TSB for air conditioning shutdown now includes 2020 Tacoma

Has anyone received this TSB with a manual transmission? I took my truck in and they approved it but as soon as they started working on it they realized the clutch cylinder is mounted where they are instructed to mount the relay box. So they ended up cancelling all the work. I can't seem to get any information on this from toyota.

 

So annoying. That damn thing could be mounted anywhere. If u feel like going your own route, @Deo taco has a sweet electric main fan upgrade.

 

This TSB does not actually apply to manual transmission. Seems the updated version they omitted the list of engines/transmissions.

Here is the old version (2016-2019)
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10155239-9999.pdf

Here is the new version (2016-2020)
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2019/MC-10166026-9999.pdf

You can see in the new version they did not fill in the "additional information" part that lists Transmission(s): 6AT

 

I’m adding a trans cooler pretty soon and was thinking about adding an auxiliary electric fan as well that I could turn on manually with a switch to keep temps down when crawling at low speeds. Reading all this makes me think it’s worthwhile to add the fan for ac as well

 

For what is worth, my ’16 spends most of its days in inhospitable, hot and humid weather. I’ve compared it to some of the best rated A/C systems made and it is right up there with them. And sometimes those (best rated) systems don’t seem to cool well either.

My worst experience was in Houston. When I left FL the A/C was working great (new car) when I got to Houston, I was sure my A/C had had it. But my better sense convinced me it was working fine or as designed, and it was.

The bottom line for me is, I’d rather have a good old reliable fan clutch any day, because even in it’s worst day when it fails, it will still get me home on time, where the electric fan vehicle may have to be towed.

But that’s just me, your mileage may very

 

This is just how these trucks work. My truck had amazing AC, then the compressor went out and the AC was shit ever since that day. I had them do the TSB, it sorta helped, but it still doesnt blow as cold as it did (but within toyota spec) My personal thought is that they over charged the system when they replaced the compressor, so its cycling on and off due to high pressure to fast for it to cool properly.
I am bringing it in to VW this summer to have my buddy vacuum the system and recharge it while we are putting my lift in.

 

If the compressor imploded, you could have fragments clogging up the system.

 

I'm compressor was fine, it was the ground for the clutch on it. The ground is open wire, and it corroded so bad that it wouldn't turn on. If I sprayed the compressor with water, it would turn on and work just fine.


Next time your under the hood, look at you compressor clutches ground, it's just open wire with no protection, mine was all green and fuzzy.

 

Could be a charge issue, or it maybe the temp sensor issue. I heard some were having issues, it was said the sensor was shutting the compressor a bit early and some people were complaining of poor A/C performance as a result. But, it may be just something else to check I suppose

 

Yeah, It could be anything, but since its operating "within toyota spec" they wont do anything. So I have to diagnose it myself, and possibly fix it myself too. Going to start with the charge level since its free. AC evac machines recycle the refrigerant thats in there, so if there is too much, my buddy will get a little extra, if there is not enough, then I will take a little.


EDIT: this is the ground that failed on my first compressor. The new one I smothered in dielectric grease.

 

Just make sure the recycle machine is compatible with the new R-1234yf refrigerant. And yes,some factory specs suck, like the one that says it's ok if engine burns 1 qt oil every 800-1000 miles. Not by my book, no way.

 

I miss my old r12... I still have a few cans of it in the basement.

 

i threw my last R12 can a few years ago lol!

But I did considered replacing the R-1234yf in our trucks because of the outrageously high price if anything went wrong with the compressor for the much cheaper R134A. Lucky me all is well so far

 

Pardon the necro reply, but belt driven mechanical fans are so 1950s. Maybe 1970s if they have a fan clutch.

 

I'm calling the EPA police!

 

I wouldn't trade the reliability of a belt driven mechanical clutch cooling fan over an electric driven one. But that's just me, your mileage may vary

 

It is cool, it works and it works well, I will say that, but the Lingenfelter controller has a horrible AC trigger input and there is no way to trigger the fan to run the AC otherwise.

They either force you to run temp controlled (via coolant sensor) fan variable speed or if you use the AC trigger white wire then you are forced to run the user controlled variable fan speed input which is really stupid.

So I am satisfied with it, but I am not satisfied at the same time.

Mechanical clutch driven fans can still fail and they can fail in some detrimental ways to your engine and engine compartment. Granted that seldom can happen but to say they are bulletproof and fail safe is not true.

 

There's gotta be a way to tie into the clutch with a relay to the bypass on the lingenfelter controller, no?

This is the first summer coming up. I'm excited to see how it performs.

 

I've noticed on some warmer days if the fan is not on and you command the AC on the system is really not happy and does not cool very well, I get why, but yeah.

There is a way to tie in and do it but it involves wiring in some super old school switch and then tie into the relay which bypasses the controller entirely and I really don't want to do that. When the fan is on the system performs flawlessly. Regardless, I love it, but I hate it too for those reasons.

 

How high is your start temp?