery in the summer. Look,s like i'm going ot have to call my salvage prius guy and toyota for recommendations... although my impression is so far the inverter dedicated to the a/c system if i had to guess...