I have a gen 2 2008 prius. I purchased the car during winter season so never experienced AC issues, but now as the temperature is increasing, my AC is not cooling the car. When the ac is switched on low fan speed and temp set to max cold, it blows cold air. But when I just turn the blower to max, it just blows out normal air. When driving early morning, I still can feel the ac working as the temperature in the atmosphere and the sun is not at the higher side. I figure I have low refrigerant and probably need to refill. I have been suggested a shop run by Mexican guy who has top of the line snapon machine he uses to service and recharge the AC on all the other cars, can I also use the same machine? My concern is, I was reading somewhere prius needs some sort of oil added to the ac refrigerant and I don't know if he has what the prius needs. I just know the refrigerant needs to be r143a. Again it's a gen 2 prius and no where it says it needs that oil on the hood. Please help!
The Prius has an electric compressor that uses a special (non conductive) A/C oil (called ND-11). It still uses normal 134a refrigerant. The system should be serviced by someone who has equipment that is "hybrid use only", as you do not want to get trace amounts of standard pag A/C oil contaminating the Prius system (maybe it won't cause problems, maybe it will). Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I've added 134A as needed every year or two and that gets mine working well again. Only use straight 134. No additives. Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
