2012 A/C Repair (no cold air)

Well, my Tacoma turned 100K and I abruptly lost A/C - just blows warm air. I knew it was the condenser cause I can hear it "clunk" when the A/C was turned on. I turned it off almost immediately and took it on to a neighborhood repair shop. Got the quote this a.m. Just over 3k for labor and parts: condenser, compressor, drier and expansion valve. Labor was just under 2K. Tech mentioned metal shavings blown through A/C system as well as dash removal. I was expecting a pretty nasty bill but was disheartened to receive a 3k quote. I am somewhat mechanically inclined; do all maintenance but am not about to attempt an A/C repair of this magnitude. I can't afford this repair but am wondering if I should even attempt additional quotes. I figure the dealership will provide a similar quote. Can anyone offer input on an alternative shop in the state of central Wisconsin or Madison area?

 

You can do the work your self if you ha e the tools. You need to vacuum it before filling and add in proper oil amount.

 

How does a condenser clunk? The condenser holds no moving parts.

 

metal shavings where??

 

I was wondering the same...

 

My apologies. It was the compressor making noise. Either way the quote was for a condenser, compressor, drier, and expansion valve. The expansion valve labor was most costly - 1k. Tech said they have to remove the dash. Not sure what to do as it seems like a nightmare to drive around with no a/c.

 

First off the condenser/drier are one piece on these trucks and can be had for around $300. The compressor is also on rock auto for around $330.


For the expansion valve, check out this post:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/compressor.549669/#post-17856853

You can access it from the engine bay.

If you are going to work on it yourself, take it somewhere and have them make sure all of the refridgerant is taken out of the system before you open it up.

Good luck!

 

I just did this recently, so I can help you.

If your compressor is dead, there are a few routes you can take.
First and foremost, go to a shop and make an agreement with them to recover the refrigerant from the system so that you can remove and replace parts. Then you will come back and have the system recharged. The two places I asked, said they would not charge me anything until I brought it back in for refrigerant to be added back into the system. You NEED to have the refrigerant removed from the system before cracking open any lines. They are under high pressure and the gases are not good for the environment, your face, and your lungs. The shop I went to charged $150 to remove the refrigerant and recharge the system later, and this is on the high side but I know they do good work. They did not charge me until I brought it in to be recharged.

Now that the R134a has been removed from your lines, remove your compressor and take a look inside. There is usually a plate on top secured by four screws. Remove it. Do you see any metal shavings? If not, then you are in luck. You can simply replace the compressor, add oil as necessary and move on. Roughly 80-100cc of oil should drain from the compressor while turning the clutch. If not, then you were probably low on oil and is the reason why your compressor died. When you receive the new compressor, dump out as much oil as possible and put the appropriate amount back in. You can get PAG oil at local auto parts stores. The compressor usually contains 80-100cc of the oil in your entire AC system (usually 50%-60% of the oil in your system lives here). You do not want to overfill (AC poor performance) or underfill (reduced life of compressor). You need to know enough about your system and the state that it is in to know how much you need to put in. I would call it "scientific educated guessing".

You also need to replace the drier whenever you open up the AC system. It's just good practice. So at minimum you'll need a new compressor, a new drier, and some PAG oil. $400 tops.

If your compressor has metal shavings in it, you will need to have the lines flushed and most major parts replaced. This includes the drier, condenser, and evaporator. You can get all of these parts for fairly cheap on www.densoproducts.com. When I replaced my compressor, I also replaced the condenser and drier, which only cost an additional $90. The compressor is by far the most expensive part. The condensor, drier, and evap will also need oil, refer to an FSM for specifications on how much to put into the new parts.

Flushing the lines IMO is a PITA from what I have read. I would remove the condensor, evap, expansion valve (which may be a part of the evap), drier, and compressor. Then take it to the same shop and have them flush the lines for you. Take it back home and install the new parts. Do not attempt to flush the evap and condensor, it is pointless. Once you have the new parts installed, go back to the same shop and have them recharge the system.

