Dealership wants $3000 to fix A/C (Blowing cold on pass, warm on driver)

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by HDuncan, Oct 8, 2015.

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  1. HDuncan

    HDuncan Member

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    2005 Prius
    I bought this 06 Prius in April and it has been a nightmare. I have an 05 and thought "I love this car so much, I want another!". I didn't do a good job inspecting the car before I got it, but oh well. Here we are at the dealership because my Driver side AC was blowing warm and the passenger side was nice and cool. $300 later, they call me up and say they have drained all the Freon because theres an obstruction causing the pressure on the high side to get so high that the compressor purge valve has to kick in and their AC machine shut off to protect the car.

    He said it would cost 1700 to replace the Expansion Valve and the Receiver Drier, and that they weren't positive that would fix the issue, but that its the first step before replacing the Compressor. He said normally they'd suspect the compressor is going out, but he said it appears to be operating okay. Their opinion was that there is an obstruction in the line - most likely some sort of metal - which is causing the obstruction and the pressure on the high side to go to extreme levels.

    Pressure on the low side he said was okay.

    Here is the text from the service receipt:
    Performed A/C inspection and all vents appear to operate fine. No leaks seen. Lots of debris in front of the condenser. Suspect system low on Freon. Perform evac and recharge. Installed dye.
    Pressures:
    High: 130psi
    Low: 15psi

    Used 1.1lbs of freon then noticed the restriction. Removed freon. recommend replace expansion valve receiver dryer, flush lines and replace all necessary o rings.



    So, I picked up the car and paid the $300 for them to diagnose and attempt to add freon before they found the bigger issue. Now the car blows hot out of both vents. awesome. What do I do? The repair is like, half the value of the car and I just want to sell this thing at this point, but I have to be honest with any future buyer about the condition of the A/C unit.
     
    #1 HDuncan, Oct 8, 2015
  2. hchu1

    hchu1 Active Member

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    Two


    Did some google search and found this bit of generic information.


    "The low-side should be near 30 PSI at 90 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Pressure that is too much lower or higher shows there is a problem."

    "On a properly working system, high-side pressure will be about twice the ambient temperature, plus 50 PSI. For instance, on a 90-degree Fahrenheit day, twice 90 is 180, plus 50 equals 230 PSI. This is not precise but close enough for the purposes of this article. Both pressures reading within these ranges means the system should produce a vent temperature in the mid, to low forties, with the engine idling."     Argcoauto.com

    Without knowing the ambient temperature they took the readings the pressure given might not mean anything.

    Here is an answer to a question on a Buick.

    "If the car does not have dual zone climate control, this sounds like a problem that some mechanics miss. This problem is a low freon charge in the system. It will not be apparent if just looking at freon gauge pressures- they will be normal. But a system that is 1/2 pound low will cause the passenger side vents to blow cool or cold air, and the drivers side to be less cool or even warm on this car. There is simply not enough freon capacity in the system to cool the air to the drivers side. Only way to be sure is to drain and measure the freon in the system."


    "If it does have dual zone, then the drivers side temperature actuator motor has failed. This actuator controls the temperature door for that side. Dual zone systems have a temp door for each side." Justautorepair.com


    Looks like you'll need to take it back to another mechanic with hybrid ac experience. Hope this helps, good luck.
     
    #2 hchu1, Oct 8, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2015
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  3. Beachbummm

    Beachbummm Senior Member

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    I went through AC hell on my first prius a few years ago and figured I had nothing to lose by ordering NEW after market parts from E Bay
    if I remember right the expan valve was $17.00 the condenser was $70 the special compressor oil was $16 and the special green "O" rings were $8 and the special Freon was $22..a local AC shop agreed to to do the labor for $400...the biggest problem was the expan valve access, its behind the dash board on the passenger side behind the glove box...
    shop around on the labor, I cant see how they think theres a blockage in the system if the air on the right is cold, it would be a vent problem after the cold air is inside the car
    Did you check the dash board vents were in the open position?
    on my 05 I found the far left was broken in the closed position, just had to pop out the vent and glue the plastic back together
     
    #3 Beachbummm, Oct 8, 2015
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  4. Aaron Vitolins

    Aaron Vitolins Senior Member

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    I have the same damn problem on my 2005. cool/sometimes cold on the passenger side and room temperature on the drivers side. I was debating weather to take it to Toyota and pay them to see whats wrong with my car, but it looks like they are not much help.

    I'm worried that i might have to drop some serious cash, my car has an insane amount of miles... so I'm not so sure. i just don't see why the AC system in our cars can "Kinda" work.. like what the heck? i guess we now have dual zone climate control... haha :)
     
    #4 Aaron Vitolins, Oct 8, 2015
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  5. HDuncan

    HDuncan Member

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    2005 Prius
    Well, I took it to s Toyota dealership so I expect they know how to deal with hybrid AC system.

    They checked the vents - the service advisor initially suspected this, but I knew it was not the vents because the airflow is the same from all vents.

    I read that low freon causes only part of the cooling mechanism to cool the air and because the freon enters the mechanism on the pass side first, that's what causes one side to be cold.

    This is further confirmed by the fact that they drained my freon and now I have no cool air even on passenger side.

    So it sounds to me like it really may be an obstruction. But they didn't find a leak so maybe I can just recharge it and get some cold air going again. Might be a ticking time bomb
     
    #5 HDuncan, Oct 13, 2015
  6. dannybjax

    dannybjax Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    III
    Any updates on your AC - my son's 2006 started doing it this. Right 2 vents are pretty cold. Right driver's side is warmer. Far left vent is barely cold at all. Anyone have luck with just adding Freon?
     
    #6 dannybjax, Jun 16, 2020
  7. dannybjax

    dannybjax Junior Member

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    Update here- we just added Freon to my sons car and that fixed the issue. I think the air was warmer than normal and just felt even warmer by the time it made it to the other side of the car.


    iPhone ?
     
    #7 dannybjax, Jul 17, 2021
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