I'm a new gen. 2 owner and never had a hybrid before. Recently one mechanic told me that the reason the AC isn't cold is because I need an inverter pump. Another mechanic told me the AC is not related to the inverter pump and that a light would have come on the dash if that needed replacing. There are no check lights on the dash. I know the invert pump is important but I'm confused by their responses and not sure I want either one of them as my mechanic. Would a light come on before the pump was bad? If so and I were not able to quit driving and get to a shop could I still drive it for a bit? How can I verify that the pump is bad? Thanks!
Once the light comes on for a bad inverter pump you'll be able to take short drives without doing damage, or at least be able to take it in for repairs. If I were in your situation I'd forget about those mechanics and take your car in for basic AC maintenance check-up at a place that specializes in auto AC and is too busy with too many customers to have time to scam people. Perhaps call around and find out who does the best work for the best price... At first glance it looks like in Santa Cruz, according to Google you could try these folks: Air Conditioning - Polar Auto and Radiator But before you spend money doing that make sure you replace the cabin air filter. The instructions on doing that are in your owners manual and you can also watch YouTube videos of people showing how... That is always the easiest quickest way to solve most ventilation system problems because once those filters are full the decreased air flow creates all kinds of problems inside the system.
Great tip on changing the cabin air filter first (and regularly). Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
if you look in the inverter fluid reservoir with the car in ready, there should be movement in the fluid. otherwise, you need a pump are the radiator fans running when you turn on the a/c?