One other little tidbit, make sure you have all the necessary o-rings for all the parts you are replaced BEFORE you start working on it. You NEED to use a new o-ring for every line that has one, and it needs to be lightly oiled with PAG oil before install. When I was replacing my condenser, I was missing two o-rings and had to get them from the dealer. Denso does not send o-rings with the condenser. They, for some stupid reason, only supply o-rings for the drier and compressor.

 

Thanks. That info helps. I may try this myself, I dont know. If i got it evacuated and replaced parts would it matter if i did it a part at a time? My time is limited and may have to go this route.

 

This is helpful. Much appreciated. If the sustem is evacuated and i notice shavings after the compressor is pulled will i need to “flush” the system? The tech mentioned the compressor “blew” and theres shavings. Not sure if thats possible but you see my point.

 

You want your lines to be open for as little time as possible. When I did my system, I spent 48 hours from the time I opened the lines to the time I had the system recharged. After cracking open each line, I quickly stuffed the lines with pieces of clean shop towel to prevent moisture from getting in. You want to do this immediately after opening the lines. You can use whatever other material you want to cap off the lines, just make sure the lines are capped off or closed off ASAP to prevent any outside air from getting in. Moisture is very bad for the AC system. Even if you stuff the lines, SOME outside air will still have gotten in during the 5 seconds that you were trying to cap off the lines, and that moisture is just lingering. When you take it back to the shop, they will hook it to vacuum and remove any moisture before recharging.

That being said, I would recommend replacing the drier towards the end, because that is one part that is damn near impossible to remove moisture from. You want that part to sit on a truck with un-vacuumed air for as little a duration as possible. Also, PAG oil absorbs moisture, so the new parts you put in will begin to absorb some residual moisture from the outside air that got into the lines. Again, it's best to try to get it back up and running ASAP. A couple days is okay, but I wouldn't go past more than a week between the time you crack that first line and the time it's back at the shop getting recharged.

Yes, if there are any shavings you will need to have the lines flushed. To save on labor time, I would just remove all the parts I mentioned in the previous post, take it to the shop and tell them all parts have been removed and you just need the lines flushed. This will save you on labor because they would have had to open up the lines themselves. Some parts cannot be hooked up when doing a flush, so it's best just to remove all the major ones.

The tech is just guessing. If he hasn't removed the compressor and looked for himself, there's no way he can be sure your compressor died and subsequently puked metal everywhere. Sure, it's common that when a compressor DOES die, it will leave metal shavings, but there's no way to tell with 100% certainty until it's removed and inspected. Whether or not the compressor will leave shavings is dependent on the compressor design. Some will do it and others won't. The shop I went to said they rarely see Toyota compressors leave metal shavings when they die. If it didn't leave behind any shavings then there is really no reason to replace anything other than the compressor and the drier.

 

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. I dont know how realistic it is for me to tackle this though based on the logisitics of my situation. Your info helped though. I suspect I will gather an additional quote and pay up. All vehicles have problems but this expense at 100k left a bad taste. I guess i can ride it with no a/c while im paying notes!

 

Just pump a can of AC Pro in there in the meantime. You’ll pretty much be replacing the entire system anyways, so it’s not like it’ll do additional damage to parts that are staying.

 

There is so much wrong advice in this thread.... good luck OP.

 

I’m not even going to say anything on this one...

 

Wait whats the wrong advice??

 

Maybe if you don't want to do it yourself, at least ask if you can purchase the parts elsewhere and have them install them for you.

There's also a possibility that a line immediately leaked somewhere, though I would really hope the shop would have done a leak test with a UV light or sniffer, or at the very least a pressure test, before assuming that they needed to throw a ton of parts at the problem.

Only other possibility would be the clutch seized, however it likely would have taken your belt with it. Either way, that is a simple belt replacement and clutch replacement. A little more tedious but should be doable and much cheaper.

 

I wouldn't do that, pretty sure that stuff has leak sealer in it and could gum up the lines and parts. Maybe straight R134a with oil, but there's no way to know for sure unless the system is pressure tested. If it's reading low or nothing then there's a leak somewhere. If the pressures are off wildly then it could just be a problem with the expansion valve.

 

such a useful post.... not.

 

yep, just add oil.