Toyota Prius Gen 2 - AC Condenser Replacement 

Hey buddy for a novice you did excellent work; however, you missed a very important step and all your viewers will be misled and curse you for posting the wrong info when they follow you. After you replace the radiator, you must hook a vacuum pump to the system to pull all the air out of the system...should leave the pump on for a couple of hours to bring the vacuum press as low as possible.. And then refill the system with refrigerant. The air is called in AC industry, noncondensable, leaving it in the system, will eventually destroy your compressor. The compressor's job is to absorb the refrigerant gas and bring it at high press to turn it into liquid. Well, it can't turn the air into a liquid, the air is noncondensable, but the moisture in the air could turn into a liquid and slug your compressor. The compressor can only pump gas not liquid, so a few drops of water will destroy it. Also, your air/refrigerant mixture renders your system very inefficient. If you have 20-30% of air in your system, you will lose 30% efficiency of your cooling system. An auto AC shop may charge you $100 to pull the vacuum and refill your system, If I were you I would fix it. How is the car working now?

Thx for your effort here...I learned something for my 2008-

Shops suck the air out then fill. You added 134 plus air.

You at least got the refrigerant HFC-134a correct according to my manual. Missing some steps there though. It would be helpful to know how warm the A/C can blow before it signals the refrigerant is too low thus destroying it. Mine is 42F, 43F, 44F, 45F from left to right at A/C vents at 82 degrees F outside. I just want to know how long I can leave it safely as it's pretty close to what you got and my 09 Prius is still the original at 324,000 miles. As long as there's refrigerant in it shouldn't overheat right?

The Compressor is high voltage, so standard 134-A oil should not be used! Should only use ND-11 type oil for hybrids.

You can buy new upper condenser mounting brackets for about $13 each.

Thanks for the vid. This will surely save me hundreds of dollars if I do it myself on my 2014 Prius

This vid is intresting

why didnt you give those rusted parts a blast with rustoleum ?

OMG... zip ties? This is a radiator which gets very hot which will melt the zip ties. WD-40 or Gunk Liquid Wrench would likely help free the rust on the screw. I would have bought new or used brackets.

Yes, the factory condenser would do that

Thank you!

Hi

You just vented the gas to atmosphere?

I'm trying to pay attention but Dog is hot on the trailer of the car issue and I'm watching to see what he finds.

Does anybody have a link for the refill kit?

He never put a Vaccum pump on it lol

mines all rotten like that so could be Toyota

this is not the correct way to recharge ac on a Prius. Yes the Condenser is correct but the AC charging shouldn't be followed. Wrong type and amount of refrigerant used, Prius don't need 2 cans or more, it needs 16oz which is basically 1 and 1/3 can. Dye that should be used should also be hybrid safe otherwise it will kill the compressor. Not vacuuming the system after the install, you'll have moisture in the system which will not make the cooling efficient, yes for youtube purposes you can claim that it cools. Relying on low pressure to top off is also not good, you also have to check the high pressure.. basically this process is overcharging.. which is the same as under charging. AC charging should be precise. Also oil wasn't added to the new condenser, so the system is now low on oil.