This has only happened twice but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced this issue: A couple of days ago, I got in my car after work and went to turn on the AC. I pressed the up arrow and the AC flashed on and then turned off. I pressed the down arrow and the same thing happened. Then I pressed the auto button, the up, then the down arrow and the auto button again. The AC would flash on and turn off after each one. Finally, I waited a minute or two and pressed the up arrow to turn it on again and it worked, turned on and stayed on. This was the second time this happened. The first time was a few weeks ago. My car sits outside in the parking lot under the sun for the whole 8 hours I am at work. The two times that this happened it was hot out, probably low 90s Fahrenheit outside. I took it to the dealer to get it checked out and they said that if they can't reproduce the problem than they won't be able to tell me why it's happening. I didn't leave the car to get checked out because it was gonna take a few hours and I'm due for my first service in about 1,000 miles. I figured I would keep track of it, if it happened again between now and the first service. Has anyone else experienced this issue? Any thoughts about why this happened?
I don't have that experience. sounds like the battery is too hot when you start the car and the AC, try to roll down the window and let some air out first and wait like 30 second before you turn on the AC. I guess the fan inside the battery will cool it down a little bit after 30 second. try to use the windshield shade if you park under the sun for a long time.
I've never experienced anything like that before, even though we have hot days over here now. I usually roll down my windows for a little bit to keep my car ventilated during working hours; however, I did't do it yesterday, and it was a 100F (according to my car's thermometer) but I did't experienced anything like that.
Do you turn your ac off when you leave the car? I have a V, but I'd expect things towork similarly. I never touch my ac controls: When I turn on the car, the ac does not start up immediately. It takes 15-20 seconds or so then...woosh. Is it possible you're turning on the ac while the car is still in the boot up process and the car is refusing to do it until after it's completed? I'd suggest not touching anything, leave it in the auto position and then see what happens in the future when you power up the car.
This has happened to me twice since March. The fan up/ down control won't work, nor does auto. The LEDs will flash for a split second and turn off. I've found that hitting off even with the system off will allow the HVAC to return to normal operation. Seems to happen after manually turning the system off for a while.
I thought maybe it was the battery being too hot, too. I keep the back windows open a little and have the moonroof tilted open to let the heat out while it is parked. I always roll down the windows first and wait at least a couple of minutes before I start the AC. I also use a windshield shade. I make sure to turn the AC off before I power off the car. I wait at least a couple of minutes to start the AC for the same reason that I also figured it takes a bit to boot up. I'll try what you suggested and not touch the controls before powering off and leave it in the auto position. I'll let you know what happens. This issue doesn't happen every time I turn on the AC. Most of the time it turns on on the first try (after waiting the couple minutes and rolling down the windows). I also don't usually turn on the AC on hot days when leaving work. I like the heat. I think I'll try to do it more often now that's it's hot everyday here and keep note of the issue occurring.
acting as normal, a/c is disabled in a cold start as the engine is rapidly heating up for maximum emissions quality, about 60 seconds in total. the first 20-30 seconds it will not alow usage of the a/c on as it will trigger on the a/c condenser fan which causes cooling of the engine which is not going to help a warm up cycle. now im seeing some posts where fan speed selection is inop completely, is the a/c button pressed at this time? was it left on? if thats the case there may be a circuit issue in the hvac ecu, and would be a definate candidate to be diagnosed at the dealer as we want to see these new model issues first hand so we can have them addressed and a remedy made.
No, in fact the last time it was < 80F. I didn't have the AC on, just the fan. The car had been sitting with the windows up so the interior was very hot. I shut the system off because it was blowing warm air. When I went to turn the fan on 10 minutes later nothing worked. I stabbed the off button as before and a few seconds later it worked as usual. I will mention it at my 10K service, but it happens so rarely I doubt the techs will be able to duplicate it.
Both times this happened my AC had not been left on. Both times I pressed the up arrow and after it flashed on and off I noticed the led light on the AC button was lit indicating it was on. I will keep in mind the circuit issue and ask them about that when I take it in for service. Hopefully, they will be able to diagnose it. Thanks for your input!
Does it mean that PC's engine is always working through the outer loop of cooling? I thought that one of the thermostat's goal is to keep the coolant running through the inner loop (by-passing the radiator) during warm-up stage/cold weather conditions and gradually open to outer loop once the coolant inside of the engine's jacket is hot enough.
its always in part of the radiator, just not open loop flow while being cooled, and compared to gen 2 vs PC, PV, gen 3 is the newer models are actually sending coolant through the exhaust as well and heating it up. so dont be suprised if some day someone says you have a coolant leak in your exhuast.
I too have twice experienced this AC issue on my Prius C. Started the car and after about a minute of driving hit the auto climate control button to turn the AC on and the temp display and lights come on for a split second and then go off. Tried again and again over the course of a 10 minute drive and the same symptoms. Tried switching between normal and ECO mode as the manual states there are some conditions in ECO mode where the AC may not function, but no effect. After stopping, shut the car down for about 15 minutes and then upon restart, same symptoms. After another 30 seconds of frantically hitting various fan and temp buttons the AC finally came on and operated normally the rest of the day. Wish I knew what caused it. As crebble recommended, I will try hitting the fan off button if I experience it again and report back whether it worked or not.
Wanted to record an update here as i figured out what the issue was. The off button simply gets stuck when you press it down sometimes. Pressing it down again usually dislodges it. If not a little wiggle will do it. Glad its just something simple. You can test/reproduce it by manually holding down the off button while trying to turn the hvac on. It will come on for a split second and then shut off. Hope this helps!
Jonathan Drake, thanks for posting a solution. This has been happening to me over the last few weeks and has been driving me crazy!
I had this problem as well in my Prius C. Now that someone else confirmed theirs being the off button I think thats what it really is. A stupid stuck off button. I wonder whats causing it to get stuck though.
Yes, I have had this same problem for some time now. At first I thought it was a deeper problem, but seem to have traced it to the "off" button sticking (pretty frequently actually). Has anyone brought this up to the service center as a warranty issue? Maybe I will bring it up next time I take it in for service. The problem is minor now, but what I fear is the button gradually getting harder and harder to get unstuck (after it is out of warranty).
Glad to note that it's not a system failure. Just to add we had 4 days of 110 plus weather here in Australia and the car did not miss a beat. Fuel consumption went out the window though
