Recharging the A/C

did you go to walmart and buy a can of refrigerant? if the answer is yes... bad news.

the prius electric a/c compressor requires the use of nd-11 oil which is not electrically conductive. it is a dielectric oil. nd-8 or normal 134 oils are not dielectric.

so basically it comes down to, cheap out now = pay big time later with a new a/c compressor. if you've already added the oil, which it sounds like you have, the system needs to be flushed out and hopefully no damage has been done to the compressor.

unfortunately this is generally not a diy kind of job. i mean, technically you're supposed to be epa 609 certified to do refrigerant work in the first place.

 

whew- you're in luck! there have been horror stories and we were afraid this was another.

for the record, 609 covers any refrigerant work.

so, where is it leaking and how much oil loss residue is there at the leak? we need to determine how much nd-11 you need to add to the system to get you through.

 

is the joint a welded joint or a bolted on hose connection? if it's a bolted on hose connection, you can replace the o-ring and they cost under $1.

if you've lost a lot of oil, you don't want to run without it. that compressor needs lubrication.

if there are bubbles, there's not enough refrigerant in there. about 100g of refrigerant is needed *after* the bubbles disappear. the repair manual indicates the quantity should be checked by weight rather than by the sight glass. here are the operating pressures
Gauge reading:
Low pressure side:
0.15 to 0.25 MPa (1.5 to 2.5 kgf/cm2)
High pressure side:
1.37 to 1.57 MPa (14 to 16 kgf/cm2)
they don't give it in psi, of course.

 

The spec is 0.15 - 0.25 MPa (22 - 36 psi) on the low pressure side; and 1.37 - 1.57 MPa (199 - 228 psi) on the high pressure side.

Is your pressure gauge reading 55 psi connected on the low pressure side?

When you see the sight glass clear, this is probably because the compressor turned off or slowed down; I understand that the compressor is variable-speed.

When recharging, do you have the cabin temp set to the lowest possible temp to force the system to work at full capacity?

 

Stop being such a tight arse and go get it fixed properly.
The oil would have mostly blown away in a mist so if you leave it unrepaired you will stuff the compressor, that will be real cheap to fix, not.

That is saying nothing about the refrigerant you are spewing into the air.
This isn't some junk yard get about car, surely it is worth looking after?

 

The point is it is horribly irresponsible to not fix refrigerant leaks. If you're not going to fix it, having the remaining refrigerant evacuated and recaptured..

 

What you need to do is as follows:

1.) Fix the leak

2.) Pull a vacuum of 25+ inches on the system to evacuate all the air.
(if you have gotten air in the system you'll never get rid of the bubbles).
also this will tell you if you have fixed the leak, if its still leaking you won't
be able to pull the necessary vacuum.

3.) Add required oil to replace what was lost due to parts replaced at leak.

4.) Charge the system with the proper amount of Toyota refrigerant.



Sounds like you already have the gauge set, you will need a vacuum pump to evac the system.

 

r134 isn't as bad as r12, but it still isn't good at all. hence technically needing the epa cert.

you sure the leak isn't coming from that fitting above and not the welded joint? that's a fairly easy repair. do you have the glasses and uv light to detect the leak since the dye is already in there? spray the oil off with a solvent based cleaner, then run the a/c while looking with the uv light. will tell you for sure.

refrigerant is a gas- it won't leave a residue. that is oil all over the place there. that oil lost needs to be replenished if you want your compressor to be properly lubricated.

so if the pressure is high on the low side, that's a bad sign for your compressor- or the system is way overcharged. you can't get a particularly accurate measure of charge out of one of those cans, and the sight glass isn't worth much in telling you how much is in there. it's very hard to tell what's up here.

 

I am not trolling and as my advice has been backed up by several others (see posts 12, 14 and 15) I believe my advice was good advice.

I am waiting for your apology.

You local auto-electrician should be able to fix your AC, or a reputable mechanic with the required qualifications and certificates.

 

the overcharge valve isn't going to prevent you from charging 1 psi over spec pressure. it is possible to overcharge to a certain extent. and what if that valve doesn't work? just happened to someone we know.

regardless of whether there is an oil separator (for which i'm not seeing any evidence), there is still oil in the lines. hence the oil stains on your a/c lines. the condenser up front will drip oil (literally, drops) if there's a big enough hole kicked in it. now there's not a ton of oil in the system as it is- even a little bit of loss is significant when you're talking a fairly small of an amount being there in the first place. the majority of the contents of those lines is indeed refrigerant. neglecting to properly lubricate the compressor is penny wise, pound foolish.

no more special equipment needed for the prius than other vehicles- but you do need special equipment to recover, vacuum, remove moisture, and refill an a/c system on any vehicle.

we do all our own work to our cars, but we just had to bring our camry to the dealer to have that vacuum/refill done. just yesterday, actually. if it was possible to do at home, we would have done it and saved the cash.

 

Can you measure the pressure on the high pressure side also? If the pressure on the high pressure side also exceeds spec, then it would appear the refrigerant is overcharged.

If the pressure on the high pressure side is below spec while the low pressure side is above spec, then this would imply that your compressor is not exerting the necessary pressure in the system (perhaps damaged due to lack of oil from the leak?)

The leak looks pretty bad, and I agree with the other posters that the sooner you can allocate funds to repair it, the better off the AC system will be.

Good luck.