Driver side AC only blowing cold under certain conditions

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Islanderfan17, Jun 12, 2025 at 3:08 PM.

  1. Islanderfan17

    Islanderfan17 New Member

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    Hey all,

    I am now driving my wifes ol' gal 2004 Prius. I have a 2008 Prius myself but it currently has some funky stuff going on and has been sidelined, and I'm debating if it's even worth fixing. She got a used Chevy Bolt so I can take her 04 permanently if I want to. Everything in it works great except the A/C. In the morning, when the car hasn't been sitting in the beating hot sun all day, the air coming out of the driver side A/C onto me is nice and cold. How I'd expect an A/C to be, basically. But then I go to work, it sits in the wide open parking lot all day in the sun til' my break, doesn't help that it's a black Prius. I go in there on my break, and the A/C works but it's probably half as cold as it is in the morning, and it doesn't really get much better.

    The odd thing though is that the Passenger side blows cold at the same time. Why would this be?

    She did have A/C work done on this car a few years ago. I believe they replaced the condenser or something like that and then obviously did a refrigerant change with that. We have the receipt but it's worn out and the hand writing is wildly hard to read lol. I know that the Prius gets specific refrigerant put in and also gets recharged a certain way. Do you think that going to a Toyota dealership for a freon dump and refill (with the right stuff just to make sure) would be worth doing?

    Also worth noting I suspect there could be a SMALL leak. When I sit in the parking lot for awhile with the A/C on, I have noticed a smallish puddle under the car.

    Any insight is definitely appreciated, thanks!
     
  2. JC91006

    JC91006 Senior Member

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    you need to recharge your ac
     
  3. dolj

    dolj Senior Member

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    It is not. A/C on a hot day produces condensation, and what you're noticing is the condensed water draining off.
     
  4. Tombukt2

    Tombukt2 Senior Member

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    So if some one starts car applies AC whilst you looking at site glass . What do you see exactly in that glass the first 20 seconds of air starting look carefully now