Hey guys. I got a 2007 prius. Love the thing. 160k miles. Ac was working great up until I got stuck on the side of the road one night (which was terrible) and after that night the AC blows warm!! Its about to get hot where im from so im looking for suggestions! Im thinking cabin air filter, recharge with freon to see if a line got damaged and is now leaking, then check the compressor itself, check a fuse or relay... What do you think? Thanks in advance!!
Do the cabin filter part yourself, but don't add freon yourself or you'll destroy the compressor... It's a variable pressure system and you need to put a very precise measurement of refrigerant in that's measured by weight with an expensive machine that evacuates all of it out and weighs it. There's also adjustments that need to be made based on temp&humidity inside car, temp&humidity outside car. It's not a DIY thing. You need a shop that has the very best equipment / expertise if you want it to be fixed and not fail this Summer.
What led to your getting stuck on the side of the road? Do you have any trouble lights appearing on your dash at present? An inverter that is overheating can be one of the things that causes the AC compressor to stop working.
Are there any warning lights on the dash? if you have the red triangle it may be the hybrid battery has failed and one of the things that happen is it kills the ac because the ac compressor is ac powered not belt driven like most cars. When the hybrid battery fails it will shed its load to survive. Or what happened on the side of the road? Did you run over anything?. There's 2 plastic covers under the front of the car one small one to protect the ac condenser from road fod the other protrudes a little and covers the area between the rad and the engine. It is important you at least have the front ac condenser cover on. Your condenser may not last long without it
