Air conditioning

How do I add air conditioning?

 

Roll down the window.


An air conditioning system needs a compressor, evaporator, condenser, filter/dryer and hoses to connect all the items together.

If you were to spend some time researching everything you could do it yourself. You would need around $600 in tools to do the job.

 

Also, unless you spend an arm and a leg on new components, you'd be looking at used parts. And, given the quality of the components used in the OEM system, it's questionable how much life is left in the system.

The compressors in these trucks are made by Delphi, a major supplier to GM and they barely last longer than the warranty.

*EDIT*
I see you have a 1st gen: you're in luck, they still used Denso compressors. Toyota cheaped out on the 2005+ 2nd gen.

 

Never heard of this before. Now I know why my A/C works so well. My 1991 Toyota PU's A/C was horrible, took forever to cool the tiny cab. You should not make such blanket statements without providing evidence. If yours failed, I am sorry.

 

Thank you for clarifying. The cab is so small and I only drove 100 miles round trip for work all Summer. The blower on full blast worked just fine for my commute but in 100 degree weather the stoplights seemed a little longer than usual. I decided to do exhaust and engine tuning first - tires and maybe bigger wheels next. Forgoing cold air altogether.

 

You have a good point on making such a statement without evidence to back it up.
My statement is based upon my own research: When the air conditioing failed on me, I did research to find out where I could obtain replacement parts. This research led me to find numerous threads on several forums where other Tacoma owners had their air conditioning compressors fail in a similar manner, many of them with low mileage yet outside warranty.

The issue is that there is a part of the clutch pulley that consists of concentric metal and rubber rings. the rubber layer is between the two metal layers and the rubber eventually loses bond with the metal. the rotational force causes the outer layer to disintegrate, thus causing the air conditioning to fail with a howling or wining sound.

My final annoyance with this situation is that, while it is just the clutch pulley that failed, you cannot easily find the clutch pulley for sale separate from the compressor. The few retailers that do sell it (online dealerships), have the list price for the clutch pulley as higher than the list price for the compressor complete with clutch pulley.