A/C leak - do I need to replace evaporator *and* condenser?

Really that's pretty cool I guess you know shops do what they do if you look up the the cores both evap and condenser . They're available from lots of places lots of places that have been in the manufacturer of these things for a long long time some people swear the stuff is junk others not so much I haven't had any bad experiences with the AC condensers or evaporators being inferior or bad they are what they are That's a pretty good lick the dash has to come apart quite a bit The condensers up in front of the radiator if the compressor exploded and you got metal shars running to the system then you're going to have to drain and flush everything and probably remove and replace the two units. I'm highly skeptical of this stuff I keep a few vehicles I would be doing this myself not paying somebody for such an old vehicle I have other cars with air conditioning other prii with air conditioning. So I have time and vehicles and no worries that makes for a decent experience usually it's when you have no time no other vehicle and believe or want or need to get this vehicle back to where it was ASAP is where mistakes and excessive money is spent I have learned that over time That's why I take my time Don't get in any big hurry because that's what they want you to do so they can get a piece

 

Troubleshoot where the leak is coming from. As long as you didn't blow-up your compressor, there's no need to change both evaporator and condenser. On an old car like that, the most likely leak points are condenser, o-rings, and Schrader valves. The condenser takes a beating from road debris, valve seals and o-rings get hard over time and doesn't seal.
Bottom line, find the leak and go from there. Next time you gas up; put some dye and oil back into the system - this will probably save your compressor and make it easier to find the leak.

Good Luck......

 

First question is if they're measuring your supposed leak by weight of refrigerant after its been evacuated into their machine that precisely weighs it, or if they're basing their assumption of a leak by amount of pressure on the gauge of refrigerant they're putting into the system.

If they're doing the first one then they know what they're doing. But if they're doing the second one they don't realize it's a variable pressure system and your problem isn't a leak, your problem is they have not put the correct amount of refrigerant in as measured by weight and your compressor will fail soon. This is very common with mechanics that don't have expensive A/C equipment and think the Prius system is the same as any other cars AC system. It's not!

If it really is a leak, then they would have a diagnostic process to add dye to the system and determine which component is leaking. I'm suspicious that these folks don't know what they're doing and don't have the correct equipment to do the job correctly.

 

Evaporator leaks seem to be common in the 2nd generation Prius. It isn't clear to me that it is a trivial thing to see this leak, even with dye, buried as that component is under the dash. Our car was in and out of the dealer's repair shop numerous times (thankfully under the warranty they supplied when we bought it used from them) before they finally got their act together, replaced the evaporator, and fixed the problem. It is also not entirely illogical to change the compressor at the same time, as running the mostly empty A/C may have damaged the compressor too. $2500 sounds like a decent price to have both of those components replaced - getting the evaporator in and out is a total PITA, many hours of work, and neither component is cheap. Check their BBB and other ratings to be sure that shop has been around for a while and is reputable.

For better A/C advice on the Prius contact Lech, who specializes in this sort of work.

lech auto air conditionin | PriusChat

 

The answer is NO, you do not need to replace both the condenser and the evaporator coils. You can just replace the one that has the leak.

However, you do 100% have to change the drier filter anytime you open the system, and that is usually connected to the condenser coil. Depending on cost and condition of your condenser, it may be wise to just go ahead and do what they are saying.

 

IF the evaporator is leaking AND the condition of the condenser is questionable, then I could understand doing both. There is a whole bunch of labor to get to the evaporator housing (everything that you see when sitting in the front seats has to come out).

As mentioned, the filter drier is part of (attached to) the condenser - it is good practice to replace the drier for large repairs- esp on older cars. Doing so can require removing the condenser anyway. If the condenser is old and/or corroded- replacement is a good idea.


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Probably the evap I lost mine. They sniffed it and found it. Don’t see many condensers onthe g2 forum but lots of ecoils.

mine was$1100 out the door. The labor is significant. It’s basicly clean to the firewall to get to it.