Hi. 2010 Prius owner here -- this car is new to me (previously driving a 2013 Prius C), and I'm having some trouble figuring out the A/C. Doesn't seem to want to turn on. Can anyone tell what I'm doing wrong? Hoping it's user-error. Video below.
Well you pushed everything! Looks like the switch is bad or the light is burnt out. You don’t feel cold air when you push the front window defrost?
Under the hood just behind the passengers side headlight there is a small sight glass on the ac line that you can see. See if there is any movement you can see when the car is on and the ac should be running.
No movement that I can see. When I hit the A/C button, there seems to be no change in the car whatsoever.
Put the car in ACCessory mode (starting with the car OFF, one push of the power button without pressing the brake). Then after 5 seconds or so: Hold the AUTO and the FRESH/RECIRCULATE buttons on the A/C control panel at the same time, keep holding them down while you push the power button one more time (no foot on brake), turning the car from ACC to ON. Keep holding AUTO and FRESH/RECIRCULATE until you see the control panel lights start to blink. All of the lights on that panel should blink together four times, so you will see whether the light in the A/C button works or not. You should also then see one or more two-digit codes cycling through at the left side of the LCD panel. Those might give you more info about any problem. (If the only code is 00, then it isn't reporting a problem.) If the light works, and no problem is reported by code, I might start by assuming just a dirty contact under the A/C button, and see if I could clean that up before guessing anything more involved. I'm assuming the A/C really isn't turning on. You can pretty much hear it if it's running, especially if the hood is open. Sounds a little bit like a Cessna off in the distance.
Yeah, I could always feel/hear a change in my C when I'd turn the A/C on, so this feels different. I'll try your steps and report back. Thanks!
Was the car ever owned by a smoker? A friend of mine bought a used laptop on ebay and the keyboard was about useless. Sme letters wuldn't wrk at all, ttttttthers wuld reppppeatttttttt like ttttttttthere was n tttttttttmrrw. We took the keyboard out of the laptop and dumped it in a casserole dish with enough distilled water to cover it, and swished it around, occasionally pouring out the gray water and adding some new. Then it needed a couple days to dry out. Worked great after that. It might not be my first thing to try on the A/C button. That control panel comes out of the car really easily, but I've never explored how to disassemble the panel itself. It can surely be done, because there are folks here who change the LED colors for fun. Probably you'll find a rubbery sheet with 'bubble' spots that act as the springy elements behind the buttons, and the sheet will be over metallic contact areas on a circuit board. A cotton swab and some contact cleaner across the contacts beneath the A/C button might do the trick.
I just picked it up a couple weeks ago, and yes, I suspect it was smoked in. I’ll try taking it back in to the dealer and see if they’ll take care of it. If not, I’ll give it a whirl myself.