A/C Issues

Brought my taco to a mechanic and he replaced the condenser it was shot, the clutch burned up on it. But, now the A/C is cool but not really cold probably in the 70’s while stopped and then gets colder as I drive. So we thought maybe it’s the clutch fan,I just spun the fan and it’s got lots of resistance, doesn’t even spin half a turn by hand. I’m in Florida so it’s 80 at night right now when I spun it. Not sure what else to do.

 

Have you changed your cabin air filter recently? If not I'd start there, if that's not it then you need someone to put service gauges on it and see what's going on it may just be low on charge.

 

These trucks are notorious for under-performing AC at idle. A lot of guys on here seem to think it has to do with temperature exchange at the condenser, I think it has more to do with the fact that compressor speed is lower at idle and its simply not moving that much refrigerant.

Might be normal if it's really that hot down there. Humidity certainly doesn't help

Might be slightly undercharged

Need to see some high/low side pressure readings to help you

 

Really not sure how a "clutch" on a condenser burns up when the condenser is a metal rectangle with cooling fins that acts like a radiator.
Clutches can fail and need replacement on compressors.
Whole compressors can fail and need replacement.
Condensers get fucked up after 100k from road dirt buildup and a ton of bent fins due to hitting things like rocks flying and bugs.
Welcome to the cost of owning any brand vehicle.

I don't know how to test clutches. Supposedly if it spins freely, the clutch failed, and if there is resistance, it has not. At least that's what I was told with old school cars regarding their radiator fan.
I feel like any time I've spun a car A/C pulley/clutch that it spun freely because without the compressor electrically turned on (A/C On) then it might spin freely to avoid parasitic loss on the engine that consumes power and gas.

I wonder if the compressor can be weak in the same way that alternators are usually weak and small.
Or if the condenser is also weak and small, aka thin.

Another recharge might not hurt. It re-uses whatever R134a is taken out anyway. You're not paying for 500 grams/0.5kg/?lbs. If it sucked out 450g and the sticker calls for 500g that you put in, the machine cleans and re-injects the old 450g plus adding a fresh 50g to give you the total of 500g. Or whatever it calls for. Which means you might only pay 50 grams R134a "top off" in a sense. Which is what, $15 in parts? cheap.

They're sensitive to charge level. So hopefully it's charged to the right amount, and not undercharged. Like if there was any sort of issue from the machine.
I wonder if there is any restrictions in the system in terms of any sort of filters.
Washing the front cooling parts probably doesn't hurt.
But may create a temporary feeling of improved performance.
Because let's say you wash/rinse it. Then there's water still on it. Water is good and conducting temperature. It will help the A/C operate better, until it dries off.
So for an hour after that you might think "wow it's cold!" then later not as much.
A/C usually only drops like 30deg from original temp.
So if outside it's 70? Drops to vent temp 40.
80? -30 = 50.
That's why living in a hot state sucks. It will be 100+ outside, making your vents blow 80. Which sucks.
And other stuff doesn't help. Black car. Stuff like that.

I wonder if the engine fan clutch is shot. To my knowledge that's the only fan in the cooling part of the truck and responsible for pulling air through.
I haven't measured my vent temp. I can if you're curious to see what it could be.
But if yours is 70deg vent temp at 80deg outside, that sounds like an issue.
No cooling at all, 80deg outside 80deg at vents, compressor probably not on for some reason.
Air blowing but not cold? Means blower fan still works
Somewhat cold but not fully cold? =compressor operational but issue somewhere with the system
Fan speed is a separate common issue with people replacing blower fan motor resistor when it stops listening completely to the fan speed adjustment knob

 

Did this! It was no bueno. But that was a couple thousand ago before the compressor took a poop.

 

Is your low side line cold when it's not cooling? If it is you may have a blend door problem if it isn't you have an issue in the refrigeration system and must have gauges to test further.

 

also good to replace every year or so, depending on environment and dust intake
they are cheap
the Tacoma one is not that big/good
and a clogged one will hurt how much air you can take in, and stress the A/C system more potentially causing more wear

yes, low side line should be cold
high side hot
I forget where the lines/pipes are on the Taco and if they're hard to reach

 

I think you mean he changed the compressor? My first question would be have you taken it back to him . That would be best person to ask. You are going to get a lot of good suggestions, but none can tell you for sure without the truck and diag tools in front of us.

 

Same I heard if the clutch on the engine fan spins freely it’s dead and isn’t doing anything but it’s as tight. This mechanic had a charging system hooked up to it that shows leaks pressure and maybe some other things and it all passed. I can ask how much he put in those maybe over filled?

To be honestly I always remember the truck being like this especially when I went into the desert at idle the thing just wouldn’t cool. It’s dripping water and the lines are getting cold. He said it was blowing 68 after he charged it but when I brought it back he was saying it felt warmer. I honestly don’t know on this one, I think I’m leaning towards it being weak like you guys were saying. It’s dripping water from the drain so that’s good, donno.

 

Yah sorry didn’t put that in there. I took it back to him and I said at idle it’s not cold and it gets colder as I drive and he went right to the fan clutch being bad. But he didn’t spin it and I just did tonight and it’s really tight it won’t even spin but a half turn.

