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A/C Amplifier Location

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by jerlands, Jun 7, 2019.

  1. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    Another question I have is... why would the vehicle speed signal matter? you would think the faster you go the more air passes the condenser so it might lower the fan speed? That might imply that at lower speeds less air so you would have hi speed at idle or under a certain mph? and so possibly the techstream test is supposed to run the active electric fan test in high speed (relay 2 energized?)
     
  2. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    I reached down (with a failing flashlight) and physically touched and removed dirt from the wire but saw only black? from what I remember.. if it were striped it would have been a black wire with a white stripe :) I'll check again :)

    You're gonna have to elaborate on that :)
    where can I find a list for all available MFD system checks?
     
    #62 jerlands, Jun 19, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2019
  3. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    no.. the wires are black and blue on the fan on the engine side. the vehicle is a salvage from what appears to have been front engine damage and I'm not so certain the original fans are in it?
     
  4. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    you know... everything is working right now... I seem to have decent AC but it seems it could be better... and all controls work... I put techstream on it and recorded some temperature changes with it in auto and plan to compare those under the same conditions (as much as possible) when it isn't working... I am just curious if there isn't a control issue...
     
  5. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    The way the system currently operates is very much on/off. one moment I have everything functioning including cooling and as soon as I shut the vehicle down (maybe once, maybe a couple times) things quit working. What does seem apparent however is the fans don't keep the engine cool enough while idling when the system is on the fritz... the engine temps reach 194F which is near max while the evap is around 84 (this is with both fans running and apparently stuck in low speed.) the temps when the AC is running seemingly ok is engine around 187F and evap at around 53? The compressor speed seems to go awry when things get fritzy also... the compressor will vary speed with difference between cabin and signal in a fairly wide band but topping out at 6300 rpm. However, when it's fritzy the compressor doesn't want to go below 4500 rpm even if I set the temp to max hi in auto? This all sounds like the amplifier to me? so it looks like I'm gonna plan time to get to it and run 101 tests :)
     
    #65 jerlands, Jun 22, 2019
    Last edited: Jun 22, 2019
  6. Skibob

    Skibob Senior Member

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    How much is a used AC amplifier?
     
  7. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    I've ordered one for $48 total... 2008 I think but supposedly tested and good?
     
  8. jerlands

    jerlands Member

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    preliminary results are in :) somewhat mixed but positive... the system now appears to hold it's own at idle i.e., both fans seem to run at high speed and the evap temp is staying cooler so the result is AC now at idle or low speeds. Also, under AC active tests in techstream I was able to get the compressor to 7200 rpm which I don't remember being able to do (or didn't try) under my last testing (and the air flow became real cool.) The caveat is the climate control on the right hand steering wheel side still fails so it looks like it's the spiral cable. The AC seeming is performing better than it ever has though.
     
    ozzy1 likes this.
  9. bigblu_1

    bigblu_1 Junior Member

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    I seem to be having the same issue with my 06. No A/C, dealer wants to charge $1900 to replace the amplifier. Were you able to just pull off the bottom cover and swap it out fairly easily?
     
  10. richard203

    richard203 Member

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    i want to know what you have to remove to get to the a/c amplifier?
     
  11. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    The manual says to remove the "lower center finish panel", the "No. 3 air duct-rear", then 2 screws and the amplifier. See the last page of the A/C service section in the manual for details.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  12. richard203

    richard203 Member

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    yep got it removed yesterday the air duct is the hardest part