Air Conditioning / Fan System Issues (COVID-19 No Mechanics)

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by rvnk0, Mar 23, 2020.

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  1. rvnk0

    rvnk0 New Member

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    2013 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Advanced
    Hello All,

    I apologize in advance if this goes against any rules or regulations. I did briefly search for A/C & Fan issues but the number of posts was intimidating and after spending 10 minutes browsing through I was uncertain if I'd find anything directly related to the issue I've been having.

    Please forgive my terminology errors, I'm not very familiar with mechanics but I have an engineering background and have worked in I.T. at a Server Farm for years, so I'm familiar with troubleshooting.

    I live in Florida and my A/C stopped working. Actually, to be accurate the fans don't blow either. Normally I'd have taken this to a mechanic to have a look but since we're having this issue with COVID-19 none of the shops around are open. In Florida it's damned near impossible to live continuously without AC.

    Let me explain how this started. I noticed some water on the passenger side floor and read up on it a bit. It was mentioned that I should vacuum out the drip tube from the A.C. I waited a little too long (3 days) and the A.C. / fan system stopped working. I did notice that when I turned left in the car (prior to the system not working) the fan would start making a slightly strange noise, it sounded like what I imagine would be a fan pushing liquid around. Fast forward, I vaccuumed out the A.C. tube and it did pull out a bit of water (I'd say a cup or two). Re-reading that I'm thinking I may have screwed the motor by allowing the condensation to stay in the system for too long while still running the AC.

    I know that I need to check the fuse which I plan on doing tonight as my multimeter is at home. I was just hoping to see what the next steps in the troubleshooting process would be.

    Thanks in advance for any help.

    This is a 2013 Prius Plug-In and I just hit 100K miles

    EDIT: the compressor does kick on (at least it sounds like it) when I hit the AC, so I'm fairly certain it's not that. Based on everything I've read on it and my understanding of the system I think it's either the fuse or the fan motor itself. Nothing blows when I turn the fan on without the AC.
     
    #1 rvnk0, Mar 23, 2020
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    the fan is under the cabin filter, take a look at it.
     
    #2 bisco, Mar 24, 2020
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  3. Rebound

    Rebound Senior Member

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    For sure, fuse first. It might be a relay and not a fuse. Relays are more difficult to test, but it’s cheap enough to buy another relay and swap it in.
     
    #3 Rebound, Mar 24, 2020
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  4. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    It does sound like you have a fan issue. Your description sounds like condensate (water) may have gotten into the motor, although I'm not entirely sure that this can happen. You say that the compressor still works. You can verify circulation within the system by looking in the site glass on the high pressure side, right next to the high pressure port (grey plastic cap with an H on it).

    There is an HVAC test sequence you can run. The keystrokes for this test are start from ACC mode (power on without brake), hold down AUTO and Recirculate/Fresh Air buttons, and press START again. Should see A/C LCD and all LED lights blink 4 times at 1 second interval followed by a code displayed where the preset temperature (digits on left side of LCD) are normally displayed. A 00 code means no problems. Then press OFF to escape.

    If it says there is an A/C Inverter Load System Malfunction (code 76), this can be caused by a refrigerant leak or overfill, a problem in the condenser fan circuit, or lastly a compressor lock which requires compressor replacement.
     
    #4 AzWxGuy, Mar 27, 2020
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  5. rvnk0

    rvnk0 New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius Plug-in
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    Plug-in Advanced
    Just wanted to follow up and say thank you to everyone who responded. It did turn out to be a blower motor issue. Ordered one online and replaced it successfully!

    Awesome help folks! Thanks again!!
     
    #5 rvnk0, May 28, 2020
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