 

Testing a fan clutch is kinda touch and go.. it's hard to really tell when they are good or bad..

With the engine running try spraying water on the condenser with a hose or spray bottle. If the cooling improves it might be worth trying a new fan clutch

Is the condenser covered with dead bugs? Are the fins super corroded? Anything that might impede temperature exchange

 

I may be confused (usually am) He said fan clutch, did you replace it or why not?

The fan is designed to keep air flowing thru the condenser while stopped so the a/c still works. So if your fan is not working right it would explain why your a/c does not get colder until you drive. Air starts flowing thru the condenser again once you drive.

 

In his first post he said condensor instead of compressor.. he meant the compressor was replaced because the mag clutch was shot

 

Idling hot the fan should be spinning at close to the pulley speed and moving a moderate amount of air, if you look at it and it's barely spinning relative to the pulley it's bad.
Other things that can cause poor A/C performance at idle are too much oil in the system, radiator or condenser that's plugged with dirt/trash, stuck expansion valve, over/under charge, etc...
Unfortunately with A/C all we can do is throw suggestions out without having the vehicle in front of us.

 

Also remember NEW doesn't always mean GOOD especially in today's parts economy.

 

I mean the problem with a recharge it's an hour labor. Because the $5,000 Robinair machine literally takes that long. Automatic mode is recharge, vacuum, leak test, charge, etc. and it takes an hour. Doesn't matter how fast the mechanic moves.
Side work? Maybe guy charges $50.
Shop rate? $100 minimum. Indy shops like $100+. Dealers more. They gotta pay "overhead". "electricity". Or whatever the fuck.
Hey sometimes it's legit. Sometimes they do really have those operating costs, still have to pay wages, otherwise why the fuck are they doing it? Don't make money and buy food for table? Time to pick different job and laugh at public with no mechanic to fix their car.
Other times it's a crooked fuck with multiple houses and sports cars, marking up parts price, paying the mechanic $7/hr to do the fucking work then bitch when they quit "We was gonna keep you here forever!" no shit, profit off the cash cow.

So yeah. If you don't have that $5k machine, it's like $100+ each time. Kinda sucks.
Anyone can DIY their own oil change. But no DIY'er is buying a $5k Robinair. Nor the maintenance required of it.

I have doubts that any of those cheap little cans at Autozone work as good.
Capitalism. At the end of the day, people just want to sell you shit. Even if the can doesn't work, some salesman is always there to come along and say "This is the best thing ever, buy it now!"
I don't see how a thin little can hooking up to one side of the system has enough pressure inside of it to force that much refrigerant into your system,
as opposed to a machine, which might use a pump
Not to mention, a machine can also first create vacuum, to boil off moisture that would mess up how the system functions
to then help suck in R134a
a can does not do that
A rental vacuum pump does, but while some guys use gauges and a vacuum pump
others don't know what "vacuum" means and just buy the can, install blindfold over eyes, and pray it works

Hell the machine could have even fucked up and not have been his fault. If it was acting weird.
You're not supposed to lean on or touch it, it has a scale that weighs how much R134a it puts in. Leaning on it messes that up.
IDK if they can get uncalibrated/lose calibration, but I have seen happen a machine will put 500g in a car. Then suck out 300g. Even though it passed leak test. Where did that 200g magically go? I don't know. Maybe on EVAC mode it simply was not as good as AUTOMATIC with runs additional vacuum which may have pulled out more.
I'm not sure how Leak Test works. If it simply watches for held pressure or vacuum.

Another way is UV dye. UV flashlight. Glasses. Inspecting.
Or spraying soapy water on a pressurized system to find air bubbles.

Temps I have seen most on a working A/C?
44 degrees.
Highest I've seen? About 55 on a vehicle with completely fucked front cooling fins. Even though a radiator is $80.
So 70-80 definitely sounds bad.
No offense to the guy. Not saying he ripped you off. Even if he's not knowledgeable, a recharge still costs $100+ and is automatic by the machine.
But if that didn't work, it might be time to find someone more knowledgeable/skilled.
Because anybody can press the Automatic button on a Robinair.
Not everybody fully understands how it works.
Most of the time, if there is no issue, Automatic button gets it blowing cold.
However if there is an issue, still might not work even after Automatic charge.

Most can press Automatic button on a Robinair. I've seen maybe 1 or 2 people ever, who can look at the pressure gauges and know exactly what it all means

typically an A/C system works by restricting/changing pressure
with a part inside that does that
orifice tube filter, whatever
and when a compressor has an issue, that can send debris into the system that can be caught in that filter, drier, etc.
which is not good in the future if that is not cleaned out and those parts replaced

 

fins look great no bugs, not to toot my horn or anything but I keep a clean ship.

 

Like Dm said, without seeing some gauge readings it's going to be really hard to tell if there's any room for improvement

80 degs at night means the system might be working as hard as it can

 

I’ll ask him to check the system again and see what he says. Thanks for the write up. He ordered a new fan clutch so I guess we’ll try that and see if anything improves. He charges me $700 for a new compressor (Toyota) then evac and fill.

 

sorry it’s 80 tonight but it seems to be blowing cold.