Replacing Condenser .. need help

I'm a SoCal Prius owner too. My Prius had a front end collision which damaged the AC line (line with the sight glass on it) and let all the freon out. I asked around, including a Toyota Master Technician at a dealership in NorCal. He said the oil stays in the AC compressor, and for my case all I need to do is replace the broken line and recharge with R134a. No AC oil needed. In your case, you're replacing the compressor - he said the new compressor should come filled with oil (if not, you need to fill it with ND-11 hybrid oil). The caution is if you or a shop charges the freon, not to let "conductive non-hybrid oil" get into your Prius system - it may exist in the AC charge system lines. I'm not taking chances; I'll buy freon in pressurized cans (Harbor Freight on sale this week) and add it myself that way.

 

You probably know that a vacuum pump is required to evacuate air out of the system before adding the refrigerant. I would be concerned that the oil residue from the pump might contaminate the Prius AC system.

Considering the fairly high replacement cost of the Prius AC compressor which is subject to failure in the event the wrong oil enters the system, I personally would have a Toyota dealer handle AC component replacement.

 

need to replace AC oil if system broke open in a crash? How?

Hi Patrick. I was hoping to hear from advice from the forum about this before I try it myself. Yes, the compressor is a costly item, hence many months of deliberation on doing this myself. I agree there are risks (but mostly out of my own admitted ignorance on this). I suppose the vacuum pump, although "sucking air out", could theoretically introduce the wrong type of oil (which is in the lines connecting the pump to the gauge manifold and to the car, and in the vacuum pump itself) into the car's system due to vapor pressure. I was considering buying a new gauge manifold set, to reduce part of the risk. By the way, do the new manifold gauges come with any kinnd of oil in them? If not, this part should prevent the wrong oil in the manifold lines from getting in.

To completely eliminate contamination, I just saw an interesting vacuum device on Harbor Freight for $15, designed for evacuating AC systems. It uses a venturi effect, and shop air flowing at some 4.2 CFM @ 90 psig to generate a vacuum strong enough to work for AC systems. I'm tempted to try it.

I don't know what a dealer charges to evac and recharge a Prius, but doing it myself would cost me: $50 new gauge set, $15 venturi vacuum device, $25 freon = $90.

Oh, was wondering your opinion on whether any ND11 AC oil was lost if a car accident caused the line with the sight glass to break and let all the freon out. I think the line broke open near the sight glass. I heard the oil returns to the compressor when it's not operating. My super Toyota master tech friend insists very little oil would have been lost by a ruptured freon line, but my high school auto shop memories tell me the oil circulates through the AC lines when it's running - which would explain how compressors get oil even when they're mounted high up in the AC system. By this logic, if the AC was running when the accident happened, I'd expect a lot of oil was lost. How would a shop hadnle this? I read somewhere you should drain the oil, measure exactly what was drained out, and add the same oil in. That may work if you are replacing part(s) of a system that was never broken open. For a system that was broken and all the freon let out (with whatever oil was lost), is there a way to drain all the oil left in the system, flush the lines, fill the correct amount of oil in, then close up the system, evacuate, and add freon? Would a shop do this on accident vehicles? Your thoughts please?

 

I agree that there's no way to know how much oil remains in a system that has been damaged by accident and left unrepaired for months. Hence it would be best to drain the remaining oil (might be necessary to remove the AC compressor to facilitate this) and install the correct amount. I suggest you obtain the repair process from techinfo.toyota.com if further guidance is needed.

 

SWprius, if you're still around would you be willing to share how much the dealer charged for installing your condenser and recharging? In a similar situation. Condenser damaged by debris, bought a new one off ebay, trying to decide whether to give it a shot or take it in to have the dealer do it.

Thanks,
Rob

 

Btw, most condensers that are damaged on a G2 are because the plastic plate is missing from the bottom.
Missing plate is a guaranteed condenser damage given how low the front end on the car is.

I know your car damage was from an accident but alot of body-shops forget that plastic plate because the plate body attachment points are destroyed making it difficult to re-attach without a rig.

If you can look at the condenser and see the ground underneath it its missing the plate.

 

Rob,

I had that kind of work done on our Gen II Prius 09 Model Package #2 Dealer charged me over two days time a total of $910 and a few odd cents on two separate work orders for the whole job. That included diagnostic, dye, O-rings, Condenser, and labor to do the job. They did it over two days. First new O-rings, add dye and recharge. That didn't fix it completely. Said it still needed the condenser. Ordered that and finished the job the following day. The only thing they really burned me on was the Freon as they charged the thing twice and charged $16.50 each time. The Condenser was $309.53, O-rings ran $2.86, Dye ran $6.83 Labor ran right at $495.00 by the time they got through. Of course there was taxes in there too. I think the break down above pretty much covers the fees they charged me. After all the work was done had no more trouble with the A/C. It gets HOT here in Texas and believe me we used it as needed. Work was done July 19th and July 20, 2012. Sold car last Friday and dropped it off today to get our new Gen III Model 3 Prius.

Hope this helps you. FWIW, Gen II Prius is a great car. Gen III so far seems to be just as get, if not better. Only time will tell!

Best of luck to you!
Ron (dorunron)

 

Thanks Ron, appreciate it!

Rob

 

Your welcome Rob.

Best of luck to you!

 

Ok, thanks! Appreciate the follow up.

 

SW hit it right on the head. Remember that is about what they charged me. Honestly, if you got the money let Toyota fix it for you. That way it will be right. Any thing done wrong might damage the compressor. That part is NOT cheap.

 

Is this true? I will be installing a new condenser on my Prius this week. I know I have to vacuum the system but wouldn't this vacuum suck out all the oil too?

 

When I did mine I found that the repair manual on TIS recommends adding 1.4oz of oil when replacing the condenser.

Here's the thread from my DIY replacement: 2005 AC Condenser Replacement | PriusChat

Rob

 

Thanks for the useful info miscrms. I think my compressor is bad. It's running but I'm only getting 40 psi on the high side. The system seemed to recharge too quickly as well. It got to 30 psi (low side) after only a few seconds of charging. I didn't even use 1/4 of a can of refrigerant.