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Aircon Warm Air!

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Sam Dean, Jul 2, 2013.

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  1. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Ok don't panic Mr Mannering.
    If you can with the meter set on 20 volts DC Remove the fuse and check for 12 volts between earth (clean engine bolt) and the two terminals the fuse pushes into.
    You may have to wrap a paper clip round the positive meter probe if it is to thick to get to the terminals. Check both terminals one should have 12 volts on it the other zero. Take a note of which terminal has zero.
    Now onto the low ohms range and check between the fuse terminal that reads zero and (with the relay removed again) the the two terminals one at a time at the front (same terminals as before)
    One should read 0.06 on your meter or close the other should read open circuit (high resistance) this terminal will be the one that made the fans run with the piece of wire.

    This test will tell me if the wire within the fuse box is broken I take it you did turn the A/C on after changing the fuses round.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #41 Britprius, Jul 7, 2013
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  2. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    okay - we're moving in closer Captain Prius - I can feel victory closeby :)

    I'll try to carry these tests out asap but it is getting darker over here......or I'll do them tomorrow.

    will report back as soon as i can


    over n out
     
    #42 Sam Dean, Jul 7, 2013
  3. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    P.S. Indeed, I tested the AC after swapping the fuses around - it was still blowing warm.

    Also - atleast now I know what the fans sound like (after that 12v jump start connection test)...
     
    #43 Sam Dean, Jul 7, 2013
  4. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    Got the results - blimey that was difficult in such low light...

    On the CDS FAN fuse socket - the right connector was on zero with the other/left one on 12.5v-ish.

    For the Ohms reading - the blue Denso fuse's lower connector on the right read 0.06 whilst the other, left connector, had high figures which fluctuated mentally on my multi-meter....if memory serves me correctly, it was the left connector which i connected the wire too in order to get the fan working....does all of this add up?


    I hope I've remembered all of the above correctly because I was silly enough to not take a pen and paper with me, and my memory isn't always the greatest


    Hope this sheds more light...
     
    #44 Sam Dean, Jul 7, 2013
  5. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    P.S. I could do the tests again in daylight tomorrow....the connectors were difficult to connect too in the low light - but these were approximately what I uncovered
     
    #45 Sam Dean, Jul 7, 2013
  6. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    If I read your reply correctly (are you calling the blue relay a Denso) everything is as it should be. If you put the fuse in place with the relay removed you should have 12 volts on the terminal that read 0.06 on the check between the fuse and the relay, but from memory these terminals are back and front rather than right and left on the relay.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #46 Britprius, Jul 7, 2013
  7. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    yes, sorry, I was calling the blue relay a Denso because it's got that written on it (hahahaa) - how un-technical of me (hehehe)


    Is that the next test to carry out? Shall I plug the fuse in and connect the +ve connector from the multimeter to the 0.06 connector and the -ve multimeter connector to the earth joint on the car, and confirm that it shows a 12 volt reading, whilst set on 20V?


    what's it looking like so far John?
     
    #47 Sam Dean, Jul 7, 2013
  8. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Yes thats the next test, I am guessing a bad connection at the fuse. Just a matter of finding the problem. We now know the fans run so all of the wiring in the front of the car is ok as are the fan motors. The perplexing thing is why the 12 volts did not appear on one of the two relay terminals it will be the opposite one to the one that made the fans run with a 12 volt supply.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #48 Britprius, Jul 7, 2013
  9. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    When we get 12 volts on that relay terminal joining the two terminals together with wire or paper clip will make the fans run. Effectively this is what the relay does joins those terminals together when you turn on the A/C.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #49 Britprius, Jul 7, 2013
  10. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    This is brilliant John, thank you :)

    Okay, will carry out the above tomorrow asap

    Cheers

    P.S. Maybe the 12v didn't show originally because I wasn't doing it correctly....
    Thanks again
     
    #50 Sam Dean, Jul 7, 2013
  11. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    Good to talk as always John.

    Okay, so I tried to connected those 2 terminals together using a paperclip, and a wire but still no joy - the fans wouldn't start. I then measured the reading on the 20V setting (with 1 of the multimeter's connectors on the earthing joint, and the other on the terminal connector) and neither of the connectors had a value except for a 0.00 reading.

    I turned it down to the 200 Ohms setting and the terminals did give off something, which I guess shows that they're not completely asleep.
     
    #51 Sam Dean, Jul 8, 2013
  12. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Ok I will see what I can come up with to overcome the situation.
    Can you remember which one of the two terminals made the fan run when connected to the jump point with the piece of wire? the terminal nearest the front of the car or the next one back?
    This may help me to find a solution.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #52 Britprius, Jul 8, 2013
  13. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    it was the terminal on the left, on the lowest set of terminals (nearest to the grill)

    i believe that the set above these terminals had a 12 volt reading, so they were okay - it's just these bottom two, closest to the grill that seem asleep

    hope this helps
     
    #53 Sam Dean, Jul 8, 2013
  14. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Sam I am going to make up a fused link to bypass the problem.
    It will take me a couple of days to get the bits together, but when I have I will let you know and post it to you also giving fitting instructions. Ten minutes work at most.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #54 Britprius, Jul 8, 2013
  15. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    You're a real gem John - thank you

    If you reckon I can make it then feel free to send me the instructions and I'll happily give it a go.

    Thanks again and speak very soon

    Cheers
     
    #55 Sam Dean, Jul 8, 2013
  16. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    The link requires some soldering and I have all the equipment needed to make it. So I will do this and post it to you.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #56 Britprius, Jul 8, 2013
  17. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    Okay Captain

    Thank you

    :)
     
    #57 Sam Dean, Jul 8, 2013
  18. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    Having watched many videos on YouTube on aircon failure and preparation - I'm now pretty confident that our fans were not working due to a low pressure in the aircon system.

    My main question is - how can i formally check the pressure in the system? A guy on Youtube used this pressure valve reading unit - could I use my tyre pump just for the reading of pressure? Or is there another way?

    I thought it was electrical but we've established that it isn't this with our tests - so it could point at there being a problem within the pressure of the aircon system

    thoughts welcome
     
    #58 Sam Dean, Jul 17, 2013
  19. Sam Dean

    Sam Dean Member

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    Okay - just checked the aircon pipes - both the H and L

    I pressed a flat head screwdriver onto the round pin in the centre of the valve and nothing came out - it was silent on both terminals.

    The H valve is on the same unit as the site glass right? It didn't have a H cap on it, and so this is something I'm going to have to rectify aswell. For now though, I think we have our answer. There's no pressure in the system. They probably didn't top it back up after repairing it. Will it be okay though? I mean, what if there are leaks in there?

    Okay, well, for now, I need to get some pressure into this system.... feel free to let me know how to go about this. I'll have to do all of this 1 step at a time

    Thanks again
     
    #59 Sam Dean, Jul 17, 2013
  20. Britprius

    Britprius Senior Member

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    Sam if there is no pressure in the system you cannot top the system up. The A/C need to be evacuated to remove any moister and checked for leaks. It then must have the correct oil put in the system and then re gassed. I am sorry but you cannot do this yourself without the equipment.

    John (Britprius)
     
    #60 Britprius, Jul 17, 2013
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