Apparently I totally screwed up my 2008 Prius air conditioning by recharging it with the wrong stuff. The AC still works fine, but if I understand things, it is just a matter of time before the compressor is toast. I called my local non-dealer Prius specialty shop and they said that once contaminated even a thorough $500 flush can not remove enough of the wrong oil to not eventually cause problems and they recommended the only way to permanently solve the problem was a complete AC overhaul with a new compressor, condenser etc.costing over $2000+. This seems totally excessive. So, my questions to the collective wisdom here... 1) What if I do nothing because it is still working just fine? What will likely happen? If the AC compressor is toast at some point, will it leave me stranded unable to drive at all, or will the AC just not work? 2) What if I get a thorough flush done? Given the fact that I have used the AC for a few months without a problem, what is the likelihood that the contamination was enough to cause serious harm? What would you do?
If you put the wrong oil in the HVAC system. then it seems to me that you'll lose nothing by trying to evacuate the system and refill it with the "right" refrigerant except the cost of said refrigerant. I'd get several quotes from several HVAC places, and I'd VERIFY that the refrigerant that is in your HVAC system will harm/has harmed your compressor. This is 2016. They started changing freon back in the 80's (30 years ago!) so I'm thinking that it's getting harder and harder to "put the wrong stuff in your car." even though there are still a lot of R-22 to R410A mix-ups. For a normal service charge, somebody might be able to pull out the old stuff and put in some new....and from a quick read I'm not seeing where getting these two mixed up will cause irrevocable harm. (caveat: I fix phones for a living, and am NOT an HVAC tech!!!) G2's might have the same old HVAC system that many other Toyotas use since they have a belt, and so you might not need to rely on a hybrid's only shop. Also.....I'm pretty sure that the car will operate just fine sans AC, although your defrosting ability will be greatly diminished. Like many things in life, the defrost is poorly named. It also keeps your windows from fogging up on the inside. Good Luck! Keep us posted.
Thanks for the reply ETC. It isn't an issue with the R-22, it is the oil in the refrigerant. Something to do with normal R-22 recharge oil for every other car on the road being electrically conductive and in the G2 the refrigerant is bathed in the wires of the compressor. Any contamination, in theory would short the motor of the compressor. It all seems very confusing to me. If it is so catastrophic to put in the wrong refrigerant oil, that every other car on the road uses, why not change the fittings to force it to be done at a specialty repair shop? That's what Apple would do.
Like you said, the windings of the compressor motor are immersed in the compressor oil. Most AC systems use PAG oil. The Prius and other electric compressor cars use POE oil. Even a tiny amount can introduce conductivity into the oil. I may be wrong, but I believe that there is a sensor that can detect a voltage leak, and will shut off the compressor if this occurs. Since your AC is still working, I would assume that any damage done is little to none at this point. I may be wrong on this too, but I believe the windings have insulation on them, so as long as this insulation is intact, no voltage leak will occur. Are you certain that the system was charged with PAG oil? If so, about how much? If there was indeed PAG oil injected, I would have a full vacuum pulled on the system and have it properly recharged by a machine certified for high voltage AC compressors. Edit : You may find this information useful : High Voltage A/C Compressor Oil Issues | Automotive Career Development Center The writer of this article intentionally filled their Prius with PAG oil, ran it for some time, then flushed it, and still working many thousands of miles later.
A/C Pro advertises their cans as having both PAG-100 and leak sealer in them : Reasons Why A/C Pro is Foolproof | AC Pro
The relative percentage of oil can be determined using a refractometer. It is a lot simpler than it sounds. I would try flushing with the correct oil at least three times and then checking. We did hundreds of conversions of commercial systems back in the day and the only oil issues were with incompatible components.
Ok, i have 1cc of PAG oil in my system to. For 2 years now. AC is always on. Drove 50.000km now woth the little PAG inside. No problems so far. But i agree it shouldn't be there.
You were told wrong, it is ND-11. May be the person thought they were roman numerals, ND-II rather than ND-11?
