2016 Yaris hybrid air-con issue, no cold air and very noisy.

[Bob Sutton]

Hello everyone, I have a problem with the air conditioning in my wife’s Yaris hybrid. I have attached a link to a video I have placed on YouTube, which hopefully describes the problem. Unfortunately, the video is about six minutes long, but it would have taken me weeks to try and type up the problem, with my one finger typing technique, as I’m useless with a keyboard. I also apologise for the poor camera work and hope no one suffers motion sickness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GCl9Zu7csI

I forgot to add in my commentary, that the car is has had a gentle life, as can been seen from the mileage, but I do try and run the car at least once a week, with the air-con on, to keep the mechanicals and batteries in some form of good condition.

I also forgot to video the sticker on the inside of the bonnet, which confirms, it was factory filled with R-134A refrigerant, rather than the more modern (and more expensive) R1234YF, so I have added a photograph of that.

I must credit Steve Matthews, who’s comments, posted on May 6th 2020 on page 2 of the topic titled “Hybrid air con regas”, originally started by Panthor on 23rd May 2019 in the Auris Club, I found to be most enlightening, particularly “Fact 5”. Here is the link to that page

https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/188033-hybrid-air-con-regas/page/2/#comments

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I hope all these links/attachments work.

Kind regards, Bob Sutton.

[tfc]

Bob, it would be most likely cheaper to take it to kwik fit or somewhere similar for regassing rather than a Toyota dealer as they most likely have the same machine.

There's a good chance the noise is coming from the compressor and the gas they use will have a lubricant for the compressor and seals. If the system as no gas it could well be why its making a noise.

You could ask the dealer if the air con is covered under warranty as you get it serviced by the dealer .

[Stivino]

6 minutes ago, tfc said:

If the system as no gas it could well be why its making a noise.

If the system has no gas, there will be no noise, because it won't come on with low or no gas.

[tfc]

13 minutes ago, Stivino said:

If the system has no gas, there will be no noise, because it won't come on with low or no gas.

Yes but the pulley is still spinning

[Stivino]

13 minutes ago, tfc said:

Yes but the pulley is still spinning

Yes, but without the clutch engaged so nothing to do with the compressor.

[tfc]

It's strange that when he switches off the aircon the noise stops , but without knowing  where the noise is coming from , all speculation. 

[TonyHSD]

I believe we are talking above Yaris hybrid with electric ac compressor.
In these cars. When the gas is low it will happen exactly that , noisy  ac compressor work and very mild cooling or almost no cooling at all, and yes the ac will still work. Best option for the OP wnd next step is to book an ac test and refill procedure but when doing so he needs to tell the garage his car it’s a hybrid, that uses different oil and standard gas, they will say it they have a machine that can service these cars. I have done mine twice at pro tyres and they used different oil and the standard R134 for Auris hybrid from 2010. A new cabin filter is also a good idea. 

[Derek.w]

Aircon its normal to have the pressure topped up every two years this also helps with its lubrication.

Please remember to switch it on every other week if you not using it just so it can lubricate itself.

 

[Bob Sutton]

Hello everyone. Thanks to all those who have taken the time to look at my post and even more thanks, to those who have taken the trouble to reply. I'm really grateful for your input. I will pick up this problem, after the bank holiday, and let you know the outcome.

Thanks again and kind regards, Bob Sutton.

[flash22]

Be aware as the A/C is electric, it does need the correct type of oil in it, NOTE. The oil type on the sticker ND-OIL 11 aka ND11

• DO NOT attempt to service these systems without getting the proper training first!
• R-134a HV compressor systems use the same size service ports as the conventional R-134a systems.
• HV compressors require special Polyol Ester (POE) A/C refrigerant oil that is non-conductive. The specific type of oil is identified by the vehicle maker. All non-condutive POE oils are not the same!
• A/C equipment that has been used for conventional A/C systems can contaminate the HV powered system.
• As little as 1% standard PAG oil can reduce the dielectric properties of the approved POE oils and damage the system.
• Per the vehicle maker, many of the A/C system parts will require replacement if the system is contaminated.
• SAE J2788 compliant machines do not have oil injection to avoid cross-contamination of oils.
• A straight-forward approach to avoid cross-contamination is to use dedicated hoses and injectors for each type of refrigerant oil.

[Bob Sutton]

Hello everyone. Just a quick update regarding this post.

I booked the car in to my local Toyota dealer and it was looked at yesterday. The technician said he could not find any particular fault and thought the loud noise was due to a low gas problem. He refilled the system with the R134A refrigerant and ND-OIL 11. The air con is now nice and cool, plus the nasty buzzing sound has reduced. Some times, the buzzing stops completely (even whilst the air con is on) and then returns when the system has to work a little harder to keep things cool. He said in his experience, its quite usual to have some noise from the hybrid air con system, and not to worry about it. He also said, he did not think the system would throw an OBD code unless there was a catastrophic failure of the electric air con compressor, but was not sure of that

To sum up, it would appear the car needed just a simple re-gas and the system is now running as it should. I was charged for this work, but it seemed to be at a reasonable cost and cheaper than some of the tyre fitting companies, I had prices from.

Thanks to flash22 for his reply on 28th May 2023. I always appreciate his advice and thanks to all the other members who have made a contribution.

I have attached another and much shorter video, featuring the sound of the air con, now it’s been re-gassed.

 

Kind regards, Bob Sutton.

1447689209_2016ToyotaYarishybridair-conissuenocoldairandverynoisy(part2)-YouTube.webarchive

[Bob Sutton]

Hello everyone. Looks like I messed up and the YouTube link, to the "part 2" video is not working.

I have tried another link which hopefully will work correctly.

 

Kind regards, Bob Sutton.