Apologies if this has been discussed at great length as I'm new to this site. I purchased my Prius in July 2005. Currently at 76K miles. At approx. 50K miles I began to have problems with the Heater/AC just simply not working. I have taken it to two different Toyota dealerships in the Los Angeles area. All they do is reset the computer (at least that's what they tell me) and then it works. Other than that, they do not have an explanation. However, weeks later the same problem happens again. This is the fourth time the Heater/AC is not working as of this morning. Any suggestions? Thanks for the help.
Do you have any other clues to help someone diagnose the problem? Do you get any response at all from the climate controls? For example, can you see the settings change on the MFD when you push the steering wheel controls or those on the climate menu even if the fans and compressor don't turn on? Or are those grayed out? Do the fans work but not the heat exchanger and compressor? Does your defroster work on cold mornings? If they keep "rebooting the computer" (I assume ECU is acting up), maybe that part is on its last legs. Are you under extended warranty? If so, the dealer could be trying to wait out the ECU or something else. Which dealers have you taken it to? If you keep having problems, and are still on extended warranty, it may be best to call customer service in Torrance before that runs out.
Hi Jrod , You might have posted this in care and maintenance. Its not unheard of stones kicked up by other vehicles poking a leaky hole in an air conditioning condensor on any vehicle. And others with this problem with the Prius have usually found this was the case as well.
Additional clues: The center console screen works fine. Nothing is grayed out when I try to turn on the heat/ac. The only thing that happens is a slight "whining" noise coming from the engine. I don't think it's loud enough to be the compressor but I don't know for sure. I also have the extended warranty (120K?) so I'm assuming that this should be a dealer repair. The Torrance location is an interesting idea. I might check those guys out if the dealer is unable to fix it on 2/4/08. Thanks
Torrance is where TMS, Toyota NA, etc. are HQ'd. When you call the 800 number in your manual, that's where the people are sitting. Do you mean the dealer just down the street from HQ, South Bay Toyota in Gardena. It's on Western around 182nd, just north of 405. From what I hear (purely rumors), they had some service problems years ago, then a new owner took over and turned things around. It's pretty likely that most of the execs and engineers buy and service their vehicles there. About the repair itself, it could be a fussy relay that won't close. It could also be a bad control unit. Since the parts themselves tend to work when the computer is rebooted, it's probably something like that. You'd have to ask someone with more electronics background.
JRod- Did you ever figure out what the problem was? The Heat/A/C in my 2005 Prius went out today. I seem to be having the same symptoms as you did: The climate controls (touch screen buttons) all work, a slight "whining" noise as if it's trying to do something, but no air blows out of the vents at all . And, in case it matters, the air conditioning did not stop working while it was already on and I was driving. The car was parked, I turned it the car on and the air conditioning wasn't blowing as usual. It was 90 degrees today and my job is driving around a teenager...I need my A/C! My Prius is out of warranty so I'd love any input you can give to help me avoid costly repairs. Thanks, Jessica
Had the same problem this summer. The dealer replaced the blower to fix it. Might have been a bad connection.
