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Air Conditioner Issue

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Larry Newman, Sep 4, 2021.

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  1. Larry Newman

    Larry Newman Junior Member

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    I have quite a peculiar issue. I've searched all over the forums and I haven't found anything remotely related to this but I did find one external article suggesting that it could be the evaporator core being clogged or something along those lines. I will explain with the following.

    So basically my air conditioner on my 2008 Toyota Prius Touring decided to 'choke up' and the airflow is massively restricted after being on cold for a few minutes. I've done a lot of random troubleshooting and it seems that when the car is cooling the air below the ambient air the A/C system decides to not push through any more air, resulting in extremely diminished airflow that can only be very faintly felt even when the fan speed is on high. The blower motor is running and is very noticeable especially when it's going full blast without any airflow. The cabin air filter is clean and I've even taken it out for a little bit incase that was the issue to no avail. The air doesn't smell of anything out of the ordinary, maybe a little bit dusty. The condensation pipe drains out of the bottom with no problem.

    As far as things I've done to try and fix the issue, I've sprayed an evaporator core cleaner through the system and it drained out of the bottom like normal. It fixed the issue for about a week or so and then went back to doing the same thing. I'm thinking that it could be the evaporator core being that I live in a very humid environment which is easy for mold to hang out in. I'm also thinking that it could be something else being that I sprayed that cleaner all the way through. There was no dirt or anything when it drained out of the bottom. I could see the suds of the cleaner on the ground which is how I know it came out. It was completely clear. I'm also thinking that it could be another component of the A/C system but I'm not entirely sure.

    Any help or insight is appreciated.
     
    #1 Larry Newman, Sep 4, 2021
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    There is a little controller that is connected to the blower motor. That controller goes bad and it could give you the symptoms you're experiencing.
     
    #2 JC91006, Sep 5, 2021
  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    If the airflow drops because the blower slows down, that could indicate one area to look for the problem.

    If the blower is continuing to operate at high speed and you're hearing that, but the airflow drops, it could indicate an entirely different area to look for the problem.

    If the air is humid and the evaporator is being cooled below freezing, the fins can ice up and reduce airflow. The airflow is restored if you turn the system off long enough for the ice to melt.

    The system has an evaporator temperature sensor and is designed to maintain that temperature above the point of icing. But if it is failing to do that for some reason, you could see the symptoms described.
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Sep 5, 2021
  4. mr_guy_mann

    mr_guy_mann Senior Member

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    +1 to ChapmanF. Your problem sounds alot like evaporator freeze up or icing. If airflow out of the vents stays normal while the A/C is off but diminishes after running the compressor for a bit, then you should use Techstream to monitor the evaporator temperature sensor to see what's going on.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #4 mr_guy_mann, Sep 5, 2021
  5. Larry Newman

    Larry Newman Junior Member

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    I know for a fact I have a slight A/C leak so I was also thinking that it could be moisture inside of the lines that's the issue or something. But I'll give the evaporator issue a test and see if that fixes anything.

    Thank you guys for the input.
     
    #5 Larry Newman, Sep 7, 2021
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